Two Films

Rating: 6/10 (25 October 2001)

Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation of the famous Daphne DuMaurier novella is really two films: the first hour sets up a flirtation between rambunctious socialite Tippi Hedren and conservative attorney Rod Taylor; the second hour throws the construction aside to concentrate on random attacks on a small California village by flocks of wild birds. Of course, as with Hitchcock, nothing is unnecessary and the relationship between Hedren and Taylor becomes a family unit in order to rescue unity from chaos. Hitchcock's worldview is extremely dour here (everyone--even children--are subjects of graphic torture) and the conclusion suggests a slow impending doom--it's extremely upsetting to say the least. The first hour, however, is talky and dull. There is no musical score but Bernard Herrmann does have a hand in the sound. Disney pioneer Ub Iwerks is listed as a `Special Photographic Advisor'.