The Birds

The Birds (1963)

Timing: 1:59 (119 min)

7.513/10
4431

7.541/10
45733

7.6/10
219000

All about film

Video 14

Photo 108

Actors and characters

Release date

1963-03-28

Country

United States

Production

Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions

Genre

Horror, Thriller

Budget

$2 500 000

Revenue

$11 500 000

Website

Director

Alfred Hitchcock

Actors

Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, Veronica Cartwright, Ethel Griffies, Charles McGraw, Ruth McDevitt, Lonny Chapman, Joe Mantell
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Alfred Hitchcock

Operator

Robert Burks

Composer

Artist

Audition

Editing

George Tomasini
All team (21)

• The film lacks a musical score, with the exception of sounds created on a "mixtrautonium" (one of the first electronic musical instruments) and children's singing in a school.
• Despite the absence of music in the film, composer Bernard Herrmann is credited as a "sound consultant".
• Initially, Alfred Hitchcock wanted Joseph Stefano ("Psycho") to write the screenplay, but the latter disliked the plot of Daphne du Maurier's story. The screenplay was written by Evan Hunter.
• Alfred Hitchcock cast Tippi Hedren in the lead role after seeing her in a beverage commercial.
• The film does not feature the customary "The End" title card.
• Melanie's car is an Aston Martin DB2/4.
• The film contains 370 shots with special effects. The final shot consists of 32 elements filmed separately.
• Hitchcock's film was not the first adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's story. There are at least two radio adaptations. Additionally, James P. Cavanaugh wrote an adaptation of the story for a half-hour episode of the series 'Danger' (1950).
• Originally, the rights to adapt Daphne du Maurier's story were purchased for use as a plot in one episode of the series 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' (1955).
• Several endings were considered for the film, one of which would have shown the Golden Gate Bridge completely covered in birds.
• The raven that sits on Alfred Hitchcock's shoulder in all the promotional photos is absent from the film. It was bought for $10 from a twelve-year-old boy after filming had already wrapped.
• “The Birds” was the first film released under the “Universal Pictures” logo, rather than “Universal-International.”
• A scene of a conversation between Melanie and Mitch was cut from the film after Lydia Brenner left for the Fossitt farm. No footage of the scene survives; only the script pages and set photos remain. These materials can be found on a special DVD edition.
• Tippi Hedren is absent from the famous poster of the film, which depicts a woman screaming in terror. Jessica Tandy is featured on the poster.
• After the film was shown on NBC-TV on January 6, 1968, it became the highest-rated film on television at the time of its premiere. “The Birds” held this record until 1972, when “Love Story” (1970) was broadcast on television.
• According to Rod Taylor, the seagulls were fed a mixture of wheat and whiskey. This was the only way to keep them on the ground for an extended period.
• As audiences exited the cinema at the London premiere of the film, they could hear a loud cacophony of bird sounds from loudspeakers hidden in the trees.
• Alfred Hitchcock can be spotted at the beginning of the film – he walks out of a pet shop with two dogs.
• Two flamingos, 50 red cardinals and starlings, and 6 penguins were also present at the London premiere of the film.
• After the suggestion of using mechanical birds in most scenes was rejected, the renowned animal trainer Ray Berwick was brought in.
• A bird genuinely injured Tippi Hedren's face in one of the film's scenes.
• It took seven days to film the scene where Melanie (Tippi Hedren) is attacked by birds shortly before the end of the film. To prevent the birds from flying away, they were attached to the actress with long nylon threads. According to Hedren, it was the worst week of her life.
• A stunt double for Tippi Hedren stood in for her in the scene where Mitch carries Melanie down the stairs, because at the same time Tippi was in the hospital due to physical exhaustion from the week-long filming of the scene where she is attacked by birds shortly before the end of the film.