I'll admit it, the first time I saw The Birds I was turned off; I thought it was hokey with bad special effects. But watching it on the big screen today, I realized that it is just as suspenseful as any of Hitch's other work. Perhaps not as slick, but very thought provoking. Too bad only about ten other people wanted to check it out with me.
StarFair is more of an autograph show than anything. Granted, you can find many interesting folk there, but the films are secondary. They had two rooms showing films on mobile screens, with a wall in between that was far from soundproof. But it was fun nonetheless.
After the screening there was a Q&A with Tippi Hedren, which was why I went. She's still as lovely as ever and very articulate. There was much discussion over a recent mauling incident at her wild cat rescue sanctuary, the Shambala Preserve. She stressed that you cannot stop an animal's instinct and is presently working on a bill to ban the breeding of exotic animals.
At home she surrounds herself with cats named after her costars: Rod Taylor (The Birds), Sean Connery (Marnie), Marlon Brando (A Countess from Hong Kong), Antonio Banderas (son-in-law) and John Saxon (Mister Kingstreet's War). When asked if Alfred Hitchcock would be jealous that she sleeps with them every night (he had a well-known obsession with Hedren), she simply replied, "I don't have one named Alfred."
Regarding big cat on set Hitchcock, she denied that he was a dictator ("Nobody would do a good job"), but did confirm his need for control (within his tightly planned 9-5 hours). When she asked him about her character's motivation for heading up the stairs into the final bird attack, Hitch said, "Because I tell you to."
Regarding costume designer Edith Head, Hedren remarked that she had the capability to make any director or producer think all of her ideas were theirs, even Hitch. Hedren seemed to like that.
While filming Charlie Chaplin's last film, A Countess from Hong Kong, she suggested that Hitch, who happened to be in London at the time, get a picture taken with Chaplin, as it was a great opportunity to have such legendary directors in one frame. He replied curtly, "Why would I want to do that?"
Hedren said Hitch liked to think of himself as a simple man, but was in fact extremely complicated with many emotional problems. When he was little, his father punished him once by making him spend the night in jail. He was forever traumatized, and Hedren remembers instances of him jumping into his car in a cold sweat at the sight of a cop car.
Despite all the troubles, Hedren was wearing the pin that Hitch gave her when he revealed she was going to play Melanie Daniels (she assumed she would be doing his TV shows). But after the $25,000 screen test of her playing roles from three of his films, the role was hers. The pin shows three birds in flight, made of sea pearls and gold. She said when he gave it to her at Chasen's she was in tears as was his wife Alma, MCA head Lew Wasserman allowed one tear, but Hitch just sat there, looking very pleased with himself.