The unwitting precursor to a string of later "eco-apocalypse" films, Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 classic The Birds offered a new twist on man-versus-nature:   in this case, nature-gone-mad, or perhaps nature “mad-as-hell-and-not-going-to-take-it-anymore.”

The story begins with a harmlessly cheerful flirtation between Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) and suave Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) at a pet shop.  A coolly mischievous socialite and daddy's girl, Melanie embodies the brassy confidence of the post-war Camelot generation, spending time and money frivolously, to the point of following Mitch all the way from San Francisco to Bodega Bay to deliver an anonymous gift of two love birds.  While Melanie slowly gets caught up in the lives of Mitch's jealous mother (Jessica Tandy) and former love (Suzanne Pleshette), we grow increasingly uneasy over the strange behavior of the local wildlife, which eventually gather to create a doomsday cloud of feathered vengeance.  But vengeance against what? 

The film is interesting not so much for its "themes" (if there are any), but for the shared dread it inspires in us, and the implied guilt it raises about our own relationship with Mother Nature.  A few years later the environmental movement would challenge the spend-thrift frivolity of Melanie's generation, whose conspicuous consumption--not unlike ours--has created some very real (and still-to-be-revealed) ecological horrors.

Entertainment journalist Todd Coleman has written for The Hollywood Reporter, The Los Angeles Times, and Premiere magazine, and served as head researcher on three books on Hollywood.  He has written and directed numerous short films and videos, including a mannequin horror film at NYU that played on cable for 13 years and won eight international awards (during a particularly slow year for student films).  He currently serves as the west coast office for an Internet technology company, Broadbridge Media

Discussion Panelists:  Rev. Steve Berry, Ed Murray