Bye Bye Birdie

1963 "The Most WONDERFUL Entertainment EVER! EVER!"
6.6| 1h52m| G| en
Details

A singer goes to a small town for a performance before he is drafted.

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Reviews

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.
Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
JohnHowardReid 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.
ags123 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."
zetes Uneven, but generally enjoyable musical. Ann-Margaret is really the highlight here, just absolutely stunning and captivating on screen. She makes it more tolerable than it really should be. Honestly, I wanted the whole story to focus on her, because most of the rest of the characters weren't very interesting. Dick Van Dyke and Janet Leigh are probably the actual leads. They're plot line isn't too bad, but it's not great, either. Plus, I hated Leigh's raven-black hair here. It didn't look right at all. The less Paul Lynde (who plays Ann-Margaret's father) the better, and Jesse Pearson as Conrad Birdie could not be any less charismatic. I like most of the songs, and the musical numbers and dance sequences are fairly well staged.
Neil Doyle BYE BYE BIRDIE belongs in its own time warp of 1963 when the Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday eves was the number one TV show in America. In this same time warp are the costumes, teen talk (on land phones before cellphones), and all sorts of shenanigans that have a very musty '60s flavor. And yet, it's a cheerful and nostalgic look at a bygone era, largely due to the very competent cast which makes everything look easy.Especially easy on the eyes is Ann-Margret in one of her best early roles as the girl in love with Conrad Birdie (Jesse Pearson) and chosen to sing "One Last Kiss" to the super rock star for the Ed Sullivan show, before Birdie's induction into the service. She more than makes up for the shortcomings of Pearson who is not ideally cast as the title character with the Elvis Presley hips.Maureen Stapleton is sometimes hard to take as Dick Van Dyke's overly possessive mother. It's certainly not one of my favorite Stapleton roles but she does what she has to with the material. On the other hand, Paul Lynde is extremely well cast as the father of a household he's barely able to cope with, even if his character does become a bit obnoxious by the time he reaches the Ed Sullivan Show.But whatever shortcomings the film has, Janet Leigh is certainly not one of them. Who could suppose she would play Rosie with such a natural flair for singing and dancing? And thanks to Onna White's super choreography, her big dance number is a joy to behold.Summing up: Easy to take and in some ways, easy to forget--but it's worth a look as far as musicals go.