- Hamlet may have appreciated "providence in the fall of a sparrow," but even the dour Dane wouldn't have been prepared for the bedlam that erupts in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. The first real sign of trouble appears nearly half an hour into the film when a gull swoops down and strikes Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) right on her finely-coiffed head. Until that point, the story had all the trappings of a romantic comedy, with the mischievous Miss Daniels driving out to Bodega Bay just to deliver a pair of love birds to straight-laced heartthrob Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor). Actually, the birds were intended for Mitch's sister, Cathy (Veronica Cartwright), as part of one of Miss Daniels' daring practical jokes. Well, this time the joke's on her.
- The next terrifying avian assault arrives courtesy of Mitch's mother, Lydia (Jessica Tandy). Lydia doesn't go so far as to strike Miss Daniels, but her peckish demeanor and cresting hair suggest a certain unmistakable resemblance. As Mitch's old flame Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette) explains, Lydia lost her husband some years back and became deathly afraid of being abandoned by Mitch. As a result, the jealous mother sinks her talons into any girls who might catch her son's eye. In the meantime, the literal bird attacks are dramatically increasing in scope, escalating from a disrupted birthday party to multiple gruesome murders. As the ornithologist ex machina, Mrs. Bundy (Ethel Griffies), notes, how can they possibly hope to fight against the combined efforts of the world's feathered flocks?
- The Birds is definitely one of Hitchcock's oddest projects. At one level, it can be watched as a straight horror film that contains a few great scenes. The famous shot of crows patiently congregating at the playground, for example, is truly inspired, as are the film's final images of Bodega Bay. On another much stranger level, however, the film implies some pretty awful things about women. Take, for example, the twittering bunch lined up in the diner, one of whom shrilly rebukes Miss Daniels. Or the (admittedly hilarious) scene in which Mark gets clawed by his mother, his sister, and his girlfriend on his way across the room. It's obvious that Hitchcock is making a comparison, the point of which seems to be that women are more like the teeming, terrifying flocks of Bodega Bay than the helplessly outnumbered lovebirds. Lydia's character further suggests that this film, Psycho, and Marnie could be grouped into a "maternal issues" trilogy. Rather than adding some interesting harmonies to Hitchcock's fowl fantasia, these bizarre themes contribute only an off-key warble.
- I spotted Hitchcock walking two dogs out of the pet shop.
- The bird noise sounds like cats fighting, but was apparently produced in part by tape reels.
- The film contains no music except that produced within the story.
- Adapted from a Daphne Du Maurier story, with a screenplay written by Ed McBain.
