Hitchcock classic back on the big screen
The original “Angry Birds” swarm back into theaters nationwide next week.
As part of Universal Pictures’ yearlong celebration of its centennial, the studio has teamed up with Turner Classic Movies and NCM Fathom Events to present a one-day screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller “The Birds” (1963).
Newly restored, the film will screen at 7 p.m. Wednesday at 18 area cinemas (with 2 p.m. matinees at select locales). Introducing the film, TCM host Robert Osborne also interviews “Birds” star Tippi Hedren, who famously became the object of Hitchcock’s obsession.
His pursuit began on the set of “The Birds,” and when Hedren refused to submit to his advances, he retaliated by backlisting her in Hollywood. “He did ruin my career,” she said last month at the Plaza Classic Film Festival in El Paso, Texas. “But didn’t ruin my life.”
At the festival, which also presented “The Birds,” Hedren, 82, made it clear she has made peace with the past. For the screening, she wore a gold pin of three birds on the wing, a gift Hitch picked out at the San Francisco luxury store Gump’s before their relationship turned rancorous.
“This pin means a lot to me,” she said. “It was literally life-changing.” (The Hitch/Hedren relationship is explored in the upcoming HBO movie “The Girl,” which debuts Oct. 20.)
Based on the story by Daphne du Maurier, “The Birds” involves avian attacks on the California community of Bodega Bay when socialite Melanie Daniels (Hedren) arrives for a weekend visit. The film’s meaning still mystifies audiences, but most