The Birds (1963) 2 Filmmakers react! 1st Time Watching for MAJOR! HITCH-FEST IS LIVE! 

There are so many great Hitchcock movies beyond the usual: The Lady Vanishes, The 39 Steps, Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious, Strangers on a Train.

What you guys missed was the sodium vapor traveling matte process throughout the film - not rear screen projection (like Lifeboat). The motorboat scene, car scenes, the layers of birds flying through the house and across frames. It was all done with the yellow screen process, which can composite fine lace, hair edges, smoke, spraying water, and fortunately for this film’s purposes, blurry flapping wings.

When I lived near the forested hills on the west side of Sapporo, hundreds of ravens would return in the evening to roost on the telephone wires - always very ominous.

Hope that The Rope is on this list.

That scene where Melanie is talking to Mitch on the phone, while Annie sits in the foreground listening reminds me so much of that scene in Get Carter, where Michael Caine is talking dirty to his mistress while his landlady sits in the foreground listening. Never noticed that similarity before.

Suzanne Pleshette is my first choice (love her) , but I did like Tippi in this too. Fun fact - the little girl Cathy is Veronica Cartwright. She was the other woman on the Nostromo in "Alien" and her sister was Penny in the 1960's series "Lost in Space".

There actually is no door when they leave the house at the end. The door is simply suggested by the group of them standing in the darkness. Opening the door is pantomimed. Pure cinema...

The Mel Brooks parody of the Hitchcock films, High Anxiety, is pretty funny - The Birds vignette within it is pure classic!

You should follow up your little trip into Hitchcock territory by watching Mel Brooks' High Anxiety.

That was a good reaction. Very enjoyable watching you discuss how the movie is made.

Suzanne Pleshette was beautiful, but watching this movie the first time, I really felt Tippi was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Gorgeous figure too. I still feel that way. In the opening scenes, in that suit she wore, impeccable. And Rod Taylor was the most handsome man.

Love the ending to this, you just wonder was this just this area or day 1 of a total attack. An the shot's in this film are beautiful

OK I'm leaving now, cant even watch the end. STOP LAUGHING

Jessica Tandy was more of a stage actress when young. The film industry, at that time, didn't know what to do with her. She was the original Blanche DuBois in the stage version of Streetcar Named Desire with Brando. Her and her husband Hume Cronyn were great friends of Hitchcock. Cronyn was in Shadow of a Doubt a great Hitchcock film from the 40s.

The first man to make detective, Bodega Bay PD, That's a bird alright.

The cop was played by the same actor who met Cary Grant at the cornfield in North By Northwest --- That plane is dusting crops where there ain't no crops.

The main actress who said she had those negative experiences was Tippi Hendren. Ingrid Bergman made 3 films with Hitchcock and adored him, speaking at his Life Achievement Award; Grace Kelly made 3 films as well. They would never have continued an association if unprofessional activities took place. Kim Novak specifically stated that she never had any type of sexual harassment from Hitchcock. Teresa Wright said she had a positive experience working with Hitchcock. Janet Leigh had no bad assessment of Hitchcock personally, just the demands of her shower scenes. Julie Andrews was very positive about her experiences with Hitchcock. Actresses were often pushed with many demands for perfection and retakes and physical challenges by Hitchcock. But sexual harassment did not seem to be a repeating factor throughout his films.

"the birds" was based on a book by the same author, Daphne du Maurier, who wrote the book "rebecca" which hitchcock based his first american film on. the film "rebecca" won the 1940 oscar for best picture but the director oscar went to john ford for "the grapes of wrath." hitchcock never won an oscar for directing. but he did recieve a "life-time acheivement" award, i think, in the 70s.

I think you would enjoy watching Mel Brooks‘s High Anxiety which is an homage to Alfred Hitchcock

The reason for the odd sound of the birds was that their sound was created electronically, which made for a slightly unsettling effect. A lot of the special effects were created by the Disney studio.

I don't know if it was mentioned before but the movie doesn't have a music soundtrack. It's all sound effects. Also, this is Hitchcock's most mysterious movie, open to interpretation. I tend to think that the bird attacks are a result of amoral, bigoted or hostile behavior on the part of humans and that they eventually stop because the family has become closer and is no longer fighting with each other. It's all a big parable, but it's still not clear what Hitchcock was trying to say with the movie. In any case, it's more than just gruesome entertainment, it's a work of art. It's sad that movies like that aren't made anymore. These days, people get bored if a dialogue lasts longer than 10 seconds and if there hadn't been an action sequence in the first five minutes of the film. It's all about stimulation of the senses - but not the brain. In my opinion Alfred Hitchcock is - for many reasons - the best movie director of the 20th century. He not only mastered the transition from silent movies to talkies (while the vast majority of directors failed at that), he also invented a completely new visual language for film, where things are being told without someone explaining them. His work is full or metaphores and hidden meanings - nothing is left to chance. When he was able to work without interference (which sadly didn't always happen), every single frame of his movies are what he wanted you to see, from the choice of colors over which props are being used or even which cars are being driven. Birds and their symbolism as heralds of doom have run through his works since he made the first sound film. Birds also play an important role in Psycho, both literally and figuratively. He also always attached great importance to sound and sound effects. His color symbolism was in the tradition of English theater, where, for example, the color green stood for the spirit world or the world of the dead. Hitchcock shaped the profession of the director as a filmmaker and made his name a brand. Before him, directors were just random employees of a movie studio, doing a job, and all the credits went to the producer. People have written books about him and to this day he serves as a role model for directors like Steven Spielberg and many others.

Obviously you don't understand its 1963, way before the techniques guys think are so important and depend on to do a lot of your work. Its not about the quality of the effects, its about the story.

Some fun behind the scenes tidbits: The premise was ever so slightly believable, because there had been an event where birds eating decayed algae got high and couldn't fly straight, so it looked like they were attacking people (even though they weren't). When Melanie slaps the hysterical mother, Tippi pulled her punches and it didn't look right, so the other actress urged her to slap her for real. My favorite one though is that one specific crow developed a fondness for Tippi and would regularly visit her trailer. There are even photos of him holding a match and lighting her cigarette. There was also a crow that didn't like Rod whatsoever, and it was used during the final scene where he gets pecked while on the porch. I can't recall if this was the same crow, but it would be very funny if it was, as though it were jealous.

He's a gritty Aussie, he can take a bit of bird pecking. Apparently, Rod's hand was really bleeding at one point. Actually, Magpies are enough to scare the shit out of you. My brother copped one in the back of the head when we were kids, and it drew blood. He turned around to us and shouted, stop throwing rocks! Then there's the Spur Winged Plover. That's right, they've got spurs on their wings, and they're ultra aggressive if you get near their nest. We used to engage with them growing up on the farm.

Fun review and reaction. Thank you. I remember the first time seeing this movie , I was much too young to be seeing it (probably around 7 years old) my older sisters were watching it and I just slipped in unnoticed. The kids running from the school and being attacked really frightened me. Probably because I could relate to the kids, attacks on adults didn’t seem to bother me as much. Looking forward to your next Hitchcock choice.

Movies on boats: ALL IS LOST with Robert Redford.

Susanne Pleshette and Tippi Hedren are both gorgeous. Jessica Tandy is attractive.

TIPPI HEDREN DID GET HURT BY REAL BIRDS...HITCHCOCK JUST KEPT FILMING!!!👍👍👍

The scene that shows the birds pecking holes in the wooden front door is very well done in my opinion. Some chilling Night of the Living Dead vibes.

TIPPI HEDRON RUNS A BIG CAT REFUGE ON HER LAND. SHE LOVES BIG CATS!!!🦁🦁🦁

Please react to Vertigo, too!

Defiantly Tippy

THE LATE, GREAT JESSICA TANDY, STARRED ON BROADWAY WITH BRANDO AS BLANCHE DUBOIS IN "STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE"❤❤❤❤❤❤ IN MY TOP TEN📽📽📽

Fun fact A bird fell i love Tippi Hedren, would fly to her every morning when she went to make up, but another one dive bombed Rod Taylor any time it saw him. it got to the point it had be removed from the set.

That Simpsons episode which incorporated ideas from The Birds, also had Maggie take on the persona of Steve McQueen in The Great Escape, (the “Cooler King”) and used the theme music from Great Escape too. A great Simpsons episode!

Hi, sorry I skipped the Kurasawa Fest, but I couldn't read the subtitles from the tv at the foot of the bed. I might have tried harder for "Ran." Anyway, i hope Hitch-fest will be more popular. But you seem to have started rather late in the man's career. For a modicum of justice, you may have to go all the way back to "The 39 Steps" (so many movies have its dna in them), "The Lady Vanishes," Strangers on A Train" and "Shadow of a Doubt." By the 40's, Hitchcock may have been "the master of suspense," but he wasn't yet recognized as a supremely gifted filmmaker. Oh, oh, I forgot "Rebecca"! Please don't make the same mistake. I might just go re-watch that right now. I hope you'll save "North By Northwest" as the fest finale/cherry on top. Maybe not his very best movie, but perhaps his most perfect entertainment. Just so much fun. A list of Hitch movies "out of contention" might be useful for further suggestions. Thanks!

Work, just so you know that the man that helped her into the boat? His name is doodle's Weaver. The last name should sound for me earlier. Because he's related to sagorni weaver

ROD TAYLOR WAS PRETTY FAMOUS THEN. SEE "THE V.I.P.'s" excellent!!🎬📽🎬🎥📽🎬

I HAD LOVE BIRDS...SONNY & CHER!!!🐦🐦

I heard an interesting theory about this that the birds' behavior was the externalization of the prevailing emotions of the cast - it seems to work~

KATHY, LITTLE GIRL, GREW UP AND WAS IN "ALIEN"... CARTRIGHT...

My mother told me her sister's friend died of a heart attack watching this movie back in 1963. She said they were easy to scare back then. The one who died must have been around 19 or 20 at the time.

Add Rope to your Hitch watch list

Just so you know, most of those crows that were sitting on that jungle gym were not real

ELECTRICAL-MAGNETISM SHIFTS EASILY MESS UP BIRDS NAVIGATION.😩😩😩😩

any news on seven samurai?

I know this is a reaction vids, but you guys are really going overboard. Can you let a couple of scenes go on without your sarcastic remarks. Its irritating and disrespectful. You guys are film makers, then understand true film makers when you see them.

The teacher, played by Suzanne Pleshette, was much prettier than the lead Tippi Hedren. And I prefer Mary Ann to Ginger!😊 I like that the girl didn't become "bird racist" and not blame the love birds.😊😅 On a more serious note, Micheal Jackson was not a child molester, just strange. If you follow the 2005 trial you find out why he was acquitted. The adult accuser was a little off

He would have made a better Jurassic Park than Speilberg did. The Birds - a bunch of birds go nuts. Jurassic Park - a bunch of dinosaurs go nuts

Bodega is not that far from SF...Yeah, humans never do anything irrational. After all, flouridation was indeed a commie plot, MAD was not, and drivers never drive across railway tracks while trains are coming...

It's too bad you felt the need to laugh about children being attacked, among other significant plot scenes . . . it wasn't meant to be a comedy. So much for your reviews on a cinematic level.👎

MINER BIRDS ARE ANNOYING!!!