The Birds (1963) The school scene - Alfred Hitchcock, Tippi Hedren

[@randithompson6517]

I'm 21 years old and watched this movie for the first time yesterday on a whim. I don't typically leave comments about movies online, but I thought this scene was so amazing I had to say something! The way that the tension was built using the singing and different camera shots... I could feel the dread growing inside me. Made me feel more suspense than any modern horror movie has before. Truly wonderful!!

[@eduardo_corrochio]

It is a brilliant sequence, isn't it? I like a lot of Hitchcock's movies, particularly the scary and suspenseful ones. But I also have a soft spot for Vertigo, which is a haunting romantic mystery about what people will do for love. But to get back to The Birds-- it's so cool that you found a film that had such a powerful affect on you.

[@athanassioszotos1713]

Welcome to the Hitch fan club young one..

[@kangenwaterradio6978]

Laughing out Loud!!!!

[@jamesdrynan]

The brilliant editing of this scene starts at 2:00 when the audience is informed of the impending danger while she remains unaware. This ramps up the tension. The children's singing underscores the edginess of the moment. Every shot of Hedren from this point on pushes the camera closer to her. At 2:50, an excruciatingly long closeup of her lasts 26 seconds. The viewer knows what is happening but she only sees the flight of one bird and follows it to the jungle gym horror behind her. All of this accomplished in one and a half minutes. Exquisite tension!! Masterful!

[@curupaco]

Obrigado pela aula 😮

[@lewis7515]

We know? Like, we can actually watch what's happening in the video player...- are you aware of this?

[@Unknown-bq9id]

Look up the movie theater scene from the movie Messiah of Evil--the directors of that movie saw this scene from the Birds and were inspired by it...

[@mikemorbid1752]

This is a masterful scene. Many modern horror directors should learn from it.

[@tuscanyiscol]

Almost all of them did! Even if they didn't know it.

[@TRINZINI]

Brian DePalma sure did !

[@magicdaisies5242]

@@TRINZINI That angle where she follows the bird with her eyes, reminds me of Carrie when she follows the rope to the bucket above her head.

[@Bowser64798]

Me and my grandma saw similarities between the part when they attack the students and Jurassic world. i wonder if that was an homage.

[@deanwille8130]

I agree

[@armchabu5119]

Title song is "Risseldy, Rosseldy" :) love this movie from Thai Fans !!!!!

[@Bryankirshon]

interesting

[@michaelhughes1504]

This scene is as pure Hitchcock as they come. The reaction shot of Hedren at 3:30 is perfection

[@casparuskruger4807]

After seeing this movie several times over the years, I started getting the impression that in most of the scenes people just reacting to situations and doing the wrong things in every situation throughout. It must have been AH's little joke just showing how people are just dumb--no matter where you go. That scene later on in the diner is hilarious. This lady ornithologist.( who just HAPPENS to show up at this moment in the film ) is talking about bird habits and others are joining in in the conversation. This lady sitting at a table with two children, is in complete panic-mode, acting like a Karen and going on about how everyone "Is scaring the children" when SHE is the one scared out of her wits and the kids are just staring off into space indifferent to the whole situation.

[@cynthiahusband106]

Hitchcock was ahead of his time , the movie beautifully photographed is made by the master , only he , at the time could bring sheer horror to a movie , a true masterpiece of film making. The sheer horror of ( the birds taking flight) and marry it to the sheer innocence of the children about to be lead out of school, leading them to absolute danger , the genius of Hitchcock.

[@Grappler1998]

Bloody hell that was great, I got genuine chills when the camera panned to show all the birds.

[@AHHHHHHHHHHHHl]

I got the chills when that first bird appeared.

[@rtususian]

This is my favorite scene from the entire movie. I love how she is calmly sitting, then lights a cigarette. Then she happens to spot one crow and immediately her radar is on.

[@youtubeviewer7030]

The song the children are singing at the school as the crows mass outside is known as "Risseldy Rosseldy", an Americanized variation of the Scottish folk song "Wee Cooper O'Fife".

[@michaeltrower741]

The lyrics are absolutely bizarre, completely in line with the theme of the film.

[@silverkitty2503]

thank you

[@TRINZINI]

One of the elements that makes this scene (and the whole film) work : the total ABSENCE of music.

[@TheMillieSmalls]

And also the birds.

[@Xstrangis]

There’s literally kids singing a song in the background that’s not absence of music the children singing sort of makes the scene creepier than it is

[@MiloDC]

Not sure you understand what music is.

[@TRINZINI]

@@MiloDC ANYONE who knows about filmmaking understands what I mean (and that includes the 26 thumbs up above ;) I'm talking, of course, about the absence of NON DIEGETIC music (Look it up in Google )

[@matthewbuckley7757]

Same her while I like Psycho I prefer this movie due to the creepy ambiance. Love atmospheric horror.

[@risqueclay]

This is my favorite "Oh shit" movie scene.

[@goback3spaces]

With that damn song they're singing, I'd attack them too.

[@danielledebock881]

Lmfao ! I had to turn the volume down because of the song

[@Arcturian1111]

That songs kicks ass...

[@santanaglover6831]

Lmfao 🤣

[@Unownshipper]

@Night shade That's the point of this movie's horror: you never get a satisfying answer why. It just happened and the victims had to deal with it and the idea that it could happen again is haunting.

[@Boldorion1958]

@@Arcturian1111 The song is "The Wee Cooper of Fife" and it's also used as the tune for a Scottish country dance of the same name.

[@pwj86772]

The music makes the scene so much creepier

[@hennessydirt1458]

CloseProximity no it makes it annoying as shiy

[@MVR326]

The combination of such an innocent sounding song, and the visuals of the Crows gathering in masses , is very unsettling and scary

[@marp4735]

CloseProximity yeah I’ve played music that’s sung in a minor key for my preschoolers, they end up looking at me like I’m a monster saying *CREEPPPPYYYYY*

[@derpmaster6147]

paul jk that would destroy the point of the scene, it’s like that to add suspense and dread, all a jumpscare would do is take out the dread and looming fear of the scene and replace it with a cheap easy scare

[@jangallagher4420]

Mary Walsh Philippus 8

[@JayJay-nc7pr]

This and the Carousel scene in Strangers on a Train have to be the most thrilling and unnerving scenes in any Hitchcock film, both scenes out children in mortal peril in a everyday situation

[@mikehudson8884]

Such a stunningly beautiful classy lady and still is 2020

[@daniels_a]

One of the greatest scenes of cinema.

[@donnapelletier9722]

I came upon this movie recently while going through stations. I missed about 10 minutes of it. Brought back memories of me watching it while home alone in my tweens about 50 years ago. Scary ! Great movie !

[@jesi5000]

"Why~ do~ BIRDS~ suddenly ~appear ~every~ time~ you~ are~ near" 😁

[@crimsonpearl4686]

????

[@jesi5000]

@@crimsonpearl4686 1970s Karen Carpenter song.🙂

[@crimsonpearl4686]

@@jesi5000 Never heard of her.

[@jesi5000]

@k 🧀😁

[@flickingbollocks5542]

​@@crimsonpearl4686Our generation invented a thing called the Internet for the Whippersnappers like yourself. You could look it up what it means on the... err.... Internet.

[@sweetcrimson144]

I loved how this scene built up the suspense. Melanie is smoking a cigarette while the crows land on the jungle gym. She then happens to look up and see one fly and land. Then you see a whole crowd of them on the swings and jungle gym. Then she slowly gets up and walks quickly to the school to warn the teacher. Hitchcock was a genius!

[@Kim-ss5bb]

Genius but not a nice man on many accounts

[@Bryankirshon]

tippy hedren who played melanie daniels quit smoking

[@timothius50]

That's probably the best editing sequence ever.

[@louisristaino5973]

Great scene, tippi hedren, Suzanne pleshette, the kids singing amazing. Great directing by Hitchcock

[@LeituraFilmica]

And even on the more superficial level, the song fits this specific scene, as it works adding words to it, similar to the crows that are arriving one by one.

[@anauticalgate5496]

It's the Americanized version of a rather dark Scottish folk song "Wee Cooper O'Fife"

[@jarrodbarkley9061]

It's the song that doesn't end!

[@timothysprengeler4071]

They repeat a couple of verses here, I am guessing to fill the time.

[@adambuckmaster6248]

One of the best "oh fxxk" reactions ever, no words, gasps or anything. She looked absolutely terrified for herself and the children. She registered what was going to happen before she finished standing up.

[@jenesis55]

first time a normal decision was made in a horror movie

[@stevewilliams3850]

I'll be seventy years old this August, 2022. I've seen all kinds of horror movies my entire life; but this playground scene with these birds still scares me more than any scene from any movie I've seen since before this movie, and since. How the birds slowly congregate on the playground is like they have some kind of hive mind.

[@leighjeffrey3476]

The best 4 minutes of film making ever IMO.

[@PeruvianBanana89]

2 min and 30 seconds really haha jk but completely agree with you

[@louisristaino5973]

I couldn't agree more really. The kids, Tippi hedren and Suzanne pleshette. Plus Hitchcock directing

[@invisiblemaninvisibleman2097]

I’m in awe of how stunning this woman was....impeccably perfect

[@bobcostas6272]

This. Women were so much more graceful and beautiful back then.

[@Kim-ss5bb]

@@bobcostas6272 And natural

[@antonrowell6627]

She was gorgeous

[@djm55]

The song is the spookiest part of the sequence. In fact, it's the only "music" in the film. There is no music soundtrack to The Birds. Bernard Hermann used synthesized bird sounds and the like for the "soundtrack." Hitchcock thought it was much more unsettling than using a traditional score. I think he's right. The lack of music, and dialog punctuated by bizarre and terrifying electronic bird sounds certainly gives the movie a jarring feel.

[@BarbiePrincessJ]

This song always gets stuck in my head for dayss after I hear this part 😆 "NOW! NOW! NOW!"

[@passwordbosco407]

This song so annoyed the birds that they attacked the school. They were thinking, PLEASE MAKE IT STOP.... ;)

[@2015dwayne]

Outstanding and brilliant piece of work. Still holds its own against the best out there today. Classic.

[@janetstout8092]

The kids singing in the background make it soooo creepy, Alfred Hitchcock the master of horror.

[@Clara-ph7my]

This scene is unforgettable. You think of this movie 'The Birds' and automatically this scene will come to your head. Actually a few weeks ago my back garden was full of crows. Even my daughter came t me and said "How many birds in the back garden?" I looked out and said "Blimey it's like a scene from the film". The next door neighbours garden and fences were full of birds also. Obviously resting from migration but this movie sticks with you forever.

[@annieo6919]

My mother loved this part of the movie her and my brother and I would watch it when I was little I'm now 44 .RIP Mommy 2016 Meow Meow Meow

[@lisascarrott6142]

Fabulous acting throughout

[@bps3013]

Absolute masterpiece.

[@Brookside975]

LOVE the Aston Martin DB2!

[@AlexLikesToons]

This is truly well-crafted horror. No need to implement a cheap jump scare. When you establish an atmosphere, build suspense, and give the viewer the context they need to interpret the implications of a scene, anything can be scary. I will never forget the chills I got when I saw that crow land on a jungle gym full of birds.

[@AlexLikesToons]

@Night shade I don't really feel that it needs to be explained. The birds just decide to attack one day because it makes the film a lot more terrifying. If the characters knew why the birds were attacking, it would be easier to predict their behavior. But when you don't understand what their motivation is, you can't predict what they will do next and that can make it way more scary. Fear of the unknown.

[@andrewbrendan1579]

@@AlexLikesToons In Daphne Du Maurier's short story "The Birds"---which is even more frightening than the movie---if my memory is right, the attacks of the birds corresponded with the ocean tides. The short story takes place in Cornwall, England, shortly after World War II so the movie is quite different but both story and movie are brilliant. Alfred Hitchcock made a movie on the premise of the story and not a dramatization of the story itself.

[@nicolejttmom6061]

i love the way the camera meditates on her beautiful face. it reminds me of how a child looks upon the face of it's mother, basking in her beauty and reading it for clues regarding her mood.

[@stephenbryant5251]

One of the greatest scenes of any horror film.

[@sidviscus]

It was definitely the kids' singing that drew the birds. They were like "stop singing already!"

[@roBEARtoEHarwoodJr]

The lyrics of this song are kinda crazy now that I hear them... I love this though... I've been there at the actual building, it still makes me so happy... Soooo classic!!!

[@nicolejttmom6061]

God I love this movie. I watched it so many times when I was little. It always appealed to me as it was the animals/birds getting some revenge on humans who inflict so much torment and death on them. Hitchcock was a monster, but a genius still. The way he keeps the camera on Tippi Hedren's beautiful face always reminds me of how I would gaze at my beloved mother's perfect face, scrutinizing her beauty, trying to know her inner thoughts and moods.

[@scottclemons8365]

I agree with the previous commenters. This scene is just brilliant and it demonstrates what a genius filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock truly was. I just love this scene, the way he builds up the tension.

[@skelebones9436]

OML, my heart almost stopped on the scene where it showed all of the crows on the play equipment

[@mimicrybypravesh]

Love this song.

[@jorgecollantes]

I watched this movie with my family when I was a kid, in our old B&W tv. That scene with the kids in the school still frightens me!

[@gregingram4996]

That song they're singing is the only music in the entire movie! There's no other background music at all, even in the opening and closing credits!

[@McIntyreBible]

This has to be one of the scenes in movie history!

[@vickjr98]

The way the birds were flocking up on the gym bars scared me lol

[@Bryankirshon]

tippy hedren runs a big cat rescue in southern California called shambala

[@thedecmyster1]

I take my hat off too Tippi Hedren I could never have done this film with having a bird phobia, the worst is the attic scene at the end

[@pisceslove9]

This was so scary to me as a kid but at the same time I loved it lol. The buildup of this scene was phenomenal! This will always be one of my top favorite thriller movies. Hitchcock was a genius.👌🏾😊

[@Bryankirshon]

my favorite scene

[@grinsekatzenkanal224]

2:01 I knew exactly how this would end on the first time I saw this movie ... And I loved it, THAT SCENE REALLY SCARED ME!

[@cathleensvatosky3336]

Amazing part! I love it. cool song, fits the scene. ..

[@Uta_Chandra.H]

Its refreshing to hear the characters instead of listening to soundtracks going full blast on my speakers!

[@Johnny53kgb-nsa]

I remember the Bird's coming to our small town little movie theater. The build up to seeing the movie may have been scarier than the movie.

[@johntate5050]

The lack of music makes it really weird and creepy.

[@jrb4935]

You didn't hear the song?

[@shamrockdragon7634]

@@jrb4935 Throughout the movie there's no music, this song is sing without any accompanying instruments.

[@jrb4935]

@@shamrockdragon7634 But a song is music.

[@blue3381]

This scene is so well done that I never noticed (until now) that this "school" only has one class and the kids all appear to be the same age.

[@daveyparks3872]

IM SO GLAD SOMEBODY ELSE NOTICED THIS

[@andrewbrendan1579]

If the birds happened in real life there may have been the situation in which the older children, middle school and up, were attending a consolidated school somewhere else in the area. In such a small town I can see that there may have been a mix of elementary school students of different ages and grades in just one room. Though many years before this story takes place, my great-grandmother taught school in a country chapel and the students would have been in a range of different ages.

[@jtrain5615]

​@@andrewbrendan1579 That's a very plausible way to justify it, as when Tippy steps in, we can see that there could easily be other classrooms on the first and second floor. Still, it's Hitchcock's genius for storytelling that we never question how there seems to be only one adult and one classroom full of ten year olds in the whole school building.

[@blue3381]

@@andrewbrendan1579 I'd buy that scenario. Another, is that it could have been a Saturday, and the kids in Annie's class were there rehearsing for a special event. Jessica Tandy could have clarified it before sending Tippi off to collect her.

[@blue3381]

@@jtrain5615 I agree. The film is so stylishly shot and Bodega Bay is presented so idyllically that you don't question it. *I didn't notice until about the 30th time I saw the film.

[@kooj22]

A masterpiece in cinema and horror!

[@andigossweiler1551]

Happy Birthday, to your 90th!!

[@Bryankirshon]

Bird is the word.

[@Drazzz27]

Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!

[@alexthomas962]

I love the fact that we get this impending sense of horror as she’s unaware but we discover the true horror at the same time she does.

[@lienschen6844]

Einer der besten Filme von Alfred hitchcook

[@michaelbrinkers1145]

Unfortunately, most young people will only see this film (and others pre-1990) on small screens, including high-def home theaters., which comes nowhere near the experience of a large theater screen at a movie "palace".

[@BlackBirdBlitz]

As an Atlanta Falcon fan... I approve of this message.

[@eduardo_corrochio]

Cannot imagine this sequence without the Risselty Rosselty song in the background. If that tune was missing, this would be half as suspenseful. The song is just a little bit of music featured in this film (Melanie plays piano in one scene at the Brenner home, etc); there's no background score, deliberately. I suppose this gathering of birds is what we'd call a murder of crows.

[@Zenjedi99v2]

I just watched this again not too long ago & this song got stuck in my head. Talk about a creepy ear worm.

[@Robert-zx2ir]

Extraordinary

[@hoobananaz]

The song is so annoying/unnerving and that is the point. Just when you can’t take any more, you see them-her silent reaction is cinematic perfection. No screaming, nothing. Silence, the ever present singing and the BIRDS!

[@MrHorror1971]

Birdie, birdie, in the sky Dropped some white stuff in my eye, I'm a big girl, I won't cry, I'm just glad that cows don't fly

[@finster1968]

Or... Birdie birdie in the sky Why’d you do that in my eye? Tastes like sugar, looks like sap. What do you know, it’s birdie crap!

[@aeromodeller1]

Dinosaurs.

[@Bryankirshon]

when she's in the phone booth i lost it lol

[@Kim-ss5bb]

She was so beautiful and a good actress back when women were natural, I don't mind birds but if I saw that many all together I would freak out too

[@timothysprengeler4071]

I love the use of Risselty Rosselty, a nonsense song based on the Scottish folk song The Wee Cooper of Fife, in this scene. I distinctly remember singing a slightly different version of that song in school when I was a kid. I still remember that when I was a teenager in the late 1980's, this film and Psycho were on TV as a Hitchcock double feature. My parents let me watch The Birds with them but would not let me watch Psycho. Needless to say, The Birds is now my favorite Hitchcock movie, and to this day I have still not seen Psycho.,

[@curupaco]

Fixo imaginando o tanto que esse filme deve ter traumatizados as pessoas naquela época. E o filme mostra um inimigo tão proximo as pessoas, então elas deviam ver os pássaros com tensao. Pois não era tão comum filmes de terror com criaturas, depois desse filme que tornou-se mais comum e veio filmes de serpentes, aranhas, morcegos, lobos, até formigas assassinas .

[@matteusconnollius1203]

I love this song

[@badtaco14]

Conservative Child I can tell from your party why.

[@rosie6]

She is stunning wow

[@dfa3366]

The school is still there and it looks almost the same. In Psycho the old mansion was on the back lot. This is an actual school.

[@poodledreams]

3:30 No matter how many times I watch this I get chills, the moment Melanie realises the birds are there to attack the children, it's not simply an animal attack, this is premeditated.

[@berardfedele3486]

Greatest scene in film history

[@northsea6789]

In the late 70s when i was a kid living in Petone, Lower Hutt, New Zealand, I saw hundreds of large black birds, not sure what type they were, perched along the power lines and i was crapping myself thinking they would attack us.

[@JaniceCarter-ws7lu]

Me minus the cigarette waiting for the Ravens/49ers game to end so I can go to sleep..💚 CONGRATULATIONS Ravens💜🖤 on your win that everyone thought you weren't going to get..😊 Merry Christmas, Baltimore✨️

[@e.jenima7263]

I think the song the children re singing is to teach and instill correct word Pronunciation. A good movie , have not watched it in years but i kindda want to again.

[@ThreeFortySeven]

The song that never ends.

[@josebro352]

Tippi named her daughter (Melanie Griffith) after this character

[@oneandonlyjaybee]

Them poor kids had to sing that song for about half an hour

[@lisascarrott6142]

One of the best horror movies of all time my top 5 horror movies

[@AHHHHHHHHHHHHl]

The first time I watched this movie, I gasped when the crow appeared behind her.

[@costernocht]

Great wordless acting on Tippi Hedren's part.

[@cosminlichi6789]

She was really attacked and needed a week of the scenes after that

[@finzondoke]

That song gives me the creeps.

[@brmoogma]

the only imperfection of the scene is, when the kids turn their heads...no one is singing

[@alicaramba7680]

Singing happens in her mind. You should understand whole scene is fake, none of children actually did sing at all.

[@mariahwhitneycelinejanetmadona]

Ali Caramba is she insane?

[@seanmcgivney7631]

The best 👌

[@jjviolator]

That song is too damn funky. It's crying out for a remix! ;-)

[@kdixon9200]

It so so so need a over hot remix who will do it 2021?????

[@allenpayne927]

This song is kind of a bop 🕺

[@p.terodactyl6848]

Fun fact: This is the ONLY music that's in the entire movie. There is no soundtrack. Watch the entire movie yourself if you don't believe me.

[@AbandonedMines11]

Well, yes, that’s basically true. However there is one scene where Melanie Daniels is at the house of Mitch Brenner playing the piano. She’s playing a classical piece by Debussy called “Arabesque.“

[@Bryankirshon]

my favorite Hitchcock film

[@jimmydcap]

Tippy quit smoking decades ago. That's why she is still alive today.

[@timothysprengeler4071]

I believe she was a regular smoker when this movie was made but quit a few years later.

[@heyyywhynot]

When I first saw 2:00 I literally said “Yes!” - it is just so freakin’ good.

[@simply393]

I can't be the only one who thinks this would go hard on some typa beat