Bye Bye Birdie (1963 film)

This article is about the 1963 film. For the stage musical, see Bye Bye Birdie.

Bye Bye Birdie
original film poster
Directed by	George Sidney
Written by	Michael Stewart Irving Brecher
Starring	Dick Van Dyke Janet Leigh Ann-Margret
Music by	Charles Strouse Lee Adams

Bye Bye Birdie is a musical comedy film, adapted from the stage production of the same name. The screenplay was written by Michael Stewart and Irving Brecher, with music by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams.

Directed by George Sidney, the movie version starred Dick Van Dyke, reprising his Broadway role as Albert Peterson, along with Maureen Stapleton as Mama Mae Peterson, Janet Leigh as Rosie, Paul Lynde as Mr. MacAfee, Bobby Rydell as Hugo Peabody, and Ann-Margret as Kim MacAfee.

The story was inspired by the phenomenon of popular singer Elvis Presley and his being drafted into the US Army in 1957. Jesse Pearson plays the role of teen idol Conrad Birdie, whose character name is a wordplay on another pop singer of the era, Conway Twitty. Ed Sullivan appears as himself, host of the popular, long-running CBS TV variety show.

The film is credited with making Ann-Margret a superstar during the mid-1960s, leading to her appearing with the real Elvis in Viva Las Vegas (1964). Bye Bye Birdie opens with Ann-Margret singing a title song written especially for the movie. The soundtrack was released by RCA Records in 1964.

The film ranked number 38 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies. Despite the film's box office success upon release, some critics claimed it made average use of the talents of Van Dyke and Leigh. While some reviewers praised the movie as a classic example of 1960s camp , others noted its mediocre production values, rewriting of the script, changes in the musical score, and disappointing choreography in some songs.

Synopsis

Plot

Conrad Birdie, a popular rock & roll star, receives an Army draft notice, devastating his teenage fans across the nation.

Albert Peterson, who is studying to be a chemist, is a songwriter on the side. He schemes with his secretary and long-suffering girlfriend Rosie, a publicist, to have Birdie sing a song Albert will write called "One Last Kiss" on The Ed Sullivan Show, and then kiss a randomly-chosen high school girl goodbye before going off to the Army. Once that's a success, Albert will feel free to marry Rosie, but his meddlesome mother Mae will do anything to separate her beloved son from Rosie's clutches.

Sweet Apple, Ohio, is chosen as the location for Birdie's farewell performance because the Russian Ballet, which is also scheduled to be on Sullivan's show, happens to be in nearby Columbus on its goodwill tour of America.

The random lucky girl chosen is Kim MacAfee, who is thrilled. Kim already has a high school sweetheart, Hugo Peabody, who is not so thrilled.

The teenagers of Sweet Apple, blissfully unaware of their town's impending fame, are spending the "Telephone Hour" catching up on the latest gossip: Kim and Hugo have just gotten pinned (popular USA slang of the era for "going steady"). Kim feels grown up, and declares "How Lovely to be a Woman."

On the day Birdie arrives in town, the teenage girls sing their anthem to him, "We Love You Conrad." But the boys despise him. ("We Hate You Conrad!"). Sweet Apple becomes a very popular place, but some of the locals are unhappy with the sudden celebrity, especially after Conrad shows off his hip-thrusting moves while his "Honestly Sincere" causes every female to faint.

Albert is able to calm folks down. He befriends Mr. McAfee, who owns a fertilizer business, showing him one of his chemical inventions: a speed pill. Albert demonstrates the pill's effect by giving one to young Randolph McAfee's turtle.

Mr. McAfee is still hesitant to allow his daughter to kiss Conrad on television, but Albert placates him by telling him that their "whole family" will be on Sullivan's TV show. The MacAfees join in singing "Hymn for a Sunday Evening", chorusing the praises of their favorite host.

Hugo feels threatened by Conrad. Kim reassures him that he's the "One Boy" for her. Rosie, meanwhile, feels like Albert doesn't appreciate her, so Albert persuades her to "Put on a Happy Face."

Albert's mother shows up, distressed to find Albert and Rosie together. Mr. MacAfee is also agitated, not liking the way Conrad is taking over his house. They lament what's wrong with these "Kids" today.

During rehearsal for the broadcast, Conrad kisses Kim and she faints. Hugo is hurt, so he and Kim break up. That night, Conrad and the teenagers have a "A Lot of Livin' To Do" at a party, where Kim and Hugo flirt with everyone else, trying to make each other jealous.

Rosie, fed up with Albert and his mother, dances and flirts with a room full of men at a Shriners convention in "Sultans' Ballet." Albert rescues her from the crazed Shriners.

The day before the broadcast of The Ed Sullivan Show, Albert and Rosie are told that, for unknown reasons, the Russian ballet has switched to a different dance that needs extra time, therefore Conrad Birdie will only get to take a quick bow, eliminating his song and the farewell kiss to Kim. Their plans for the future could be ruined. Albert, of course, does request to have the ballet shortened to at least four minutes so there will be enough time for Conrad Birdie to sing his song, but the arrogant Ballet manager, probably unable to understand the importance of the song's inclusion, initially refuses to have it shortened, believing that cutting time would mean "artistic sabotage" to such a classic piece of work.

However, remembering about the effects of the speed pill that worked on Randolph's turtle, Rosie slips a speed pill in the drink of the orchestra's conductor to speed up the ballet, which not only amuses the audience, but also offends the Russians. There is a last-minute scramble to fill air time, and Birdie does get to appear on the show and sing "One Last Kiss." Hugo interrupts the actual kiss by running onstage and knocking out Birdie on live TV.

Kim is impressed and she and Hugo reunited. Albert is free to marry now ("Rosie") and even his mother says: "It's about time." All the couples (including Mae and her new husband) live happily ever after. Kim, now wiser, bids Conrad a fond goodbye in "Bye Bye Birdie" (reprise).

Differences from stage musical

Several significant changes were made in the plot and character relationships in the film from the stage version. The film was rewritten to showcase the talents of rising star Ann-Margret, adding several songs for her and dropping songs by other characters.

The name of the character Rosie Alvarez was changed to Rosie DeLeon. In both versions the character is a positive portrayal of a Latina; however, the song "Spanish Rose", originally performed in the stage musical by Chita Rivera in a comic, exaggerated Hispanic style to irritate Albert's mother, was dropped for this film.

In the film, Albert is not Birdie's agent nor an aspiring English teacher but a talented research chemist. He contributed to Birdie's initial success, and therefore Birdie "owes" him a favor. Albert has not written "One Last Kiss" when Rosie pitches the idea to Sullivan.

The film version of "A Lot Of Livin' To Do" features Pearson, Ann-Margret and Rydell in a colorful song-and-dance number that is staged to suggest that Kim and Hugo are trying to make each other jealous, but there is no suggestion during the number or after it that any under-age drinking or sexual activity is going on.

The song "Baby, Talk to Me" performed by Albert in the stage version is omitted from the film.

The plot structure is altered so that The Ed Sullivan Show broadcast is at the end of the movie; in the stage musical, it is at the closing of the first act. The film version also ends on a brighter note. Hugo prevents the "last kiss" by running out on stage, knocking Birdie out with a single punch on The Ed Sullivan Show. In doing so, he wins Kim's heart, and the young couple is reunited. There is no suggestion that Conrad got tired of show business, or that he suffered anything other than the embarrassment of being knocked out before an audience of millions of viewers. Albert's mother shows up with a man in tow, informs Albert and Rosie that she has married him, and gives Albert and Rosie her blessing for their long-postponed wedding. The film then ends with Ann-Margret singing a slightly revised version of the title song: "Bye bye, Birdie, the Army's got you now...."

Notes

Jesse Pearson would appear in only one other film after this: 1964's Advance to the Rear, a military comedy with Glenn Ford. He guest-starred in a few television comedy programs, including McHale's Navy, The Beverly Hillbillies and The Andy Griffith Show.

Pearson died of cancer on Dec. 5, 1979 at the age of 49, according to the Independent Movie Data Base. The poet Rod McKuen, who hired Pearson for voice work on his 1966 album The Sea Trilogy, wrote on his web site: "Jesse Pearson was a very talented man and deserved a much bigger and longer career than he had."

In popular culture

• In an episode of the television series Mad Men (Season 3, Episode 2), the opening sequence of Bye-Bye Birdie is shown (twice), and later the ad agency's Peggy Olsen sings the tune to herself in front of a mirror in an attempt to emulate Ann-Margret's appeal as somebody who can "be 25 and act 14". Later, in episode 4, the ad man Salvatore Romano directs a knock-off parody of the sequence for a commercial for Pepsi's "new" diet drink, Patio [1]
• "One Lass Kiss" was featured on an actual episode of The Ed Sullivan Show from January 1967, featuring Gary Lewis & The Playboys. It was one of Lewis' last performances before going into the U.S. Army, so Sullivan chose a girl from the audience to come up to the stage and Lewis sang "One Last Kiss" to her and received that "one last kiss".

Cast

• Dick Van Dyke as Albert Peterson
• Janet Leigh as Rosie DeLeon
• Jesse Pearson as Conrad Birdie
• Ann-Margret as Kim MacAfee
• Paul Lynde as Harry MacAfee
• Mary LaRoche as Doris MacAfee
• Maureen Stapleton as Mae Peterson
• Bobby Rydell Hugo Peabody
• Michael Evans as Claude Paisley
• Robert Paige as Bob Precht
• Gregory Morton as Maestro Borov
• Bryan Russell as Randolph McAfee
• Milton Frome as Mr. Maude
• Ed Sullivan as himself

Uncredited roles included...

• Trudi Ames as Ursula
• Linda Kaye Henning as Nancy
• John Daly as himself

Soundtrack

• 1. Bye Bye Birdie -- Ann-Margret
• 2. Opening Credits -- Columbia Studio Orchestra, Johnny Green
• 3. Telephone Hour
• 4. How Lovely to Be a Woman -- Ann-Margret
• 5. We Love You Conrad (Film Version)
• 6. Honestly Sincere -- Jesse Pearson
• 7. Hymn for a Sunday Evening -- Ann-Margret, Mary La Roche, Paul Lynde, Bryan Russell
• 8. One Boy -- Ann-Margret, Janet Leigh, Bobby Rydell
• 9. Put On a Happy Face -- Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke
• 10. Kids -- Paul Lynde, Bryan Russell, Maureen Stapleton, Dick Van Dyke
• 11. One Last Kiss (Gym Rehearsal Outtake) -- Jesse Pearson
• 12. Lot of Livin' to Do -- Jesse Pearson, Ann-Margret, Bobby Rydell
• 13. Sultans' Ballet (Film Version) -- Columbia Studio Orchestra, Johnny Green
• 14. One Last Kiss -- Jesse Pearson
• 15. Rosie -- Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh, Ann-Margret, Bobby Rydell
• 16. Bye Bye Birdie (Reprise) -- Ann-Margret

External links

• Bye Bye Birdie at IMDb
• Description of the film