OK, I just saw The Birds and I have a couple questions (SPOILER ALERT)

[TheMightyFavog]

First off, What kind of car does Melanie drive? I think it's some sort of British car, an Austin-Healy perhaps?


SPOILER FORTHCOMING.....

































Why the hell did they take Melanie's little ragtop at the end instead of the truck? Considering what the birds did to one of the doors of the house and the boarded up window upstairs, Wouldn't have been much smarter to take the pickup truck, which althouh it would have been a lot more cramped, and slower, to boot, would have provided a whole hell of a lot more protection should the birds decide to frenzy again. Hell those old F-250s from the 50s and 60 were built like fucking tanks.

[progmom]

1. I think you mean Tippi?

Melanie's mom.

[TheMightyFavog]

3. Tippi was the actress who played melanie....

http://imdb.com/title/tt0056869/

[joeybee12]

4. Tippi Hedren is Melanie Griffith's Mom--wonder if she had Melanie

before or after she got this role.

[TheMightyFavog]

6. Melanie griffith, born 1957.

The Birds was 1963. If Melanie's character was named after Tippi's Daughter, I'm sure Hitchcock would have said something about it in the interview he gave to Truffaut. (That book is required reading for my Film Studies Class.) HBitchcock makes no mention of it in that book.

Now back to the question at hand... Why did they take her little ragtop instead of the pickup? I would have taken the pickup, no questions asked.

[joeybee12]

7. Hmmm..a rare coincidence maybe? Was the movie based on a book,

so the name was already decided? I can't recall if it was.

[TheMightyFavog]

8. Yes, the book was by Daphne Du Maurier

End of Line.

[joeybee12]

9. Too bad it has to end this way! From what I've heard about Tippi, she

was tempramental enough to whine her way into getting a name for a character--not that she ever pulled this particular stunt--what I mean is she was very demanding, and I could picture her thinking it would be so great to name a character after her kid.

[joeybee12]

2. I saw that as a kid, and can't help you...I only recall the guy blowing

himself up at the gas pump, and sort of the park scene that Mel Brooks lampoons in High Anxiety.

[AlCzervik]

5. I was were they filmed "The Birds" not too long ago

where we were staying Tippi was doing some book signing, maybe she'll be back and i'll ask her.

[Ivan Sputnik]

10. There could be a few reasons

1. The car was more photogenic. (Most important reason for Hitchcock, probably.)

2. The four of them wouldn't have fit in the truck, or at least not comfortably, and Melanie was injured.

3. Maybe the truck didn't have a radio -- and they needed to know what was going on.

4. The bird attacks came in waves, with (apparently) several hours in between. With a faster vehicle, they could take better advantage of that time to get further away.

[TheMightyFavog]

11. Of course, If we were to ask Hitch this question, we know what he'd say...

"Because the script says so!"

[TheMightyFavog]

12. Yeah, but what would happen if you got caught up in an attack?

That ragtop would get shredded within minutes.

Besides, admitedly, it would be a bit cramped, and the kid wouldn't be able to tke her lovebirds with her.

[progmom]

13. nevermind