The plot of Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 "The Birds," taken from a Daphne Du Maurier (who wrote the novel "Rebecca") short story, seems ludicrous. Birds attacking a small town, actually killing people. But in the competent hands of the master of suspense, the movie is frighteningly, well, suspenseful. Evan Hunter (who also writes under the name Ed McBain) wrote the screenplay, and while not all of the characters are well enough developed for the viewer to understand their occasionally awkward behavior, has nonetheless crafted an interesting story that captures and maintains interest.Birds are flapping about in the opening shots, a forewarning of their sinister activities to come, before we're introduced to Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), the daughter of a newspaper owner. As she walks into a pet shop director Hitchcock makes his signature cameo appearance (walking his two real-life dogs). She meets a handsome defense attorney named Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), and pretends to work at the store when he asks for help finding lovebirds for his little sister's birthday. He embarrasses her by saying that he remembers her from a court appearance (one of her practical jokes resulted in a broken window), and that he just led her on to give her a taste of her own medicine.Curious about Mitch and not to be outdone, Melanie buys two lovebirds and tracks him down. She makes a trip to Bodega Bay, where he lives on the weekends with his widowed mother, Lydia (Jessica Tandy) and sister, Cathy (Veronica Cartwright), sneaks into the empty house, and leaves the birds for Cathy. He spots her as she begins leaving in a boat, and drives off to meet her at the dock, when, as she comes closer to it, a gull sweeps down and pecks her head. Mitch takes her to the local diner and takes care of her cut.Melanie decides to stay in town for the night, and reappears at the home of schoolteacher Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette), who had given her directions to the Brenne...
