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The Birds (1963) watch along (Patreon)

Published:
2025-05-29 16:20:30
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Alfred Hitchcock won the Director poll, and his movie The Birds (1963) won.

Hitchcock is an innovator. This movie must have been so insane when it came out. The CG mixed with sound editing must have terrified a lot of people! I loved a lot of the film-making techniques, how he blocked his cast and how he lit a lot of sets. Although I do prefer Psycho (1960) to this one, I have much appreciation for what this film has done to inspire other filmmakers and movies.

Enjoy!!! If you dare!

xx

Ames

Files

The Birds (1963)

Comments

Toc

Ha! I prefer Psycho too! (I prefer LOTS of Hitchcock films to this one to be honest! :P ). But, as usual, it's got some great sequences. And it's not like Hitchcock doesn't know where to put the camera. That's NEVER the problem in a Hitchcock movie! :D

Clay F

Hard to beat Psycho. I remember The Birds movie as a young kid b/c of the striking concept of birds attacking humans.

RFK Fan

Hitchcock, while a filmmaking genius, was also a notorious letch.. He had quite the crush on his screen ingenue, Tippi Hendren (mother of actress Melanie Griffith). Hendren later accused Hitchcock of sexual assault during this production and again later when they worked on MARNIE.. Subsequently? Many other actresses and film crew also relayed similar stories working with him...

Cliff Adams

As a native SF guy, I noticed the actor who played the boat rental guy... local celebrity Doodles Weaver (uncle to Sigourney), Stanford grad, provided many voices to Spike Jones' records ("Beetlebaum!"). Great prankster.

Alan Jones

Notice there was no musical underscore. Bernard Herrmann, who wrote the scores for seven Hitchcock films, including Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Psycho (not to mention the many other non-Hitchcock film scores he created with masterful innovation), was hired on this film as a Sound Consultant whose task it was to help sculpt the bird sounds which served in lieu of a score into a musically-informed avant garde structure, mindful of tempos, volumes, textures, and the building of thin vs. thick sound structures. The only instances of music we hear are intrinsic to the scene. (The characters can hear it too.) Early on, we hear Melanie playing Debussy's "Clair de Lune" on the Brenners' piano, then later we hear the schoolchildren singing their "Ristletee Rostletee" song while the birds gather in the playground. That's about it. Tippi Hedren was mother to Melanie Griffith, whom she named for her character in The Birds, if I'm not misinformed. Suzanne Pleshette (Annie) was ultra-familiar to TV viewers in the 70s on The Bob Newhart Show, as psychologist Bob Hartley's wife Emily (another schoolteacher role). I would mention one other brief appearance she made at the very end of a certain series's final episode, but that would be telling, wouldn't it? Thank you for this reaction. Very thoughtful remarks as well. BTW, no CG in this era. Blue screen (forerunner to green screen) and other process shots, in camera effects, and photographic techniques, but not really CG. You mention the pacing. I think generally, films have gradually ratcheted up their pacing over the years, until the pacing that was normal in the past seems drawn out to younger viewers. I'd say something about attention spans, but I won't go there. Suffice it to say, it's worth approaching older films with your mental clock turned down a bit, kick back, and luxuriate in the longer time spent drinking in the imagery of a more measured tempo of film work.

Eric Lucas

Ohhhhhh I'm so excited to watch along with this tonight after work. Absolutely my favorite Hitchcock movie and I know the watch along experience will make it soooo fun. 🤩

JM63

Fun reaction! Haven't seen this one in a long time, but I really enjoyed revisiting it. I like how the question of what the birds represents is left open-ended. Is it the underlying threat of Communism? (The restaurant scene makes me think of McCarthyism and the "red scare" witch hunts.) Is it feminism and/or the beginnings of the sexual revolution? (A wealthy, untethered socialite throws Mitch's life, and a small town, out of whack.) Does it represent the emerging environmental movement? (In 1962 Rachel Carson published "Silent Spring," a hugely influential book about the harms of DDT.) Lots of interesting things to think about while enjoying Hitchcock's trademark visual flair (the birds slowly, then suddenly, gathering on the jungle gym still gets me) as well as some of his recurring images (e.g. the visual doubling of Melanie and the older Lydia and the blonde-brunette doubling of Melanie and Annie). Lots to dissect on Discord!

John Walters

Tippi Hedren sure is beautiful, isn't she? She is almost in Ames' league.

MarkGauci85

Great reaction Ames! I love the birds, but have to acknowledge the treatment Tippi Hedren had on set. The famous bird attack scene was famously filmed using real birds, not mechanical ones as initially planned. Hedren endured five days of filming where live birds were thrown at her and attached to her body. She faced physical exhaustion and emotional distress, breaking down when a bird nearly pecked her eye. The experience is also intertwined with allegations of Alfred Hitchcock's abuse and manipulative behavior during the filming of "The Birds" and "Marnie," including his alleged obsession with Hedren and attempts to punish her for rebuffing his advances.

Lana Gorgeous

I saw this movie in the late 60's when I was a kid and it terrorized me.

Roger Freeman

My mom didn't like scary movies but she loved this movie. Never missed it