The Birds Page #5

Synopsis: Melanie Daniels is the modern rich socialite, part of the jet-set who always gets what she wants. When lawyer Mitch Brenner sees her in a pet shop, he plays something of a practical joke on her, and she decides to return the favor. She drives about an hour north of San Francisco to Bodega Bay, where Mitch spends the weekends with his mother Lydia and younger sister Cathy. Soon after her arrival, however, the birds in the area begin to act strangely. A seagull attacks Melanie as she is crossing the bay in a small boat, and then, Lydia finds her neighbor dead, obviously the victim of a bird attack. Soon, birds in the hundreds and thousands are attacking anyone they find out of doors. There is no explanation as to why this might be happening, and as the birds continue their vicious attacks, survival becomes the priority.
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock
Production: Universal Pictures
  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 5 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.7
Metacritic:
87
Rotten Tomatoes:
96%
PASSED
Year:
1963
119 min
856,123 Views


REVERSE SHOT - MELANIE

coming through the door and into the lobby. She walks swiftly

toward the elevator where a well-dressed man is standing,

waiting. Behind her, the inner door is BUZZING wildly with

answering BUZZES. Melanie and the man stand waiting for the

elevator, silently. Behind her, the BUZZING STOPS. The

elevator doors open. The man smiles pleasantly and allows

her to enter first. She does so with a small nod. The

elevator doors close.

TWO SHOT - MELANIE AND THE MAN - IN THE ELEVATOR

The birds are CHIRPING wildly in their cage. The man and

Melanie stand silently side by side. The man's eyes wander

down to the bird-cage. Melanie's eyes move toward him. Self-

consciously, she stands with the cage of CHATTERING birds.

The man is dead-panned, unsmiling. The elevator stops. The

doors begin to open.

FULL SHOT - MELANIE

stepping out of the elevator as the doors open. The man is

right behind her. She begins looking for apartment 3B. The

man is walking down the corridor beside her. She stops in

front of the apartment, hesitates, hoping the man will turn

the corner in the corridor. Instead, he stops at the apartment

just opposite. He begins fumbling in his pocket for his key.

He looks at Melanie.

CLOSE SHOT - MELANIE

smiling at him feebly.

FULL SHOT - THE CORRIDOR

The man spread change and an assortment of junk on the palm

of his hand as he searches for his key. Impatiently, Melanie

watches him. Making a decision, she puts the birdcage down

before the door to apartment 3B, and then opens her purse.

CLOSE SHOT - MELANIE'S GLOVED HAND

reaching into the purse for a white envelope.

INSERT - THE FACE OF THE ENVELOPE

written there in Melanie's handwriting: MR. MITCHELL BRENNER.

MED. SHOT - MELANIE

as she props the envelope against the cage, and then hurriedly

goes down the hallway, intent on retreat.

MAN'S VOICE

Miss...? She stops, distressed.

FULL SHOT - THE CORRIDOR

the man at the one end, key in his hand; Melanie at the other

end, near the elevator.

MAN:

Is that for Mitch Brenner?

MELANIE:

(curtly)

Yes.

MAN:

He's not home.

MELANIE:

That's all right.

She presses button for the elevator.

MAN:

He won't be back until Monday. I

mean, if those birds are for him....

MELANIE:

Monday?

MAN:

Yes. I don't think you should leave

them in the hall, do you?

MELANIE:

(trapped)

Well, I...

The elevator doors open.

MELANIE:

Well, where did he go?

MAN:

Bodega Bay. He goes up there every

weekend.

MELANIE:

Bodega Bay? Where's that?

MAN:

Up on the coast. About sixty miles

north of here.

MELANIE:

Sixty...

(her face falls)

Oh.

MAN:

About an hour and a half on the

freeway. Or two if you take the coast

highway.

Rate this script:2.5 / 13 votes

Ed McBain

Ed McBain (October 15, 1926 – July 6, 2005) is one of the pen names of an American author and screenwriter. Born Salvatore Albert Lombino, he legally adopted the name Evan Hunter in 1952. While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956. He also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Dean Hudson, and Richard Marsten. more…

All Ed McBain scripts | Ed McBain Scripts

0 fans

Submitted by acronimous on March 23, 2016

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "The Birds" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_birds_63>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    The Birds

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.