The Birds

"I think we're in real trouble. I don't know how this started or why, but I know it's here and we'd be crazy to ignore it... The bird war, the bird attack, plague - call it what you like. They're amassing out there someplace and they'll be back. You can count on it... Unless we do something right now, unless we get Bodega Bay on the move, they... Mrs. Bundy said something about Santa Cruz, about seagulls getting lost in a fog and then flying in towards the lights... Make our own fog... we can use smoke pots the way the Army uses 'em."

"I'm neither poor nor innocent."

"[as she sees a man lighting his cigar as gasoline is leaking around him] Look at the gas, that man's lighting a cigar!"

"Annie Hayworth: This tilling of the soil can become compulsive, you know... Well, it's something to do in your spare time. There's a lot of spare time in Bodega Bay."

"Lydia Brenner: I wish I were a stronger person. I lost my husband four years ago, you know. It's terrible how you, you depend on someone else for strength and then suddenly all the strength is gone and you're alone. I'd love to be able to relax sometime. I'd love to be able to sleep... I'm not like this, you know, not usually. I don't fuss and fret about my children. When Frank died, you see, he understood the children, he really understood them. He had the knack of entering into their world and becoming part of them. That's a very rare talent... Oh, I wish, I wish, I wish I could be like that. I miss him! Sometimes even now, I wake up in the morning and I think: 'I must get Frank's breakfast'. And I get up, and there's a very good reason for getting out of bed until, of course, I remember. I miss talking to him. Cathy's a child, of course, and Mitch, well, Mitch has his own life. I'm glad he stayed here today. I-I feel safer with him here... Don't go. I feel as if I don't understand you at all and I-I want so much to understand... because my son seems to be very fond of you and I don't know quite how I feel about it. I don't even know if I like you or not... Mitch is important to me. I want to like whatever girl he chooses... Well, I don't think it's going to matter very much to anyone but me... Mitch has always done exactly what he wanted to do. But, you see, I don't want to be left alone. I don't think I could bear to be left alone. Oh, forgive me... This business with the birds has upset me. I don't know what I'd do if Mitch weren't here... I wish I was stronger."

"Mrs. Bundy: Yes, sir, I recall it. The town was just covered with seagulls... A large flock of seagulls got lost in the fog and headed into the town where all the lights were."

"Traveling Salesman: And they made some mess too. Smashing into buildings and everything. They always make a mess."

"Mrs. Bundy: The point is that no-one seemed to be upset about it. They were all gone the next morning just as though nothing at all had happened. Poor things."

"Mother in diner: [to Melanie] Why are they doing this? Why are they doing this? They said when you got here, the whole thing started. Who are you? What are you? Where did you come from? I think you're the cause of all this. I think you're evil. EVIL!"

"Cathy Brenner: He's got a client who shot his wife in the head six times. Six times, can you imagine it? I mean, even twice would be overdoing it, don't you think?"

"Cathy Brenner: (crying) When we got back from taking Michelle home, we heard the explosion and went outside to see what it was. All at once, the birds were everywhere. All at once, she pushed me inside and they covered her. Annie, she pushed me inside."

"Radio newscaster: In Bodega Bay early this morning, a large flock of crows attacked a group of children who were leaving the school during a fire drill. One little girl was seriously injured and taken to the hospital in Santa Rosa, but the majority of children reached safety. We understand there was another attack on the town. But this information is rather sketchy. So far, no word has come through to show if there have been further attacks."

"Radio newscaster: The bird attacks have subsided for the time being. Bodega Bay seems to be the center, though there are reports of minor attacks on Sebastopol and a few on Santa Rosa. Bodega Bay has been cordoned off by roadblocks. Most of the townspeople have managed to get out, but there are still some isolated pockets of people. No decision has been arrived at yet as to what the next step will be but there's been some discussion as to whether the military should go in. It appears that the bird attacks come in waves with long intervals between. The reason for this does not seem clear as yet."

"Suspense and shock beyond anything you have seen or imagined!"

"It could be the most terrifying motion picture I have ever made!"

"Nothing you have ever witnessed before has prepared you for such sheer stabbing shock!"

"The Birds is coming!"

"...And remember, the next scream you hear could be your own!"

"Rod Taylor - Mitch Brenner"

"Tippi Hedren - Melanie Daniels"

"Jessica Tandy - Lydia Brenner"

"Suzanne Pleshette - Annie Hayworth"

"Veronica Cartwright - Cathy Brenner"

"Ethel Griffies - Mrs. Bundy, elderly ornithologist"

"Charles McGraw - Sebastian Sholes, fisherman in diner"

"Lonny Chapman - Deke Carter, cook in diner"

"Joe Mantell - Traveling salesman at diner's bar"

"Karl Swenson - Drunk doomsayer in diner"

"Doreen Lang - Mother in diner"

"Ruth McDevitt - Mrs. MacGruder, pet store clerk"

"Mr. Hitchcock ... begins, innocently, with a haughty San Francisco girl having a testy encounter in a bird shop with a man on whom she plays a practical joke. Then, mischievously, he leads her to the fellow's family home in a fishing village north of San Francisco to deliver an impudent present of two s. ... Then, sneakily, Mr. Hitchcock tweaks us with a tentative touch of the bizarre. The plausible is interrupted by a peculiar avian caprice. A attacks a young woman. Flocks of angry gulls whirl in the air. A swarm of s swoops down a chimney and whirrs madly through the living room. And, then, before we know it, he is flying in shock waves of birds and the wild, mad, fantastic encounter with a phenomenon of nature is on. There may be no explanation for it (except that symbolic one, perhaps), but the fierceness and frightfulness of it are sufficient to cause shocks and chills. And that is, no doubt, what Mr. Hitchcock primarily intends. ... The cast is appropriate and sufficient to this tic intent. is pretty, bland and wholesome as the disruptive girl. is stolid and sturdy as the mother-smothered son. is querulous as the mother, and pretty is pleasant but vaguely sinister as the old girl friend."

"The most striking image of all is a from high above the town, including a pair of s who drop into the shot from each side of the frame. As one critic noted, 'the town as seen in the overhead shot does not actually exist. It was an , into which a fire was inserted, filmed from a hill overlooking the car park. The gulls were filmed from a clifftop on the , west of Los Angeles, and into the shot. ...'"

"Garrison investigated a strange event in 1991 that caused birds around to act bizarre and die. He identified the culprit as , which was produced by off the Pacific Coast. Those acid-making algae were consumed by fish and , which were in turn gobbled by birds, who couldn’t effectively rid the toxin from their systems. “There were reports of pelicans and s wandering around drunk and throwing up ,” said Garrison, who is based in Domoic acid was probably responsible for another instance of strange bird behavior reported in 1961 around Monterey Bay, when Hitchcock was said to be vacationing nearby, Garrison said. The filmmaker reportedly asked to have a copy of the newspaper sent to him, the scientist added."