The Birdz
Once during the past several weeks, I walked past the Castro Theater to find a sign in the window advertising a free movie. The free movie was "The Birds" directed by Alfred Hitchcock. And guess what they offered as an added inducement? The star of the film, Tippi Hedren would be there! I got two tickets.
The day of the showing, I got deathly ill and called in sick for work. At 6 I showed up at the Castro and guess what? An old buddy of mine just happened to be at the front of the line. And he just happened to let me in in front of him.
We entered the theater and sat down in the front.. My friend got some popcorn and we waited for Tippi to make an appearance. The Castro has a theater organist, and as he came to his conclusion (which is usually "San Francisco") he played the theme from Alfred Hitchcock Presents. You know, the tv series. And out came a smarmy tv movie host, to be followed by the fabulous Tippi.
I say fabulous because you just know how much queers love old movie stars. The Castro has played host to personal appearances by the likes of Jane Russell, Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, Carol Lynley, and I can't remember who else. Anyway, Tippi came out of the wings, the boys carried on like you cannot believe (a standing ovation with non stop cheering) and Tippi took her place across the table from the the smarmy host.
She must be in her seventies by now, but you'd never know it. She really does look fabulous. Those Hollywood types do a good job of keeping up appearances (of course if I had their money, I could too).
Tippi told us how she got the job. She had been a model, and her face caught Hitchcock's eye. Hitch (as she called him) signed her on even though she had no acting experience. She starred in two of his movies, then called it quits. She was too much of a lady to go into much detail, but it seems that Hitch was something of a perv when it came to dealing with his leading ladies. After two films, Tippi had had enough. Hitch kept her on under contract, but wouldn't let her work for another director, effectively ending her career.
After talking about her work in saving endangered species, especially large cats which she originally kept at home, Tippi left the stage ( to tumultuous applause) and the film began.
What used to be a horror film had become, in the intervening four decades, a camp classic. All the audience had seen The Birds before, and where they should have been shrieking in horror, they were laughing their asses off. It really was a good film. Roddy Mac Dowell is a hunk, Tippi Hedren is a fox, Jessica Tandy is a fine actress, Susan Pleshette smoulders, and the little kid never stops whimpering. A fine night of harmless fun.
The day of the showing, I got deathly ill and called in sick for work. At 6 I showed up at the Castro and guess what? An old buddy of mine just happened to be at the front of the line. And he just happened to let me in in front of him.
We entered the theater and sat down in the front.. My friend got some popcorn and we waited for Tippi to make an appearance. The Castro has a theater organist, and as he came to his conclusion (which is usually "San Francisco") he played the theme from Alfred Hitchcock Presents. You know, the tv series. And out came a smarmy tv movie host, to be followed by the fabulous Tippi.
I say fabulous because you just know how much queers love old movie stars. The Castro has played host to personal appearances by the likes of Jane Russell, Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, Carol Lynley, and I can't remember who else. Anyway, Tippi came out of the wings, the boys carried on like you cannot believe (a standing ovation with non stop cheering) and Tippi took her place across the table from the the smarmy host.
She must be in her seventies by now, but you'd never know it. She really does look fabulous. Those Hollywood types do a good job of keeping up appearances (of course if I had their money, I could too).
Tippi told us how she got the job. She had been a model, and her face caught Hitchcock's eye. Hitch (as she called him) signed her on even though she had no acting experience. She starred in two of his movies, then called it quits. She was too much of a lady to go into much detail, but it seems that Hitch was something of a perv when it came to dealing with his leading ladies. After two films, Tippi had had enough. Hitch kept her on under contract, but wouldn't let her work for another director, effectively ending her career.
After talking about her work in saving endangered species, especially large cats which she originally kept at home, Tippi left the stage ( to tumultuous applause) and the film began.
What used to be a horror film had become, in the intervening four decades, a camp classic. All the audience had seen The Birds before, and where they should have been shrieking in horror, they were laughing their asses off. It really was a good film. Roddy Mac Dowell is a hunk, Tippi Hedren is a fox, Jessica Tandy is a fine actress, Susan Pleshette smoulders, and the little kid never stops whimpering. A fine night of harmless fun.
posted by hans at 2:07 AM
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