Innovative & memorable; 'Jaws' with brains; aviary good film!

Rating: Null/10 (22 August 1999)

(The following review contains a few mini-'spoilers'; if you've yet to see the film, please be warned -- and please *DO* see it!)
In 'The Birds', Hitchcock showed us yet again why he was without contest the most innovative Hollywood director of his era, perhaps of all time. Just as 'Psycho' spawned the 'crazy serial-killer' genre, 'The Birds' laid the egg for the whole 'nature gone crazy' theme -- everything from killer bees to 'Jaws' and the toothless 'Piranha'. The premise of the film is perfectly ridiculous, even laughable, but Hitchcock, using all his panache, cinematizes it in a way that's not only original, but intelligent, believable and unforgettably haunting.
Consider these innovations: There's no musical score (at all!); a wide-open, very 'Euro' indecisive ending without 'THE END' credits (still customary in 1963); and the characters never scream, even at the most horrifying moments. Hitch evidently thought there was already enough *bird* 'screaming' on the eerie soundtrack. Also unusual is that the characters never say 'hello', 'goodbye' or similar greetings (except once, where someone says 'hi' to a bit player) and the dialogue is also, for the most part, nicely naturalistic; they say 'thanks' instead of 'thank you', for example, which was quite unusual for a 1963 film of this type. They often say something and nobody replies; or they just don't say anything, cut straight to next scene, and Hitch knows the aud are smart enough to draw the right conclusions (e.g. when Lydia returns from finding Fawcett's body).
I never quite understood how the birds could kill Annie while inflicting so few scratches on her body; presumably their M.O. was asphyxiation by sheer
numbers. (A bird stuffed in Dan Fawcett's mouth would've explained this; his pecked-out eyes where an unnecessary grossout in an otherwise tastefully gore-moderated film.) Thank God they were sparrows/crows and not vultures or eagles!
Mitch believes Melanie needs urgent hospital care following the attic attack frenzy, but she still looks perfectly doll-like even when dishevelled and distraught, apparently suffering no more than a few minor cuts and one slightly tattered lime-green Edith Head suit! Mitch was obviously talking about acute psychiatric care there. Indeed, he acts more like a shrink than a lawyer the whole movie long, their one kiss is more like a peck (as if the movie needed any more of those) and he seems more fascinated by Melanie's neuroticism than her eroticism.
Speaking of which... Am I alone in detecting that Hitch is (possibly) hinting at an attraction between Melanie and Annie? The scenes between them are one of the most interesting aspects of the movie; especially how Annie eyes up the cute doll-like Melanie and her tone of voice when they first meet. This 'frisson' persists (for me, anyway) even after we know Annie is hetero since she had a relaysh with Mitch. Is this just my male fantasy? No, as with so many things in Hitchcock movies, I think it's there to pick up on, if you want. Suzanne Pleshette gives a fascinatingly subtle, controlled performance. What a no-nonsense, even 'butch' gal Annie is! Dig her wonderfully hardboiled vocal style! The preternaturally primped and poised Tippi Hedren looks like the sex kitten who got the cream as the pampered Melanie, drifting rudderlessly yet a dab hand at inland navigation, while Rod Taylor is required to do nothing except look manly, distant and repress the odd emotion now and then. In fact, it's interesting to watch this movie and focus just on the superb and unpredictable dialogue; the nuanced way the characters interact with each other (the result, quite naturally, of nuanced, accomplished acting perfs); and especially for the psychological complexity of Melanie. Now how many horror films can you say that about? "'The Birds' is cunning!" might've made a good tagline.
No birds were harmed during the making of this motion picture. However, some of them got pretty mad at being tied to Tippi's Edith Head suit, saying that wasn't specified in their contract, and went utterly 'berdserk' when later denied their per diems for the inevitable shooting overruns. (No, they weren't acting...their resentment was for real. The line about their brainpans not being big enough was the final insult. Apparently, they were paid peanuts. And they'd requested *sunflower seeds*!!)
Tippi Hedren, if you know anything of what she had to endure (quite apart from a rather unflattering dress) certainly *WAS* harmed during the making... She reportedly almost had a nervous breakdown after having live birds thrown at her all day (quite literally) in the attic frenzy scene. Maybe her zombielike state at the end of the movie didn't involve much acting!
The movie also marked the beginning, and sadly the end, of the lovely Ms Hedren's meteoric career -- 'Marnie' and some nondescript B-movies/made-for-TVs excepted. (She fell out of favour with Hollywood after an acrimonious rift with Hitch while shooting 'Marnie'. They weren't on speaking terms for over half of production. It's an open secret that Hitch was besotted with Tippi (though of course there's no suggestion he was *EVER* unfaithful to his beloved wife Alma with *ANY* woman), and Tippi felt he wanted to control her entire life.) Did Tippi name her daughter 'Melanie' (Griffith) in honour of this, her greatest ever role? Who knows.
After watching 'The Birds', you'll keep some incredible images forever -- a cast of thousands that's much more impactful than 'Ben Hur', not to mention the ultrafeisty Ms Pleshette and so-easy-on-the-eye-it's-unreal Ms Hedren -- but no longer will you use the cliché 'our feathered friends' lightly.
In short: Aviary good film indeed! Definitely deserves to be above #233 in the IMDB all-time ranking. I only wish I'd been alive to see Hitchcock's films when they were released to feel their full contemporary impact. And this is a long review (and I've only said 10% of what I wanted to), but it *IS* well within the 1,000 words maximum. :-)