Movies - TV
Alfred Hitchcock Went Way Off Script While Filming The Ending Of
The Birds
By JOSHUA MEYER
One of legendary director Alfred Hitchcock’s most famous films, “The Birds,” finds San Francisco socialite Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) and Bodega Bay terrorized by seemingly innumerable flocks of birds. The attacks coincide with Daniels’ presence in the fishing village, with some characters going as far as screaming blame at the young woman and calling her evil.
Hitchcock’s ending sees the main characters get in a car and drive away as hundreds of birds are perched in the surrounding landscape, watching them and giving the audience the feeling that the birds have taken over. But this wasn’t the intended ending, as screenwriter Evan Hunter revealed, “I was surprised when some scenes were not in the film, but when I saw the ending I was shocked.”
Hunter’s ending would have shown these attacks were not brought on by Daniels but are a universal phenomenon, as revealed when the characters leave the decimated town behind. This ending also included a chase scene where the birds attack the car as it leaves — the change was most likely due to the cost and time needed for the special effects.