Download
1 / 35
E N D
Daphne, Lady Browning (13 May 1907–19 April 1989), commonly known as Dame Daphne du Maurier, was a famous British novelist best known for her short story "The Birds" and her classic novel Rebecca, published in 1938. Both were adapted into films by Alfred Hitchcock, Rebecca winning the Oscar for Best Picture.
After its publication in 1952 in her short story collection The Apple Tree, ‘‘The Birds’’ became one of Daphne du Maurier's most celebrated works. The story presents an unrelenting portrait of terror and a compelling analogy of the atmosphere of fear generated in America and Europe during the Cold War years. • Covering only a few days in the life of a family living on the Cornish coast of England, ‘‘The Birds’’ examines what would happen if animals traditionally regarded as symbols of peace and freedom began to ruthlessly attack humans.
"The Birds" is a novelette written by Daphne du Maurier first published in her 1952 collection The Apple Tree, and reprinted in the 1963 collection The Birds and Other Stories. It is about a part-time farmhand, Nat Hocken, and his family, his children Jill and Johnny and his wife as a massive number of birds start attacking them and possibly the whole of Europe for no apparent reason. It is set in Britain, probably at the Cornish coast shortly after the end of World War II. It was the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock's film of the same name. It is thought to have been inspired by the author watching a man ploughing his field, while some seagulls were wheeling and diving above him; Du Maurier developed the idea of these birds becoming hostile and attacking.
The story opens in the middle of the night when farm worker Nat Hocken wakes to an insistent tapping at his window. Du Maurier quickly increases the tension and horror as Nat's family suffers several vicious attacks by hordes of swarming birds, seemingly bent on destruction.
“by limiting the focus of her story upon Nat Hocken and his family, du Maurier manages to convey the effect of a believable claustrophobic nightmare.”
Nat Hocken, a veteran of the second World War, has a unique perspective on the world from his neighbors. Discharged from service after a wartime disability, Nat lives with his family on the coast of England, working part time for a local farmer and supporting his family with his wages and the pension he receives from the army. He is an educated, quiet man, who spends a good deal of time reading, and sitting out on the shore, watching the tide and the birds. There is a sense of expectancy about him, in his introspection and melancholy; during the war, he saw enough violence and death to permanently distance him from his fellow man, as though he waits for a darkness that others only know in dreams. • Du Maurier handles his alien-ness with subtlety and restraint. There are no true conflicts between Nat and the more sheltered folk, no big scenes, just a few comments here and there, and the sure knowledge that those on the farm, even if they don’t all resent him, believe that he is overly serious and too quick to concern.
During his seaside watches, Nat observes the birds overhead, and notices that they are more restless this fall than normal. His boss interprets this as a portent of a hard winter ahead, and he at first seems to be right, because when the weather changes, it changes nearly overnight. One night, Nat hears tapping in his bedroom window, and when he opens the window to check, he is attacked by what he assumes was a frightened bird. After a while, the tapping continues, and as he opens the window again, a number of birds attack him and disappear. Then he hears screams in their children's room, and rushes to get them out of there, finding hundreds of small birds flying savagely inside
Daphne Du Maurier's story, "The Birds", was originally purchased for use on Alfred Hitchcock's television series, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1955). • This was not the first dramatization of Daphne Du Maurier's short story. It was previously adapted for radio at least twice, once starring Herbert Marshall, and again in 1954. Furthermore, it was adapted by writer James P. Cavanagh for a half-hour episode of the TV series "Danger" (1950). Cavanaugh also wrote at least five episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1955), including two directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and was the first writer to adapt Robert Bloch's novel of Psycho (1960) for Hitchcock's production.
Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) is a young San Francisco socialite whose father is very wealthy and owns a large newspaper. As the film opens, Melanie is visiting a pet shop to buy a mynah bird for her aunt. While in the pet shop, she meets a man named Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) who mistakes her for a shop clerk. Melanie pretends to sell him a pair of lovebirds, until Mitch reveals that he knew her name all along; Mitch is a lawyer who recognizes Melanie from a court appearance where one of her practical jokes backfired and resulted in a damaged window.
Melanie is incensed and uses Mitch's license plate number to find out his identity and address. She then buys Mitch a pair of lovebirds and attempts to deliver them to his apartment, but when she tries to leave the birds in his hallway, a neighbor tells her that Mitch spends his weekends at his family home in a small town up the coast called Bodega Bay, and won't return until Monday. • Not wanting to let her joke go, Melanie decides to journey to Bodega Bay; she drives up the coast and questions a general store owner in the little town about Mitch's family. She finds out that on the weekends, Mitch lives with his mother, Lydia (Jessica Tandy) and his young sister Cathy (Veronica Cartwright). • Melanie returns to town and takes a boat across the bay to the private dock of the Brenner house, sneaking inside and leaving the bird cage in the living room with a note identifying them as a gift for Cathy. When she sneaks back down to her boat, Mitch spots her making her escape and drives around the bay to intercept her at the dock. Before Melanie reaches the dock, a seagull swoops down and gashes her forehead, seemingly in a deliberate attack.
Santa Cruz Sentinel, August 18, 1961; page 1: • Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes;Thousands of Birds Floundering in Streets, • by Wally Trabing • "A massive flight of sooty shearwaters, fresh from a feast of anchovies, collided with shoreside structures from Pleasure Point to Rio del Mar during the night. • Residents, especially in the Pleasure Point and Capitola area were awakened about 3 a.m. today by the rain of birds, slamming against their homes. • Dead, and stunned seabirds littered the streets and roads in the foggy, early dawn. Startled by the invasion, residents rushed out on their lawns with flashlights, then rushed back inside, as the birds flew toward their light. • When the light of day made the area visible, residents found the streets covered with birds. The birds disgorged bits of fish and fish skeletons over the streets and lawns and housetops, leaving an overpowering fishy stench. • The most learned explanation of the bird tragedy came this morning from Ward Russell, museum zoologist at the University of California. • He said the shearwaters generally live in the southern hemisphere. As far as they are concerned this is their winter flocking area. • Often when they are disturbed while feeding they will rise in flocks from the water. A blinding fog covered the coast last night and this morning. • "They probably became confused and lost and headed for the light," he said. The only light available was the street lights and overnight lights in some homes and businesses. • Russell said that this is a fairly rare phenomena and it takes certain atmospheric conditions to cause this confusion. He said that during very foggy conditions the lighthouses along the coast are struck by the thousands of seabirds."
Alfred Hitchcock Using Sentinel's Seabird Story "Hollywood mystery producer Alfred Hitchcock phoned The Sentinel Saturday to let us know he is using last Friday's edition as research material for his latest thriller. Hitchcock, who owns a home in the hills near Scotts Valley, had phoned from Hollywood early Friday morning and requested a copy of the paper be mailed to him there. It seems Hitchcock is now preparing to film Daphne Du Maurier's 10-year-old novel, "The Birds," which ironically deals with the invasion of a small town by millions of birds."
Birds "Invade" Santa Cruz, CaliforniaThe film, "The Birds", was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and was based on the story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. The film was released in 1963. Two years earlier, a real life "invasion" of birds occurred in Santa Cruz. The event was reported in the Santa Cruz Sentinel on August 18, 1961. Mr. Hitchcock asked the Santa Cruz Sentinel for a copy of the story, as reported in the Santa Cruz Sentinel on August 21, 1961.
In May 2001, the son of "The Birds" novelist Daphne Du Maurier reported that he and his wife were being terrorized by seagulls nesting outside their cottage in Cornwall, England.
Director: • Martin Campbell • Writers: • Paul Harris Boardman Scott Derrickson • Release Date: • 3 July 2009 (USA) • Genre: • Horror / Thriller • Production Notes/Status: • Status: • Pre-production The film's production dates have been pushed past any possible directors and actors strike.
