Best character... - The Birds (1963) Discussion

[–] PenTheater 7 years ago

Yes, because the audience can relate to her mysteriousness easier than Melanie Daniels mysteriousness.

But I think the best actress that stands out in a smaller role is the mother in the restaurant that Melanie jack slaps.

Ephemeron.

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[–] Doghouse-6 7 years ago

That's Doreen Lang, a reliable character actress who had worked for Hitchcock on three other occasions: as the insurance office clerk who incorrectly identifies Henry Fonda as a holdup man in The Wrong Man; as Cary Grant's secretary in the opening scenes of North By Northwest; in the Hitchcock-directed episode of his TV show, "Dip In the Pool."

Poe! You are...avenged!

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[–] Doghouse-6 7 years ago

I agree on Pleshette's performance, but not really about "the mysteriousness of her character."

During their initial conversation, Melanie does tell Annie, "Now you sound a bit mysterious," and Annie replies, "Do I? I don't mean to. Actually, I'm an open book, I'm afraid. Or rather, a closed one."

We later come to learn Annie's "back story" about her affair with Mitch, how Lydia's grief over her husband's death (and fear of being "left alone," as Lydia put it) brought an end to it, and of how Annie, clearly an intelligent "big city girl," left her former life behind and sequestered herself in this small coastal town just to remain near Mitch.

This is what, to me, makes her not necessarily "mysterious" but intriguing: she keeps no secrets ("I'm an open book") but keeps a lid on the depth of her feelings for Mitch and that chapter of her life ("Or rather, a closed one") in order to stay close to him in whatever way she can. And that devotion, not only to him but, by extension, to his family, is something for which she'll sacrifice her life, both figuratively (moving from San Francisco to Bogeda Bay) and literally (saving Kathy).

All of that may well make her the deepest and most complex of the story's characters.

Poe! You are...avenged!

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[–] tmaj48 7 years ago

The poignancy of her backstory brings a well-needed humanity to the script. A beautiful, bright woman who could easily find lots of male companionship in San Francisco, she has willingly sequestered herself in a sleepy little town just to be close to the man she loves in any way possible. Assured that there are no other likely female rivals in this town of middle-aged-to-elderly women and suburban moms, she's pathetically happy to bide her time waiting for Mitch and is dismayed when this gaudy, vapid blonde shows up to dig her talons into him, yet instead of working against her, she befriends her. I wonder how she thought this whole scenario might have played out if this were a straight romantic drama without the horror film twist.

I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!

Hewwo.

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[–] SlackerInc (1069) 4 years ago

I enjoyed her character too.

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[–] greenbudgie (2355) 3 years ago

Annie looks as though she was on her way to an undeserved life-long spinsterhood so I suppose that does make her mysterious for wanting to stay in Bodega Bay. Apart from 'Rome Adventure' I think Suzanne Pleshette got a rough deal from getting to play romantic roles.

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[–] ecarle (14979) 3 years ago

The poignancy of her backstory brings a well-needed humanity to the script. A beautiful, bright woman who could easily find lots of male companionship in San Francisco, she has willingly sequestered herself in a sleepy little town just to be close to the man she loves in any way possible. Assured that there are no other likely female rivals in this town of middle-aged-to-elderly women and suburban moms, she's pathetically happy to bide her time waiting for Mitch and is dismayed when this gaudy, vapid blonde shows up to dig her talons into him, yet instead of working against her, she befriends her. I wonder how she thought this whole scenario might have played out if this were a straight romantic drama without the horror film twist.

---

Annie seems to have evolved as Hitchcock and his screenwriter Evan Hunter kept brainstorming exactly what story The Birds was going to have. Unlike Psycho -- which was scripted pretty much exactly from Robert Bloch's novel, less a chapter or two -- The Birds needed an original screenplay(the short story wouldn't work) and at one time, the movie's protagonist was going to BE a teacher who comes to town. As Hitch and Hunter developed Melanie Daniels (a Hitchcock blonde)...the schoolteacher got moved to the supporting role, and a triangle plot was developed.

Originally, Annie was to have been in the Brenner house for the climax and SHE was to be attacked up in the upstairs room. Hitch decided "no, we must reserve that final attack for Melanie." He had Annie killed off earlier -- and Melanie survives.

CONT

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[–] ecarle (14979) 3 years ago

CONT

Annie chooses to befriend Melanie even as she realizes she has arrived to "get Mitch." As friendly as their late night dialogue in Annie's house is -- we get that cruel scene of Melanie taking a flirtatious call from Mitch RIGHT IN FRONT OF ANNIE -- Hitchcock was looking to "deepen his characters" after Psycho and he rather created mixed signals here. Can Melanie and Annie be friends? Will they be rivals? Does Melanie take this call from Mitch(he's inviting her to Kathy's birthday party) to make sure Annie knows: "I'm going to make Mitch mine...you can't have him." Its yet another reason perhaps for Melanie to attract the punishing birds (her selfishness), but it is Annie, not Melanie, who gets killed.

Perhaps Annie moved to Bodega Bay in silent hopes that Lydia would come around to her -- or die -- and that Mitch might come around to her, too. Melanie's rival rather dashes that.

Hey, some critics noted this factor: a slight lesbian touch to Annie's mannish attire and a slight attraction between her and Melanie that might ultimately push Mitch to the side. Hey...why not?

Given that I don't think Tippi Hedren was a particularly warm or natural screen presence, I think that things backfired a bit on Hitchcock in casting her. In two successive movies -- The Birds and Marnie -- the "brunette rival" (Pleshette here; Diane Baker in Marnie) is actually more attractive than Hedren, and Pleshette is warmer.

Truth be told, and while it was largely in television, Suzanne Pleshette had a much longer-lived and successful career than Tippi Hedren.

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[–] ecarle (14979) 3 years ago

By the way, I think the best character is: Sebastian Sholes, the grizzled fishing boat captain in the Tides restaurant.

In a movie dominated by women -- generally hysterical women (Lydia, the mother at the Tides, even Melanie sometimes) with a rather priggish and arrogant male lead(Rod Taylor as Mitch, the legal choice of "hoods" who can't talk to people without cross-examining them)...

...Sebastian Sholes is a welcome, outta nowhere "macho presence" -- growly of voice but sympathetic of manner. I like how he turns down an offer of coffee mid -sentence and seems "divided against himself" -- he KNOWS that birds attacked his fishing crew, but he can't believe its because of some "force." Just as Sebastian Sholes is "coming around" to helping Fellow Male Mitch take on the birds -- they attack Bodega Bay and Sebastian Sholes is never seen again in the movie.

And were' stuck with Mitch and Three Screeching Women from then on. Well, two screeching women and one who tries to help.

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[–] goldenagefilmstv (178) a year ago

There is no lesbianism in this movie, nor any hint of it. And what "mannish attire"? Annie wears slacks while gardening, and slacks for women were pretty common casual wear in the early 1960's. And she does live in a rural area, after all.

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[–] bobbydallas (8058) 2 years ago

hard to beat Melanie.. and her fountain-in-Rome story

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[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

I agree that it's Annie, mostly because she's played by the best actor in the cast.

But also because her character makes such a good contrast to the unstable protagonist. Melanie is chasing this man all over hell, and we know there will be drama is she catches him or she doesn't. But Annie chased him, didn't get him... and instead of being melodramatic, she went on with her life like a totally sane, stable, and self-actualized person! Which is not how spinsters were usually shown in the films of the era, and maybe not what the writers intended. But Annie was played by an actor who radiated good sense and sanity, so that's how she came off.

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