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Bye Bye Birdie (1963)

post #1 of 16
4/13/10 at 1:41am
Thread Starter 
A recent revisit to the musical via Mad Men: Season 3 has got me to thinking.

Ann-Margaret had really strange enunciation. Plus, how does one effectively categorize the film? Calling it a musical seems rather simple. Is it media commentary, is it a comedy or is it yet another teen movie?

Then, there's the Paul Lynde factor. Hollywood needs another creepy older uncle figure to stick into more mainstream fare.
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post #2 of 16
4/13/10 at 1:32pm
It's not like any other studio musical, either before or after, that's for damn sure.

I used to watch this a lot when I was about 10 or 12, probably just to unconsciously feed my blooming interest in redheads. Don't remember much about it other than the "Ed Sullivan" number, Dick Van Dyke drawing smiley faces in midair, and of course, Ann-Margret's midriff.
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post #3 of 16
4/13/10 at 5:08pm
Ann-Margret lived in Sweden until she was 5, so that might be why she talks the way she does.

I have to take this opportunity to direct everyone to the brilliant parody of The Telephone Hour that The Daily Show did a while back:
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowln...ence_23723.asp
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post #4 of 16
4/13/10 at 6:52pm
A musical about rock n roll with not a single note of actual rock music in it.
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post #5 of 16
4/14/10 at 12:46am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cruikshank View Post
A musical about rock n roll with not a single note of actual rock music in it.
Yeah! What the fuck is up with that? Plus, Paul Lynde. The older I get, the more Lynde creeps me out.
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post #6 of 16
4/14/10 at 5:23pm
Well, if you think he's creepy in this, you should see...
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post #7 of 16
4/14/10 at 9:01pm
The remake is better.
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post #8 of 16
4/15/10 at 2:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anderson View Post
A recent revisit to the musical via Mad Men: Season 3 has got me to thinking.

Ann-Margaret had really strange enunciation. Plus, how does one effectively categorize the film? Calling it a musical seems rather simple. Is it media commentary, is it a comedy or is it yet another teen movie?

Then, there's the Paul Lynde factor. Hollywood needs another creepy older uncle figure to stick into more mainstream fare.
It's a satire, which would really make it one of the very first spoof musical movies made. Being the first of course there is are some rough edges around the comedic tone and that would be why you're having a hard time classifying it.
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post #9 of 16
4/15/10 at 2:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
The remake is better.
sarcasm right?

Jason Alexander couldn't hold a candle to the talent of Dick Van Dyke. Let's also not forget the magnificence of Janet Leigh or the irreplaceable Paul Lynde. In fact, a go fuck yourself is in order if you're serious. No one could replace Paul Lynde, especially not George "Norm" Wendt.

This is a movie that should never have been even considered remade, let alone actually remade.
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post #10 of 16
4/15/10 at 2:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
The remake is better.
I'm with you. And the stage version is so much better than both of the film versions.
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post #11 of 16
4/15/10 at 4:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snaieke View Post
It's a satire, which would really make it one of the very first spoof musical movies made. Being the first of course there is are some rough edges around the comedic tone and that would be why you're having a hard time classifying it.
Uh, I think you're forgetting about Singin' in the Rain, which came out decades before Birdie and balances the different tones of comedy, song and dance and whimsy quite well.
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post #12 of 16
4/15/10 at 5:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
The remake is better.
Rath, you ignorant slut.

The 1963 movie isn't the stage show, but it has its charms. Dick Van Dyke complained about it being "the Ann-Margret show" but it's not really her fault that she has 10 times the charisma that he does. Even if she was only in the movie for 5 minutes, she's still blow him off the screen.

Her casting in the film creates an interesting dynamic. As friend once said to me, "You think she might actually fuck Birdie!"

It's definitely a kitschy film, but I think it does a decent job of depicting how the sexuality of the younger generation was bursting to get free before the Kennedy assassination, the civil rights movement, and Vietnam changed the country forever.
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post #13 of 16
4/16/10 at 5:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parker View Post
Uh, I think you're forgetting about Singin' in the Rain, which came out decades before Birdie and balances the different tones of comedy, song and dance and whimsy quite well.
I think you're missing the point... Singing in the rain is a great movie but it's not a satire. Also, if we're talking about breaking through the barrier of comedic musicals, Singing in the Rain wasn't even the first.. the Bob Hope \ Bing Crosby road movies came out long before either of these two films. If you haven't seen them, you're really missing out on some great cinema.
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post #14 of 16
4/17/10 at 10:48am
I'll give you Van Dyke and Ann Margaret over Alexander and Chyna Phillips, but Marc Kudish destroys all comers as Conrad Birdie in the remake. Plus, Tyne Daly. Tyne Daly!

Although this is mostly nostalgia, because that was the first musical that I was ridiculously obsessed with and played the cast recording of constantly.
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post #15 of 16
4/18/10 at 4:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snaieke View Post
I think you're missing the point... Singing in the rain is a great movie but it's not a satire.
Yes it is. Have you even seen it?
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post #16 of 16
4/18/10 at 3:50pm
Seriously. The second Gene Kelly says "Dignity! Always dignity!" you should be clued in what kind of movie you're in for. Satire isn't always mean or dark humored.
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