Amazon.com Essentials:
Vacationing in northern California, Alfred Hitchcock was
struck by a story in a Santa Cruz newspaper: "Seabird Invasion Hits
Coastal Homes." From this peculiar incident, and his memory of a short
story by Daphne du Maurier, the master of suspense created one of his
strangest and most terrifying films. The Birds follows a chic
blonde, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), as she travels to the coastal
town of Bodega Bay to hook up with a rugged fellow (Rod Taylor) she's
only just met. Before long the town is attacked by marauding birds,
and Hitchcock's skill at staging action is brought to the fore. Beyond
the superb effects, however, The Birds is also one of
Hitchcock's most psychologically complicated scenarios, a tense study
of violence, loneliness, and complacency. What really gets under your
skin are not the bird skirmishes but the anxiety and the eerie quiet
between attacks. The director elevated an unknown model, Tippi Hedren
(mother of Melanie Griffith), to being his latest cool, blond leading
lady, an experience that was not always easy on the much-pecked
Ms. Hedren. Still, she returned for the next Hitchcock picture, the
underrated Marnie. Treated
with scant attention by serious critics in 1963, The Birds has
grown into a classic and--despite the sci-fi trappings--one of
Hitchcock's most serious films. --Robert Horton
