Bye Bye Birdie (1963)

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General		Extras
Category	Musical	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1963
Running Time	107:22 (Case: 112)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	George Sidney
Studio Distributor	Shock Entertainment	Starring	Dick Van Dyke Janet Leigh Ann-Margret Paul Lynde Jessie Pearson Maureen Stapleton Bobby Rydell
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	?	Music	Charles Strouse Lee Adams Johnny Green

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.0 (384Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English German Italian Spanish Dutch Arabic Greek Portuguese Turkish	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Singer and heartthrob Conrad Birdie (Jessie Pearson) has been drafted into the US Army, much to the anguish of uncountable numbers of teenaged girl fans across America. Rosie (Janet Leigh), the secretary and six year finance of failed songwriter Albert F. Peterson (Dick Van Dyke), hits on a plan to make Albert rich and prise him away from his domineering mother (Maureen Stapleton); as a publicity stunt get Conrad to sing one of Albert’s songs live on the Ed Sullivan Show and to kiss, as a farewell, one of his fans. Ed Sullivan agrees and the fan selected is Kim McAfee (Ann-Margret) from the small town of Sweet Apple, Ohio.

     The Ed Sullivan Show is broadcast live on Sunday night but Conrad arrives in Sweet Apple on Friday causing all the females in town, of any age, to swoon which antagonises the male population, including Kim’s boyfriend Hugo (Bobby Rydell). Conrad also moves in with the McAfee family; Kim’s father Harry (Paul Lynde) is initially hostile but comes around when he senses business opportunities with Albert. In the two days before the show the relationships between Albert and Rosie and Kim and Hugo undergo some trials and tribulations which are resolved on the big day!

     Bye Bye Birdie was a Tony winning Broadway show before being made into this movie directed by George Sidney. Sidney was an experienced director of musicals including Anchors Away (1945), Annie Get Your Gun (1950) and in the year following Bye Bye Birdie he again directed Ann-Margret in the Elvis Presley vehicle Viva Las Vegas (1964). Sidney was also co-founder of the cartoon producing company Hanna-Barbera so it is little surprise that Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and Flintstones merchandise is scattered around in Bye Bye Birdie! Given his pedigree and the Broadway origins of the film, it is also no surprise that Bye Bye Birdie is quite a traditional musical with singing, dancing and colourful production numbers such I’ve Got a Lot of Living to Do. You could say that Bye Bye Birdie is towards the end of this traditional genre, between the Rodgers & Hammerstein type musicals and the new rock musicals of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

     Those old enough to remember the anguish of some fans when Elvis Presley was drafted, as well as the phenomena that was the Ed Sullivan Show, may find nostalgia in Bye Bye Birdie but for anyone else this is a funny and colourful musical with well-known tunes including Kids, Put On a Happy Face and One Last Kiss. Dick Van Dyke was the acknowledged star of the Broadway production, which focussed more on the relationship between Albert and Rosie, but this film without a doubt belongs to the delectable Ann-Margret. Although she had appeared in State Fair (1962), Bye Bye Birdie is her breakout role and she went on to have a stellar career, including two Oscar nominations for Carnal Knowledge (1972) and Tommy (1976). Like a lot of the cast she looks rather too old to be a mid-teen (she was 22 at the time of Bye Bye Birdie), but she looks fabulously sexy in tight pink hot pants and dances up a storm, her screen charisma such that when she is not on screen some of the other scenes, including Janet Leigh’s big dance number, lag somewhat. No wonder Dick Van Dyke was not happy with the film. Another highlight of the film is an over the top, conniving Paul Lynde as Kim’s father.

     Bye Bye Birdie is unadulterated good clean fun (it is one of the few films still rated G!). The film is colourful, the production numbers exuberant, the music is infectious, the satire light-hearted and it has Ann-Margret. Relive the golden 1960s with this one, or if you are too young, take a journey back in time to a simpler age. They don’t make’m like this any more!

Video

     The DVD cover of Bye Bye Birdie indicates that the film is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Thankfully this is not correct as the presentation is in the original 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced.

     This is a nice looking print. It can be soft in places during wide shots but close-ups are fine. Colours are deep and vibrant; the blue in the very first sequence behind Ann-Margret leaps right off the screen for example, while Conrad’s gold suit is very bright. The night scenes, such as the One Boy sequence, were shot day for night so shadow detail is fine. Contrast can vary, as do skin tones, and not only in some musical numbers such as I’ve Got a Lot of Living to Do where this is deliberate.

     Grain is present and is occasionally heavy, motion blur occurs against broken surfaces and there are a number of very small white artefacts, but nothing to spoil one’s enjoyment of this 40 + year old film.

     English, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Arabic, Greek, Portuguese and Turkish subtitles are available.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is an English Dolby Digital 5.0 at 384 Kbps, and there are German, Italian and Spanish dubs, all Dolby Digital 2.0 at 192 Kbps.

     The English audio does show on my system as 5.0 but it is really a 2.0 track with all sound and music from the front. Not that it really matters too much; the dialogue and songs (music Charles Strouse, lyrics Lee Adams, adapted for the film by Johnny Green) are easy to hear and the music and production numbers are loud and full of verve. There was no subwoofer use.

     There were some minor lip synchronisation issues during a couple of the songs.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     No extras, not even a trailer.

     There are a number of DVD releases of Bye Bye Birdie in Region 1 US and Region 2 European but nothing looks to have anything more than our All Region release. The Region A US Blu-ray does include a trailer and isolated music score; for DVD at least buy local.

     Bye Bye Birdie was nominated for two Oscars, for sound design and adapted music, but won neither, losing out to How the West was Won and Irma la Douce respectively. Bye Bye Birdie is nothing deep or meaningful but is a gentle satire on popular culture and teens with exuberant production numbers, catchy songs and a charismatic, young and beautiful Ann-Margret.

     The video and audio are acceptable for a 40 year old film; there are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall