Tippi Hedren actually slapped Doreen Lang in 1963’s “The Birds” – something she was reluctant to do.
Hedren referred to the scene in “The Birds” – directed by auteur Alfred Hitchcock – where a hysterical woman (Lang) accuses Melanie Daniels (Hedren) of being the cause of the birds attacking Bodega Bay, CA. Lang’s character rants at Melanie – “I think you’re evil! Evil!” – and Melanie slaps her across the face.
“I said to Doreen, ‘I’ve never hit anyone in my life.’ And she said, ‘DO IT!’ So I did it,” recalled Hedren, 94, laughing.
“The Birds” and 1960’s “Psycho” will be screened at the Michigan Theater on Monday, Oct. 21, and Monday, Oct. 28, respectively, as part of its “Hitchcock-tober Series.”
“The Birds” is based on Daphne du Maurier’s 1952 short story of the same name. Hitchcock tasked screenwriter Evan Hunter (who wrote the “87th Precinct” novels under the pseudonym Ed McBain) to develop new characters and a more elaborate plot while keeping du Maurier’s title and concept of unexplained bird attacks.
“Hitchcock, truly in his devious, mind figured out how to scare people and he certainly was successful at that,” said Hedren. “It takes a rather devious mind to make choices in stories and then put them into action.”
“Who hasn’t imagined being unmercifully attacked by a flock of birds? Combine that with Hitchcock’s mastery and you get the ‘Jaws’ of the sky,” said Robert Fox, who teaches film and media arts in the Ann Arbor Public Schools.
“The Birds” is considered one of the greatest horror films of all time. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Special Effects. In 2016, the United States Library of Congress selected “The Birds” for preservation in the National Film Registry.
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The movie also starred Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette and Veronica Cartwright. Hedren and Cartwright are the only surviving cast members. “The Birds” was Hedren’s film debut (she also appeared in 1964’s “Marnie,” also directed by Hitchcock). Hedren was living in New York City working as a model when Hitchcock discovered her.
“In the 1950s when TV took over, it was the advent of commercials. I was very fortunate to be in on it from the very beginning. It was a very financially lucrative job doing commercials; it was really wonderful,” said Hedren.
After seeing Hedren in a commercial, Hitchcock immediately put her under contract. He offered her the lead female role in “The Birds,” something unheard of since she had no prior acting experience, but he had the clout to pull it off. Before “The Birds” was released, Hedren was featured on the cover of Look magazine with the caption “Hitchcock’s new Grace Kelly.”
“Though Hitchcock’s blonde damsels were a dime a dozen – which is a whole other can of worms – you could make the case that Tippi Hedren’s Melanie Daniels is the cream of the crop,” said Fox. “He managed to get such great performances out of each and every one of them, making them more than just another blonde bombshell like so many other movies of the time.”
In Hedren’s case, the climatic scene where Melanie is attacked by the birds in the bedroom took seven days to shoot, something Hedren called “the worst week of my life.” After being told mechanical birds would be used, live birds were used instead. They were attached to her clothes by long nylon threads, so they couldn’t get away.
“I was totally physically exhausted,” said Hedren. “They threw live birds at me for a week. Friday afternoon, they had birds tied to me. (One bird’s) claw came so close to my eye and I said, ‘I’m done’… I drove myself home and somehow took care of (daughter) Melanie (Griffith). I fell asleep and couldn’t wake up.”
According to Hedren, her doctor ordered her to strict bedrest for one week. Hitchcock objected because she was needed in all the remaining scenes. The doctor asked, “Are you trying to kill her?” Reluctantly, Hitchcock gave Hedren the week off. She returned the following week to shoot the remainder of the film.
It’s public knowledge Hitchcock was obsessed with Hedren. Her tumultuous relationship with Hitchcock – whom she accused him of inhumane filming conditions, sexual harassment, and sexual assault – has been chronicled in 2012’s “The Girl,” where Sienna Miller played Hedren, as well as her 2016 memoir “Tippi,” et al.
“At one point, (Hitchcock’s wife) Alma Reville said to me, ‘I’m so sorry you have to go through this.’ I told her, ‘Alma you could stop this.’ And she just looked at me. Very interesting, isn’t it?” said Hedren.
Hedren has not allowed that to embitter her.
“The only way to handle it is that was then and now is now,” she said. “I got out of it. I’m alive, I’m healthy. My mind is still intact. I’m a survivor and you know what he didn’t do so well. That’s the end of that.”
“Psycho”
Considered Hitchcock’s most well-known film, “Psycho” was based on Robert Bloch’s novel of the same name, which in turn was inspired by the true story of serial killer Ed Gein. “Psycho” set a new level of acceptability for violence, deviant behavior and sexuality in American cinema, as well as has been considered to be one of the earliest examples of the slasher film genre. It was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Director for Hitchcock and Best Supporting Actress for Janet Leigh.
“Psycho” amassed $50 million at the box office on a budget of $806,000, the highest-grossing film of Hitchcock’s career. It spawned three sequels, a remake, a TV series and numerous spoofs and homages.
Fox teaches Hitchcock in his film classes.
“I would need to have my teaching certificate revoked if I didn’t!” he said. “I usually show two a year: Any combination of ‘Rear Window’ (Fox’s favorite), ‘Psycho,’ ‘Vertigo,’ and ‘North by Northwest.’ To me, those are his Mt. Rushmore of movies.”
The plot of “Psycho” centers on Marion Crane (Leigh), who embezzled $40,000 from her boss and is on the lam. A heavy rainstorm forces Marion to stop at the Bates Motel just a few miles from Fairvale, CA. There, she meets Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), the motel’s shy proprietor.
Marion overhears Norman argue with his mother about her. That night, Marion is murdered in the shower – one of cinema’s most famous scenes, if not the most famous scene – to the score composed by Bernard Hermann. It took one week to film this scene.
Ironically, Hitchcock didn’t want any music for the shower scene, but his wife persuaded him to have music. Hermann used only strings in his score in order to have a black and white sound to complement the black and white images.
“It’s just textbook visual storytelling – or ‘pure cinema,’ as Hitchcock called it,” said Fox. “Every shot is like a puzzle piece that can only go in one spot until it flawlessly all comes together. Notice you never actually see the knife enter her flesh? It’s all based on montage editing and fantastic sound design. The grand illusion of cinema magic! Fun fact: There are 78 setups in that scene and 52 cuts. In fact, there is a great documentary on just this scene (called ‘78/52’).”
Marion’s murderer disposes of her body, car, and belongings – including the $40,000 – in a nearby swamp. Marion’s sister Lila (Vera Miles) looks into her disappearance. Eventually, Lila goes to the Bates Motel and discovers Mrs. Bates’ mummified corpse and screams in horror in one of the movie’s biggest twists. Then Norman, wearing women’s clothes and a wig, tries to stab her, but is stopped by Sam Loomis (John Gavin), Marion’s lover.
At the police station, a psychiatrist explains that Norman killed Mrs. Bates and her lover in a jealous rage 10 years earlier. He recreated Mrs. Bates as an alternate personality, who is as jealous and possessive of Norman as he was about her. Whenever he is attracted to a woman, his “Mother” persona takes over. At the end, his “Mother” persona has submerged Norman’s personality as he sits in a jail cell, hearing Mrs. Bates’ voice in his head.
“‘Psycho’ is the O.G. slasher flick!” explained Fox. “And it’s more than just that – it’s a psychological thriller. Both are genres that continue to be time-tested box office winners. However, unlike so many other films in those genres, Hitchcock brings so much mastery, art, and style to his films. There are aspects to this film that certainly didn’t age well – the analysis of Norman’s mental health disorder, the crossdressing equaling sociopath, etc., but it is still quite effective and experimental – like killing off the protagonist one-third of the way in, and then shifting our allegiance to Norman, who becomes the protagonist. This sort of foreshadowed the number of films and TV shows that have anti-heroes as their lead protagonist.”
Despite Hitchcock’s horrific treatment of his leading ladies, Fox stated Hitchcock’s contribution to cinema cannot be denied.
“He is a total filmmaker. He was is one of those Mt. Rushmore filmmakers where you can learn all you need to know about filmmaking by studying his films. Every shot not only matters, but it is so perfectly composed and nuanced,” explained Fox. “If you want to learn filmmaking, Hitchcock is an absolute master that should not be ignored. You can learn so much about the art of filmmaking by studying his body of work, which began in the U.K. during the silent era in the 1920s, all the way to 1974.”
Fox continued: “Hitchcock certainly put out his share of blockbusters, but he was one of those rare filmmakers who managed to make art films that were also huge hits! A rare feat when you can equally appease both critics and audiences. I don’t think of his films as summer blockbusters, but rather Oscar season bait.”
“Hitchcock-tober Series”
The Michigan Theater, located at 603 E. Liberty in Ann Arbor, will screen the following Hitchcock movies:
- “The Birds” on Monday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m.
- “Psycho” on Monday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m.
Tickets range from $9.75 to $11.75. For questions or more information, call (734) 668-8397. Visit https://marquee-arts.org/.
“The Hitchcock Hotel” by Stephanie Wrobel
USA Today bestselling novelist Stephanie Wrobel’s latest novel, “The Hitchcock Hotel” (Penguin Random House $29) is a phenomenal tribute to the Master of Suspense. Hitchcock fanatic Alfred Smettle purchases a sprawling Victorian house and turns it into the Hitchcock Hotel, complete with its own aviary and secret passages. To celebrate its first anniversary, he invites five old college friends for the weekend and bad things start to happen that would only happen in a Hitchcock movie as his guests soon turn on one another, much to his delight.
“The Hitchcock Hotel” can be purchased at:
- Literati Bookstore, located at 124 E. Washington St. in Ann Arbor
- Schuler Books, located at 2513 Jackson Ave. in Ann Arbor (in the Westgate Shopping Center)
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