02 January 2012, 08:22
sambarman338'The Birds'
Not to take away from Gryphon's excellent pictures, did anyone see 'The Birds' on ABC2 last night? I wonder if this is Alfred Hitchcock's worst film. Though the name was taken from a Daphne du Maurier novel, Hitch apparently told the screenplay bloke to throw away the book and do his own thing.
I liked Tippi Hedron's pre-007 Aston Marton and the FX were great for the time - but the script was un-American in that no one bothered to get his shotgun out. The crows, at least, would have got the message at that point.
02 January 2012, 09:38
DenisB2012 is a nstalgia year for yu Paul;
- ABC
- the birds
that movie scared the crap out of me as a young tacker when I first saw it.
any bird with black on it has been my avowed enemy ever since.
03 January 2012, 03:46
gryphon1They looked somewhat like this...A Forest Raven.
04 January 2012, 05:00
DenisBLovely pic
.........evil eyed bird tho...........
04 January 2012, 06:35
Grenadierquote:
For the final attack scene in a second-floor bedroom, filmed on a closed set at Universal-International Studios, Hedren had been assured by Hitchcock that mechanical birds would be used. Instead, Hedren endured five solid days of prop men, protected by thick leather gloves, flinging dozens of live gulls, ravens and crows at her (their beaks clamped shut with elastic bands). Cary Grant visited the set and told Hedren, "I think you're the bravest lady I've ever met." In a state of exhaustion, when one of the birds gouged her cheek and narrowly missed her eye, Hedren sat down on the set and began crying. A physician ordered a week's rest, which Hedren said at the time was riddled with "nightmares filled with flapping wings".
04 January 2012, 18:06
sambarman338Interesting eye on the forest raven, all right. The blue 'iris' with white around is almost analogous with a human's, giving 'personality' clues critters don't show when no whites can be seen. We had ravens (?) in the Western District with black eyes and others with white eyes. Dad reckoned the black-eyed ones were the baddies where sheep were concerned.
On the matter of getting close to 'crows', many seem to know the range of a shotgun and keep out of it. An old bloke told me he had zeroed his fox rifle for a tree 300 yards from his house, though. The crows thought they were safe there but the .17 Remington got 'em every time.
One bit of that film that got me was every time someone opened a door and saw birds the other side, they had to go through it to get pecked. Why would you do that?
Why would the teacher take all the kids out into the open when the birds had not broken into the school? Calling the sheriff or fire brigade would have seemed a brighter idea to me.
As I'm sure you've noticed, Denis, the whole thing was probably prompted by the mood of 'Silent Spring', ie this is what happens when humans mess around with Nature, a common theme with greenies and San Francisco-type people.
04 January 2012, 22:11
gryphon1Was 'The Birds' made before Rachael Carsons book SS?
05 January 2012, 18:25
sambarman338Until you asked, John, I would have said definitely No. However, googling showed the book was only published the year before and Wikipedia's 'The Birds' entry includes this:
Development
On 18 August 1961, residents in the town of Capitola, California, awoke to find sooty shearwaters slamming into their rooftops, and their streets covered with dead birds. News reports suggested domoic acid poisoning (amnesic shellfish poisoning) as the cause. According to a local newspaper, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Alfred Hitchcock requested news copy in 1961 to use as "research material for his latest thriller".[3] So, whether Hitch new about the book or not, his film seems to have come from the idea of poisoned birds.