The Birds is a 1963 American nature horror-thriller film created and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is loosely based on Daphne du Maurier's 1952 short tale of the same name, which describes a sequence of abrupt and inexplicably severe bird attacks that occur over a few days against the residents of Bodega Bay, California.
The movie stars Veronica Cartwright, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, and Tippi Hedren in her feature debut. Evan Hunter wrote the screenplay after Hitchcock instructed him to preserve the title and idea of mysterious bird assaults from du Maurier but add more characters and a more complex plot.
Because of his work on the movie, Ub Iwerks received a nomination for Best Special Effects at the 36th Academy Awards. But Emil Kosa Jr., the lone other contender for Cleopatra, won the prize.
The United States Library of Congress declared The Birds to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 2016 and included it in its National Film Registry for preservation.
Cast[]
| Character | Actor | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Mitch Brenner
|
Rod Taylor | |
|
Lydia Brenner
|
Jessica Tandy | |
|
Annie Hayworth
|
Suzanne Pleshette | |
|
Melanie Daniels
|
Tippi Hedren | |
|
Cathy Brenner
|
Veronica Cartwright | |
|
Mrs. Bundy
|
Ethel Griffies | |
|
Sebastian Sholes
|
Charles McGraw | |
|
Mrs. MacGruder
|
Ruth McDevitt | |
|
Deke Carter
|
Lonny Chapman | |
|
Cynical businessman
|
Joe Mantell | |
|
Fisherman
|
Doodles Weaver | |
|
Deputy Al Malone
|
Malcolm Atterbury | |
|
Postal clerk
|
John McGovern | |
|
Doomsayer
|
Karl Swenson | |
|
Mitch's neighbor
|
Richard Deacon | |
|
Helen Carter
|
Elizabeth Wilson | |
|
Sam
|
Dal McKennon | |
|
Hysterical mother
|
Doreen Lang | |
International versions[]
| Language | Title | |
|---|---|---|
|
Cantonese | 鳥 |
|
|
Catalan | Els ocells |
|
Czech | Ptáci |
|
French | Les Oiseaux |
|
German | Die Vögel |
|
|
Hindi | unknown |
|
Hungarian | Madarak |
|
Italian | Gli uccelli |
|
|
Japanese (Glovision Inc., 1st dub) |
鳥 |
|
|
Japanese (Glovision Inc., 2nd dub) |
鳥 |
|
|
Japanese (Eiga Koron Co.) |
鳥 |
|
|
Korean | 새 |
|
|
Persian (first dub) |
پرندگان |
|
|
Persian (Century 21 Studio) |
پرندگان |
|
|
Persian (Sevina Group) |
پرندگان |
|
Portuguese (Brazil) | Os Pássaros |
|
Slovak | Vtáci |
|
Spanish (Latin America) | Los pájaros |
|
|
Spanish (Spain) | Los pájaros |