The Birds (1963) - Hitchcock spearheads horror sub-genre and innovative special effects in great, odd film

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Stunningly elegant poster for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds

The Birds is one of British master director Alfred Hitchcock's last films, (he had 5 more in him to be exact.) It is an unusual film in many respects, mainly because it is a huge movie of a freak animal attack, something that hadn't been seen before at all to the best of my knowledge. But something that became a popular sub-genre of its own after this; from shark attacks in Jaws (1973) to piranha-attacks in Piranha (1978) and even bee-attacks in The Swarm (1978), people have relished the idea of animals going berserk on us ever since.
The Birds, which is based on a short story by Daphne Du Maurier (Rebecca (1940)), mixes comedic tongue-in-cheek-playful romance with sudden terror, as the film turns into a full-blown horror survival story.
The choice not to have a score for the movie is unusual as well, but it makes for some tense, uncomfortable moments of silence several times, - but also to some loud bird attacks that start to claw in our ears and overstay their welcomes a time or two.
As always, Hitchcock's camera is mobile and story-telling in itself, and ever so elegant, so that merely watching Birds feels like a luxury. Again here with Robert Burks (North by Northwest (1959)) behind it.
In Birds, Hitch also has the advantage of very beautiful localities; San Francisco and up the coast to the small coastal town of Bodega Bay. All in ravishing, full but still natural Technicolor. And the matte work and yellow screen composites are amazingly realistic.

Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor meet cute in a bird shop in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds

The woman who takes the trip is played by Tippi Hedren (Marnie (1964)) in her screen debut, and she is one elegant and spunky lady. We like her straight away, and Hitch gets us into her romantic prank wonderfully. The object of her affection is played by Rod Taylor (The Time Machine (1960)), who also has charisma, presence and intelligence as well as the good looks to match her. Their chemistry bounces off the screen, and in supporting roles, Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy (1989)) is good as the restrained matriarch, and Suzanne Pleshette (The Fugitive (1964-65)) makes a fine school teacher.
Another device that I think Birds more or less invented is the diner scene debate, in which every-day people gather to share outlooks on the ominous, possibly apocalyptic even, attacks. It's a great scene, and it is followed by lavish amounts of mayhem and catastrophe.

The details:

- Because The Birds is a special effects movie as much as anything else. The difficulties involved in making this film are truly incredible, as CGI wasn't invented, and Hitch and his crew were the best in the world and not about to lower their bars. This was a mountain of a movie effects-wise, and it gets pulled off impressively, not least thanks to the bravery of all the cast members, who often took real bird attacks on camera for the shots. It all helped earn the film its only Oscar-nomination (Best Special Effects), (but it lost to Cleopatra (1963).)
The birds and why they attack SPOILER remain a conundrum, the way Hitchcock and screenwriter Evan Hunter wanted it, to prevent the film from being science fiction, and I think they were totally right. As much as I enjoy it, though, the birds themselves never terrify me; - the whole scenario is just too odd for that, I think. Or perhaps I just can't get afraid of birds. There is a freaky thing about it anyway though, something that creeps under your skin about the random chaos, which is anxiety-provoking and might give nightmares, but terror when I see the birds, - it doesn't happen.
The Birds isn't among my favorite Hitchcock's, but it is an odd and great film.

Hitchcock was quite the humorist and loved marketing stunts such as doing these stills:

Related review:

Alfred Hitchcock: The 39 Steps (1935) or, Murder and High Jinx!

Watch the long, but truly great trailer for the film, starting with a lecture of birds by the master himself, the great movie-maker and showman, Alfred Hitchcock

Cost: 3.3 mil.
Box office. 11.4 mil. 4
= Big hit

What do you think of The Birds?
Other animal attack movies that you love (or just want to highlight)?
What are your favorite Hitchcock films?

Driving Miss Daisy (1989) - A warm and funny film about friendship and life

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The spare, classy poster for Bruce Beresford's Driving Miss Daisy

Driving Miss Daisy is an adaptation of Alfred Uhry's (Mystic Pizza (1988), writer) play, the screenplay adapted by himself.
It is a comedic drama set in Atlanta, Georgia about a long-running work and friendly relationship between the African-American driver Hoke and the elderly Jewish lady Miss Daisy, who has to accept taking on a chauffeur from her wealthy son, as her own skills are failing. It begins around 1954, and the tale ends about 25 years later.
Daisy began as an off-Broadway play in 1987 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1988. Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption (1994)) played in the production, which ran a hefty 1,195 performances! The play has since been done on Broadway and in England and Australia.
The film lives and breathes on wonderful performances by Freeman, who I suspect didn't have to work hard for the part, and London-born Jessica Tandy (The Birds (1963)), who does an extremely fine job as the stubborn, hard Daisy, who finds it difficult to relate to the new-found wealth in her family, and finally learns that her best friend is her loyal, humorous driver. She is thoroughly moving, not least in the later scenes in the film, SPOILER as in the long scene in her house when she has lost her memory. Tandy deservedly won an Oscar for her performance.
Her son is played by the incredibly likable Dan Aykroyd (The Blues Brothers (1980)), whose endearing catchphrase in the film rings long after it's over; "You're a doodle, mama."
The film won an additional 3 Oscars, for Best Picture, make-up and adapted screenplay, and was nominated in all for 9, making it both a very strong critical and commercial hit.
It could have won for editing, I thought, which it was also nominated for, because the editing by Mark Warner (48 Hrs. (1982), editor) really is seamless. The film flows beautifully, and one enjoys it tremendously, even though there's no central conflict or real escalation of events. Rather, Daisy is a film about a relationship between two people, - a totally platonic friendship, - that develops over many years.
The two brush against prejudice and bigotry, - even a hate-crime bombing of her synagogue, - which pushes them together some, as they both belong to persecuted minorities. But these themes are not the main event in Daisy, as they are in the outstanding, recent The Help (2011). Daisy is more of a strictly human story.

The details:

The aging make-up was awarded with an Oscar, and it is well-made, for both Freeman and Tandy age believably in the film. (The latter mostly had to look younger at first, being 79 or 80 at the time of production.) Only Aykroyd at one point suffers a make-up-enduced overly long forehead that seems unrealistic.
The film was conducted by Aussie director Bruce Beresford (Mao's Last Dancer (2009)), who has recently directed the Bonnie and Clyde (2013) miniseries, and is next set to direct the Afghanistan-war-themed Zendog (2015), starring married couple Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy.
The score is by Hans Zimmer (The Lion King (1994)), the much-hailed composer, being one of his earlier works, and I think it suffers a bit because of Zimmer's attraction to the contemporary wave of electronic fascination, (or perhaps because of lack of funds?)
The soundtrack was Grammy-nominated and is done exclusively by Zimmer himself, with no live instruments playing; it is only done electronically, using samples and synthesizers. I think it sticks out on this otherwise impeccable period-piece, and not in a good way.
But it doesn't detract much from Driving Miss Daisy, which is still a merry, heart-warming time that everyone old enough to understand what's going on can and should enjoy.

Related reviews:

Dan Aykroyd: Behind the Candelabra (2013) - Restraint and extravagance
Twilight Zone The Movie (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology
1941 (1979) - Spielberg's bizarre 'comedy spectacular' sinks like a rock

Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman in one of the film's many, wonderful driving scenes

Budget: 7.5 mil. $
Box office: 145.7 mil. $
= Critical hit and commercial blockbuster

What do you think of Driving Miss Daisy?
Can you name other warm, funny films like it?