SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES 043: BYE BYE BIRDIE (1963)

 

The news is breaking across the nation: Conrad Birdie (Jesse Pearson), teen sensation and the most famous singer in the land, has been drafted! Girls from coast to coast are up in arms, how could the government do such a thing to their idol? But spare a thought for the songwriters who make their money from Conrad's million-selling records, what are they going to do now? One of them, Albert F. Peterson (Dick Van Dyke), is barely scraping a living as it is, and wonders if he ought to go back to chemistry, but his secretary Rosie (Janet Leigh), who is also his girlfriend, has a great idea: how about making Conrad's last public appearance a real publicity stunt? 

Bye Bye Birdie was based on the long-running stage musical, although some changes were made between the two so that the film version could better show off the talents of Ann-Margret, a new star who was starting to be a sensation herself thanks to efforts like this. She played Kim McAfee, a supposedly typical American teenager, who is chosen by The Ed Sullivan Show (Ed Sullivan plays himself) to appear on television at Conrad's farewell and be blessed with a kiss from the megastar. In effect, this means the cast (apart from Ed) have to congregate at Kim's smalltown home of Sweet Apple, Ohio, creating quite a to-do. 

When the original was written, it was taken from the headlines about Elvis Presley going into the U.S. Army and the worries for his fans (and hopes for his non-fans) that his career would be over. This isn't quite successful as satire, mainly because while Conrad Birdie (his name a spoof of Conway Twitty's for some reason) is vain and self-impressed, something of a jerk in fact, Elvis was well known as being a thoroughly nice guy, so the object of the lampooning is more the stereotypical showbiz monsters you hear about than an accurate portrayal of the King of Rock 'n' Roll. And besides, nobody was going to mistake the tunes here for anything other than light pop, if that. 

Bye Bye Birdie features a number of well-known songs which were written for the show by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. Among them are "Put on a Happy Face" (sung by Van Dyke and Leigh); "Kids" (sung by Van Dyke, Lynde, Stapleton, and Bryan Russell, who plays Kim's young brother); and "A lot of Living to Do" (sung by Ann-Margret, Rydell, and Pearson). The film also includes some well-executed dance numbers, including one in which Janet Leigh hoofs it in a meeting room populated by fez-adorned Shriners. 

Two of the stars of the stage show were transported over to the big screen, Dick Van Dyke and Paul Lynde, and although both were vocal about their dissatisfaction with the movie they were household names already, though more for television than film. Lynde plays Kim's harrassed father, which he does very amusingly. He certainly gets most of the funniest lines from a script by Irving Brecher which could have been snappier, though does gather up a fair few targets in its arms. 

This results in a neat snapshot of what was obsessing America in the years just before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and all that national innocence we heard about was supposedly lost forever. So there are troubles with the Soviets when the Moscow Ballet run too long in rehearsals, meaning Conrad's song is cut, the effect of rock 'n' roll on the country's morals is much worried over, if something's not on television then it's as good as never happened. Ann-Margret overshadows everyone, a flame-haired firecracker who may not show off great range, but you can see why she was taken to the hearts of the teens of her day. 

But before we get to the main feature, let's enjoy...

The Pre-Show:

 

Our "Film Extras" section shares nine video documents, which expand through interviews and visual aids, those offered in SNATM 009 "Viva Las Vegas", concerning the figure of Ann-Margret. Mostly dedicated to our Main Feature flick Bye Bye Birdie, but also concerning her latest Lp release: Born To Be Wild. 

Concerning our "TV On Deck" section, we continue with our 60s-70s comedy sitcoms and our cartoon delight. Plus our "newbie" and his continued adventures in Las Vegas. 

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The Main Feature: 

Title: Bye Bye Birdie 

Director: George Sidney 

Cast: Janet Leigh / Dick Van Dyke / Ann-Margret / Bobby Rydell / Ed Sullivan 

Release Date: 04 April 1963 

Country: United States 

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On Your Way Out: 

As our motto goes: "Grab 'em, Use 'em, Enjoy 'em". You all know by now this section is here to hopefully, enhance your experience of viewing today's flick. The pictures, the reading material plus the listening extras, all have one common goal: pleasure through learning! 

Cheers.

Shade. 

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Note: Password for all files: Shade'sVintageRadio

Melancholy is the pleasure of being sad. (Victor Hugo)