Bye Bye Birdie (1963)

One of my all time favorites.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This film is inclined to wear out its welcome halfway through. Nevertheless, it certainly opens in splendid fashion when Ann-Margret croons the title tune with admirably non-heroic nuance as she is propelled into the camera on a concealed trolley. This is followed by an elaborate spoof of Busby Berkeley "business" which had Bosley Crowther of The New York Times cheering in the aisle. (Bosley is a foundation member of The Society To Suppress Busby Berkeley, established back in 1937 by another New York Times staffer, Frank Nugent). All goes well until the initial appearance of Birdie himself in an extravaganza concluding in a riotous send-up of Victor Fleming's famous crane shot in Gone With The Wind. But when we are introduced to Paul Lynde, the screenplay takes a nose dive. Even attempts to guy "Hernando's Hideaway" and A Night at the Opera do not come off – despite two delicious cracks at the expenses of Lenin and Senator Goldwater respectively.

On the surface, this film is still moderately entertaining. But there's much to take away from it half a century later that was never intended. It depicts a world that suddenly disappeared soon after. Clinging to the last vestiges of Eisenhower-era innocence (when the Broadway production played) the film was dated by the time it opened. 1963 ushered in a slew of events that changed everything - the Kennedy assassination, the civil rights movement, The Beatles. The people of "Bye Bye Birdie" didn't know what was about to hit them. Ann- Margret's chaste romance with Bobby Rydell is way too saccharine. Janet Leigh is an uncomfortable choice as a Latina spitfire (a role played onstage by Chita Rivera who apparently wasn't palatable for movie audiences). Paul Lynde steals the show with his hilarious signature shtick, which today would be openly gay. It's hard to take any of this without a grain of salt. Not to be overlooked are the embarrassing opening and closing sequences where Ann-Margret sings and mugs for the camera while inexplicably mispronouncing "Birdie."

So many people seem to know actress Janet Leigh from her role in "Psycho" (1960).How unfortunate! Two years later, she got to leave her comfort zone and perform as Rosie DeLeon in "Bye, Bye Birdie." It has been said this movie is an Ann-Margret movie, and she does indeed give a fine performance, as she would in years to come.Janet Leigh is no Chita Rivera. For that matter, Ms. Rivera is no Ms. Leigh. And the 1960 stage show is not the 1963 film. You take the performers and the productions on their own terms. They all work well. Janet Leigh was never lovelier than she was here!!!! She may not be the best singer, but she was fantastic, getting out of a "comfort zone" in terms of performing, and giving it her own all in this film!! I can understand the disappointment both Dick Van Dyke and Paul Lynde felt with this production. I imagine they deserved more time, given what they contributed. But they, and the other supporting cast members do well.From my perspective, I first saw this in spring 1974 in junior high, and the movie looked so hokey, given its Kennedy administration background. Watergate loomed very, very large, with its cynicism, and I could not appreciate this as a 14-year-old. But as time goes by, I have gotten to love this movie very much.And since I grew up in the Southern Tier of New York, the song "One Last Kiss" has a special meaning. When Gary Lewis and the Playboys performed this song on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on 4 December 1966, before Mr. Lewis went to the Army, the girl who got the kiss was from Endicott, just 5 miles from where I was writing this!! Whatever the case, this movie remains as enjoyable today as it was when it was released nearly 50 years ago!!

Although George Sidney directed some classic MGM musicals, his adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway hit, "Bye Bye Birdie" for Columbia is not often mentioned. The oversight is unfair, because "Birdie" is a lively, tuneful, and often inventive film musical. Where "Grease" strove to create nostalgia by invoking the 1950's and 60's, "Birdie" was filmed in 1963 and is the real thing. Although the music is generally more Broadway than late-50's rock, the film includes a genuine 1950's teen heartthrob in Bobby Rydell, and an authentic icon of the period in Ed Sullivan. Both Rydell and Sullivan were still popular when the film was made and, unlike the bygone stars in "Grease," were not dragged from the attic for walk-ons.Conrad Birdie, a thinly disguised Elvis, has been drafted. Aspiring songwriter, Dick Van Dyke, and his secretary, Janet Leigh in an awful black wig, concoct a plan to have Birdie bestow a goodbye kiss on one lucky girl and sing a song to be written by Van Dyke. All of this to take place on the "Ed Sullivan Show." Ann -Margret from Sweetwater, Ohio, is the lucky girl.Although Ann-Margret is a bit hot to be the steady of Bobby Rydell, she is dynamite on the dance floor and smolders during her numbers. Obviously, the director and producer fell in love with her, and she upstages everyone, including two members of the original Broadway cast, Van Dyke and Paul Lynde. However, Lynde does hold his own as Ann-Margret's father, and he has an amusing musical number in "Kids." Also funny is Maureen Stapleton, who stomps around in sensible shoes and a fur coat as Van Dyke's mother. To Leigh's frustration, Stapleton does everything to keep her "baby" from falling into marriage and out of her control."Bye Bye Birdie" has a number of good songs, some lively choreography, and clever effects that distinguish it from the more traditional musicals like "Show Boat" that Sidney directed for MGM. Although Van Dyke has the central role, he is not a standout. Perhaps the part of Albert Peterson was meant to be a bland foil for the two women in his life, who spar for control. Although Leigh is miscast as Rosie DeLeon, a Latina part that belongs to Chita Rivera, she does well despite the wig. However, Ann-Margret opens the film, closes the film, and, in between, sizzles and dazzles in a star-making role.