Superb special effects in a Hitchcock thriller

Rating: 9/10 (30 November 2017)

"The Birds" was a film that struck wonder in many a movie fan when it came out. How did they film those bird attacks? Did the birds really attack people, and if so, how did they get them to do that? Or, what kind of special effects could make those scenes seem so real?
The film was a smashing success for Alfred Hitchcock who had established his place in film history as a tremendous director and creative movie maker. Most especially of thrillers that often had frightening parts. No one could make such films better. Ironically, Hitchcock never won an Academy Award. But, of the 70 films he directed, he received five nominations. The Hollywood Foreign Press however, bestowed two Golden Globes on Hitchcock. He received a 1958 Globe for his television series, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," which aired from 1955 to 1962. And, he won a Golden Globe for his 1972 film, "Frenzy."
The cast all are fine in "The Birds," and Americans got their first look at Tippi Hedren. Everyone in the cast does a good job conveying a sense of fear or fright about the birds after their first attach. The plot, filming, direction and editing all are superb. The location shots in Bodega Bay, California for scenic and very good.
"The Birds" uses special effects for longer time than any other film movie that comes to mind. It received an Academy Award nomination for special effects for 1963. The various scenes of attacking birds look so real. But they were all shot at the Walt Disney Studios. Disney's master animator, inventor and special effects guru Ubbe Iwerks did the job. The process used different background screens for shooting and then different developing processes. The finished product looks so real because it overlays the shooting of real people and birds.
"The Birds" was the third movie Alfred Hitchcock made from stories by Daphne du Maurier. The English novelist and playwright was one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century. More than a dozen movies have been made from her novels and short stories. Besides "The Birds," Hitchcock directed two of her earliest novels for the silver screen. "Jamaica Inn" of 1939 starred Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara, and "Rebecca" of 1940 starred Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.
"Jamaica Inn" is a crime mystery and thriller set on the Cornwall coast â€“ the westernmost county of England. Hitchcock and others distanced themselves from the film soon after it was made. Apparently, Laughton had bought the film rights from du Maurier, with the intent to use it to promote himself. He had control over the whole film and one can see that his presence overwhelms it at times. His forced changes in the script and his character departed a great deal from the book, and du Maurier wasn't happy with the film. But, the film was a success. Moviegoers didn't seem to mind and may even have enjoyed Laughton's exaggerations and overacting.
Anyhow, it was Hitchcock's last film in England, for he went from there to Hollywood. Laughton also went to Hollywood for "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," and he took Maureen O'Hara with him. She had been a little known actress before Jamaica Inn, but "Hunchback" made her a star.
"The Birds" was what people regarded in the mid-20th century as a good "date" movie. That's because the frightening scenes would usually lead to a girl nestling close to the boy, and the boy "protecting" her with his arm around her shoulder.