Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Killer Trivia about "The Birds"

Last weekend I watched "The Birds" for the first time. I can see why this movie is a classic! Hitchcock took something so everyday as a flock of birds and made me think of them as little murderers! I think the most frightening things are the believable ones, and a flock of crazed birds is much more believable to me than a classic movie monster.

Tippi Hedren runs from some crazy crows

I ran across this awesome Barbie version of Tippi Hedren - complete with birds! It's pretty funny because some of the people I watched this movie with commented that Tippi looked like a Barbie doll!


I wanted to learn more about this movie, so I googled "Trivia from The Birds" to find a little info...Turns out there is a lot of info! So here are a few of my favorite pieces of trivia:

1.) Tippi Hedren's daughter is Melanie Griffith!

2.) Tippi wore six identical green outfits through the filming since her clothing got so beat up (on account of those killer birds scratching at her).

3.) To get the seagulls to fly into the camera, ground beef was put on top of the lens and the gulls would swoop in to eat it. 

4.) Most of the birds used in the long shots of the birds perching were cardboard cutouts or stuffed birds. Live birds were interspersed with the fake birds to give the scene some movement and make the fake birds look alive.

5.) Suzanne Pleshette who plays the school teacher in The Birds, would go on to play Bob's wife on The Bob Newhart Show.

6.) This film had an all electronic soundtrack. (Meaning an all synthesised sound with no real instruments).

7.)  In real life, on August 18th of 1961, residents in the town of Capitola, California, awoke to find Sooty Shearwater birds (similar to Sea Gulls) slamming into their rooftops.  Their streets were covered with dead birds. News reports suggested 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".

The following video clip, in my opinion, is the most eerie part of this movie! I think what makes me feel so uneasy is the tension being built up gradually.



20 comments:

  1. I've avoided this movie my entire life! Birds have terrified me since I was a child. They don't have to be made to seem like little murderers - they ARE little murderers! :D

    Love the Barbie version though.

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  2. I didn't know they made a Barbie version!! That's cool. I wonder if they've done other horror versions of her. The Birds always made me laugh, I'm about to watch a really lame looking knock off of called "Kaw." I'll have to let you know how it goes.

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  3. I love how there's one comment from someone who is terrified of birds and another from someone who finds them funny! :) I got a kick out of your response halloween spirit! My mom was pretty much traumatized from seeing "The Birds" which is why I've waited so long to see the movie!

    Hiyoko - I know, I love that Barbie doll! It's amazing how there are Barbie versions of so many characters. Yeah, let me know how "Kaw" goes! That movie is already sounding pretty silly from its title. :)

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  4. okay, how funny is it that we kept saying she looked like a barbie, and there actually is one!!

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  5. :) I know! I don't think they needed to make a lot of changes in Barbie's basic design for this one...

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  6. I think I saw "Kaw". I can't tell you how bad it was....it's erased from memory!

    I love that you have a Halloween blog. It's my favorite holiday!

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  7. Not that I play with Barbie Dolls haha..but that one is petty cool! Great blog. I am checking it out for the first time. Please free to stop by mine as well!
    Frightguy~

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  8. Hehe - Yeah, I know what you mean Heidi! Some movies are just that bad. :) Nice to see you on this blog as well!

    You probably guessed this, but Halloween is my favorite holiday too. ;)

    Thanks for checking out my blog Frightguy - I'll take a look at yours too! Yeah, I think that Barbie doll is too awesome to play with. I'd probably just stand her around decoratively!

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  9. I have that Barbie! :D
    I also collect faux crows.
    I'm a bit obsessed with this movie, heh.
    I didn't know some of that triva though.
    Spooktacular post!

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  10. You do? That's so cool! Do you know if there are any other Barbies based on characters from horror films? Glad you enjoyed the post! :)

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  11. Yep! She's the only one I know of, except the Twilight Barbies.
    There's Addams, Munsters, and a Bewitched Barbie though!
    Sadly I don't own them, but I have some Halloween Kelly dolls.
    I shall post pics of them soon! :)

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  12. I've seen the Twilight Barbies! Thanks for pointing me towards the other themed dolls. I just googled them. I liked the Munsters set best. I don't know what was up with the Gomez doll! :) The Bewitched Barbie looks like it was made in the older style. Yeah, post some pics of your Kelly dolls! I have some of those too. I have a little candy corn witch that is my favorite. :)

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  13. Kaw was awful lol, as expected. It's great if you're weird like me and love ravens, because there are a lot of cute cuddly raven moments.

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  14. No problem! :)
    I definitely dig the Munsters set best too.
    And I agree, the newer Bewitched Barbie looks more like Samantha.
    Ooh, which Kelly dolls do you have?
    I have bat Kelly, vampire Tommy, and just got the Frankenstein and Bride ones. <3

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  15. Hiyoko - hehe I just looked up Kaw and watched the trailer on YouTube. Well, I guess my expectations were very low because it didn't look as bad as I thought it would! I love Ravens too and I have to say that they looked like better actors than the humans in this movie. ;)

    HollyHorrorshow - Do you own any of the Barbies we talked about? (Besides The Birds Barbie) As far as the Kelly dolls, I have the little witch with the candy corn hat and the clown. I just looked up the dolls you mentioned and the Frankenstein set is so cute! I couldn't find the bat or the vampire dolls online, though.

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  16. Nope, they're all out of my price range, sadly.
    The bat Kelly and vampire Tommy are from a few years ago.
    They should be on eBay though.
    I'll try to post pics of them today.

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  17. Actually, the Bewitched Barbie isn't too pricey! :) *Wants*

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  18. hehe Yeah, I didn't even check the prices on these dolls! I assumed they were priced high, since they're collectible. I imagine that some people must spend a lot of money on their Barbie collections!

    I just looked up the prices on the Bewitched Barbies and it looks like you could get one for $35, although it's the one with the vintage Barbie face. I'll check your blog for those doll pics!

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  19. and the little girl, Angela Cartwright , is the "voice" of Marge Simpson and older sister to Nancy Cartwright (Alien, Witches of Eastwick, Invasion of the Bodysnatchers... )
    ... A great film....

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  20. That may Veronica... rather than Nancy...

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