Bye Bye Birdie (1963)

This movie is an excellent time-capsule for the end of the late '50's/early'60's rock n' roll era. (It came out in 1963, just a few months before the Beatles hit our shores & changed everything forever.)

It's got everything:

An Elvis-like rock n' roll sex-machine on a motorcycle, check!

Cold War political satire, check!

A spoof of middle-class American values, check!

Young, gorgeous Ann-Marget, check & check again!

I was born too late to experience this time period & I haven't actually seen the Broadway original from 1960 with Chita Rivera in the Janet Leigh role. But this movie is a fast-paced, witty musical-comedy. I know the 1995 version sticks closer to the original story, but I think that version plays too much into the whole "nostalgia"-thing....an element that was NOT a part of any show actually made back then. That version was also slow & not very funny.

This version is great! A lot has been said about the music, but the comedy hasn't got much attention. The humor manages to be suggestive without being vulgar. It's kind of like reading an old issue of MAD Magazine, but this is acted out!

If you want laughs every second, great songs & great dancing, as well as a humorous glimpse as to what American attitudes were like back then, then this 1963 version is for you!

It's "Honestly Sincere!"

I actually played "Kim" in my middle schools rendition of Bye Bye birdie, and since then, this has been my absolute favorite musical of all time I'm sure this is partly due to my great memories of being in this play, but regardless of that, the songs are great and I love the story line.

Bye Bye Birdie is about an Elvis-type guy who has just got word that he's being drafted into the army. Because of his popularity as a singer, they decide to run a contest where 1 lucky girl will be chosen to have "one last kiss" with him. Kim wins the contest, and will be given her kiss live on the Ed Sulliven Show (a show that was really popular in the 1950's).

Much of the story surrounds the excitement about Kim winning the contest & the fact that her father and boyfriend don't want the kiss to happen. Will they be able to stop it?

Then there's "Albert" played by Dick Van Dyke an on & off again songwriter, and his girlfriend "Rosie" who wants nothing more than for Albert to propose to her. Unfortunately, Albert is such a "mommas boy" that he can't seem to make any decisions for himself, and his mother is not about to suggest that he get married and leave her all alone! Will he ever step up and pop the question?

Overall, I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys musicals. It will remind you of a much simpler time with the music and outfits in classic 1950's style. A great movie for "family night"!

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I am japanese and can understand English a little.But I can enjoyed this movie very much.

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"Bye Bye Birdie" is a classic and refreshing fun movie for all ages. I am only a 14 year old male, but I have amazing respect and love for this movie. Most of you knocking the movie are probally teens also, and probally have just seen the movie recently. I was in LOVE with this movie when i was about 5 years old all the way untill now! The movie was my absolute favorite when I was very young, I can't remember how was introduced to the movie, but I was crazy over it, and my parent's bought me the laserdisk, and just this Christmas they got me the DVD! The movie is such a fabolous fun movie. I remember how much I loved the intro to this movie, with Ann-Margret singing the amazing title track "Bye Bye Birdie". I was always amazed with her Intro and Outro of this movie. I understand the movie is different from the play, and I know thats why most of you don't like the movie. I am also very big into drama and theather, but I have yet to be in a production or seen a production of "Bye Bye Birdie". A local High School around here is doing "Bye Bye Birdie" this spring, which I will love to see. My High school is putting on "The King And I" this spring, which is going to be fabolous, I will be in it. But back to "Bye Bye Birdie"....I feel this movie is just so refreshing, when I am in a bad mood, this movie can definetly make me feel better, the songs are fun and happy, the acting is also great. Ann-Margret's performance was just absolutely outstanding, and Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh, and Maureen Stapleton were also fabolous. If I ever have a chance to be in a production of "Bye Bye Birdie", my dream role would be Albert, Dick Van Dyke's part, I would love to play that part.

So, I just wanted to say, I am sick of seeing so many people knock this wonderful movie, and I know some of you are probally around my age, and just recently saw it. Like I said before, I have so much respect for this movie, because I've loved it since i was so young, And I know some of you might be shocked, because I am so young, and was not even alive in 1963, and I love this movie so much.

The DVD is great, and has some great features, So I suggest you check it out!

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George Sidney was a great MGM director who, in the 1960s, had the great fortune of stumbling across a new star, Ann-Margret, and managed to make her an international star right at the beginning of the "Youth Era" that dominated Hollywood in the 1960s. Of all the young stars, maybe Ann-Margret had the most winning combination of vitality and innocence. Her lush figure and dancers' sway, and that wild mane of red hair, made her almost too hot for the movie screen, but George Sidney knew hot to focus her charms so that she became not a threat to the viewing public, but an actress of enormous appeal. He made three films with her, this one, VIVA LAS VEGAS and the later, lesser, THE SWINGER, notable for its scenes in which a group of young hipsters swing Ann-Margret through a mass of body paint to make her into a living paintbrush.

In BYE BYE BIRDIE her dancing with an ensemble to the upbeat number A LOT OF LIVING TO DO is the highlight of the film. It is one of those rare screen sequences in which every shot, every beat is perfect. George Sidney had earlier made some great showcases for Kim Novak, but his treatment of Ann-Margret shows why he is the most gallant of all Hollywood directors. Okay, so he didn't do so good by Janet Leigh, who looks awful in her black wig and can't impersonate a Puerto Rican songwriter any more than I can. She's ludicrous and almost ruins the movie.