sorry, but this one is (you guessed it) for the birds

Rating: 4/10 (19 June 2000)

I'll have to be the turd in the punchbowl here and insert a contrary opinion among the critical encomia. I finally managed to see this one from beginning to end in American Movie Classics's Hitchcock retrospective in early summer 2000. I had had my doubts about the flick from the bits and pieces I had seen earlier, and seeing it entire did nothing to change my opinion, despite the fact that Camille Paglia thinks this is one of cinema's great masterpieces. I found nothing remotely frightening here; the whole thesis of the movie is laughable, and the sudden stop ending is unsatisfying and anticlimactic. And wordy??? Talk, talk, talk, and more pointless talk. Tippi Hedren ? I think Hitch's erotic fascination with her overcame an objective assessment of her acting abilities (her post-Hitch career includes such gems as "Teresa's Tattoo" and "Return to Green Acres"). One curious fact about this film, and one which I have neither read nor seen any comment on, is the glaring omission of a musical score; there is nary a note of background music. I would love to know Hitch's rationale for this choice; in any case Bernie Herrmann might have been able to pump some suspense into this dog, er, bird.