Birds Do It
| Birds Do It | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster | |
| Directed by | Andrew Marton |
| Written by | Art Arthur, Arnie Kogen, Leonard Kaufman (Story) |
| Produced by | Stanley Colbert, Ivan Tors |
| Starring | Soupy Sales, Tab Hunter, Arthur O'Connell, Edward Andrews, Doris Dowling, Beverly Adams |
Production company | Ivan Tors Films |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Birds Do Itis a 1966comedy filmdirected byAndrew Martonand starringSoupy Sales,Tab Hunter,Arthur O'Connell,Edward AndrewsandBeverly Adams.It was made byColumbia Picturesand filmed at theIvan TorsStudios in Miami.
Plot
[edit]The film opens with a series of unsuccessful assassination attempts by an unknown organisation with their target being Melvin Byrd. Byrd is a janitor in aNASAlaboratory headed by Major General Smithburn with his security officer being an inept bungler, Lt. Porter. Porter is captured and impersonated by an enemy double from the same organization attempting to kill Byrd.
The head scientist Professor Waid has employed Byrd due to his excellent janitorial skills as Waid blames American space program failures on dust that caused disasters. Byrd parodies theAjax"stronger than dirt" white knight commercial when cleaning the base.
Waid's secret project is developing anionisationprocess initially to be tested on achimpanzeethat would make the subject capable ofanti-gravitywith a side effect that not only gives him the ability to fly, but makes him "the most attractive man" on Earth. When General Smithburn leads a Congressional delegation who are in Florida due to European junkets being cancelled, Byrd hides in the ionization machine, causing him to be ionized. In addition to losing the ability to stay on the ground for longer than brief periods, Byrd finds himself forced to fight off the attentions of a Congresswoman and Waid's daughter Claudine as well as the assassins.
Cast
[edit]- Soupy Salesas Melvin Byrd
- Tab Hunteras Lt. Porter
- Arthur O'Connellas Prof. Wald
- Edward Andrewsas Gen. Smithburn
- Doris Dowlingas Congresswoman Clanger
- Beverly Adamsas Claudine Wald
- Louis Quinnas Sgt. Shan
- Warren Dayas Curtis
Production
[edit]Producer Ivan Tors filmedBirds Do Itat his Miami studios with cameos provided byDean Martin(Columbia'sMatt Helm),Flipper,directorAndrew Martonas himself, and aCary Grantimpersonator played byRay Anthony.[1]
Sales was vocal in his dislike for the film,[citation needed]his only starring role. It was also the next-to-last film in Marton's long directing career.
In his memoirs Sales said the film "is now shown in six states as capital punishment." He claiemd to have rejected the script at first "and I rejected it at first, because God knows you have to protect yourself in this business — people only blame who they see on screen, not the writers or directors." Then he added "once it was rewritten,Birds Do Itwasn’t such a terrible picture. "[2]
The special effects of Byrd flying are in the style of theHertzRent-A-Car commercials of the time. One sequence featured Byrd being attacked by skydivers in a sequence reminiscent of the pre-credits sequence ofMoonrakerwith Byrd's stunt double wearing a parachute under his sport coat.
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^"The Man with the Horn".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-13.Retrieved2010-09-15.
- ^Sales, Soupy (2001).Soupy sez!.p. 165.