Hitchcock’s classic thriller, The Birds celebrates 60th anniversary with return to the big screen.

Hitchcock’s classic thriller, The Birds celebrates 60th anniversary with return to the big screen.

By: Kevin Vickery

As a Director, Producer, and Screenwriter, Alfred Hitchcock was known as a master of suspense and is regarded as being one of the most influential filmmakers of all time.  His 1963 thriller, “The Birds” was one of his most successful films and was released 60 years ago. To commemorate this occasion, Fandom Events brought the digitally remastered version back to AMC Theater in Muncie for a limited, two day run on the big screen.

The films plot centers around socialite, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedron) traveling from San Francisco to Bodega Bay in pursuit of her love interest, Lawyer, Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) where he stays on weekends with his Mother, Lydia (Jessica Tandy) and younger sister, Cathy (Veronica Cartwright). While there, she befriends schoolteacher, Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette).  The plot thickens as a seagull first attacks Melanie and then birds begin to join together in large groups to terrorize the people of Bodega Bay over the course of a few days. Birds of different feathers even flock together as seagulls and crows work in unison to prey on school children, townspeople, and the Brenners in their home. 

I feel like I shouldn’t have to say, “spoiler alert” when discussing a sixty year old movie, but just in case… if you don’t want to know how it ends, don’t read the rest of this paragraph. The movie’s climax features them escaping in Melanie’s car, and leaving Bodega Bay towards San Francisco.  There is however, no resolution as to what caused the birds to attack or any confirmation of Melanie and the Brenners making it to their destination. I’ve read that Hitchcock had written an alternate ending that offered more details and better wrapped up some of the loose ends but it was scrapped due to time and budget constraints.

The digitally remastered version of The Birds does offer enhanced video and audio qualities not available when the film was originally released in 1963. The menacing sounds of the birds shrieking and fluttering wings were in my opinion too loud and at times bordered on painful to the ears. Nevertheless, seeing and hearing this suspenseful classic on the big screen was something to remember, especially given that it was released nearly a decade before I was born. 

I spoke with fellow moviegoer and horror flick fan, Chad Moon of Fairmount IN who made the trip down to Muncie to experience the Hitchcock thriller.  He said that he has seen the movie several times throughout his life including versions on television, VHS, and DVD but was excited to have seen it in a theater for the first time.  Moon said, “I love seeing anything on the big screen compared to just watching it on TV”.  He added that watching the digitally remastered version “enhanced the quality of the birds so that they weren’t blurry like they are when watching on VHS because of the special effects that they had back in the day.”

As strange as this might seem, my personal favorite part of the movie was seeing all the old vehicles shown throughout the film. Mitch drove a 1960 Cadillac Sedan, his Mother had a 1956 Ford F250 pick-up that was given a lot of screen time, and there was even a 1948 John Deere Model A tractor that would have made my Grandpa proud.  But as far as cars in The Birds are concerned, the star of the show was Melanie’s 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coup Convertible that was so heavily featured that it should have had it’s own movie credit.

It should also be noted that The Birds was loosely based on the 1952 short story of the same name by Daphne du Maurer.  A Google search of modern remakes will lead you to stories, even a trailer for a 2014 remake that appears to be fake, as I can find nothing that proves that it ever happened. There are more recent accounts that in 2022 there were discussions about a new version starring Scarlet Johansson but from what I can find, it seems to be on hold. If it ever does come to fruition, maybe someday, with a current reboot, we can see this classic Hitchcock movie with the benefit of the modern production and special effects that it deserves.

Do you know of any local entertainment events that you would like to have covered here in my new entertainment column? If so, I would love to hear from you! Please email me at kevin.makesomenoise@yahoo.com

Henry County resident and Ball State alum, Kevin Vickery, is bassist and lead vocalist for The Cousin Brothers. He spent several years working in Nashville for some of the biggest names in Country Music before taking over the reins at his family business. If you have a story idea or an event that you think Kevin should cover, contact him at kevin.makesomenoise@yahoo.com