Cheep, cheep . . .

Rating: 5/10 (22 November 2005)

Emerging from "The Birds'" initial theatrical release in 1963, the consensus of opinion all around (in the audience I saw it with) was, "Well, it's no 'Psycho.'" "I wish the effects had been better," was another oft-heard opinion. Despite being supposedly "state of the art," the effects are all too obvious -- from the green-screen lines around the birds massing in the sky over the birthday party to those same annoying lines around 'Tippi' Hedren being attacked in the phone booth to obviously animated drawings of birds added in process shots to stuffed birds as "extras" in the crowded bird scenes to the quick cutaway while the man in the gas station is replaced by a dummy just before the explosion.
And whose bad idea was it to use three jump-cuts during two separate "shock" sequences? The discovery of the farmer with his eyes plucked out and 'Tippi' Hedren's reaction from inside the restaurant as she follows the flow of gasoline to the man lighting the cigarette. Maybe those jump-cuts sounded good in theory. But the human eye doesn't work that way, and their artificiality only calls attention to the technique -- dissipating the "shock" value and tension. Better, for instance, a quick zoom into the farmer's face -- the way the human eye works. A standard technique that's simple but always effective if used selectively: see the moment in Hammer Films' "The Curse of Frankenstein" when Christopher Lee rips the bandages from his (The Monster's) face. It's still jolting! The triple jump-cuts of 'Tippi' Hedren looking out of the restaurant window in "horror" serve only to highlight her utterly incompetent "acting." Even in still shots, in other words, she looks amateurish.
The only "effect" in "The Birds" that works is the sound. Magnificent.
Of course, the DESIGN of the set pieces, like the birds massing on the jungle gym behind 'Tippi' Hedren, and the bird attacks, are brilliantly conceived. It's their execution that falls short of believability and distances the audience because the "techniques" are so visible and artificial.
A pity that Hitchcock apparently was obsessed with making 'Tippi' Hedren a star because she simply cannot act. Her high, slightly whiny and nasal voice is no help either. In "Marnie" she's just laughable in her attempts at high drama. No doubt the filming of her attack in the attic was "horrible" for her to film on the set. On screen, however, and partially because of those damned quick cuts again, she still comes across as phony as a three-dollar bill.
Hedren's career, as we know, went absolutely nowhere once she and Hitchcock had a falling out (on "Marnie"). Happily, she found fulfillment rescuing wild animals from circuses and zoos.
Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy and Suzanne Pleshette are the only real actors in "The Birds." Everybody else, from Veronica Cartwright's overwrought performance as Cathy to everybody in that infernal diner overacts like they're in a second rate bus-and-truck touring company.
An ambitious film, populated with widely-touted but so-so special effects (more does not equal better) and "starring" a newcomer who can't act.
"The Birds" isn't remotely on the creative level of "Psycho." None of its many facets, from script to cinematography to acting to effects to directing approaches the power of "Psycho."
"The Birds" isn't even on the same level as "Saboteur" (1942), generally considered one of Hitchcock's "lesser" efforts. The tension, action, and effects in "Saboteur" (the Statue of Liberty sequence) far surpass anything in "The Birds."
"The Birds," in fact, marks the beginning of Hitchcock's slow decline after "Psycho" through his final film, "Family Plot."
Hitchcock never made a "bad" film. And he had more than his share of masterpieces, beginning with "Rebecca," his first American film. "Notorious," "The Man Who Knew Too Much," "North By Northwest," "The Trouble With Harry," "Rear Window," "Vertigo," "Strangers on a Train," "Stage Fright," "Shadow of a Doubt."
He made, perhaps, more truly timeless masterpieces than any director before or since (with the possible exception of Fellini).
"The Birds" tries hard. But as any artist or scientist will tell you, not every experiment is a success.