The Birds

US (1963): Drama/Horror/Romance/Thriller

Adapted by Evan Hunter from a story by Daphne Du Maurier, the film begins as an innocuous romantic triangle involving wealthy, spoiled Tippi Hedren, handsome Rod Taylor, and schoolteacher Suzanne Pleshette. The banality of the human story, which begins in a San Francisco pet shop and culminates at the home of Taylor's mother (Jessica Tandy) at Bodega Bay, lulls the audience into a sense of security, which is slowly eroded by the curious behavior of the birds in the area. At first, it's no more than a sea gull swooping down and pecking at Tippi's head. Things take a truly ugly turn when hundreds of birds converge on a children's party (the sequence in which the aviary attackers group on schoolyard playground equipment is one of Hitchcock's best setpieces).

There is never an explanation as to why the birds have run amok, but once the onslaught begins, there's virtually no letup. The near-silent, fraught-with-foreboding finale is unsettling as it stands, though Hitchcock had planned an even more disturbing finale, wherein the "safe harbor" of San Francisco would be shown to be under total control of the birds, but a final shot of the Golden Gate Bridge covered in birds was not filmed because of cost. (Universal Pictures) (Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide)

 Use this link to view Hitchcock's original theatrical trailer for The Birds on TCM.com.

1 nomination