MovieChat Forums > The Birds (1963) Discussion > Could it have been better with music?

Could it have been better with music?

posted 8 years ago by mlhmovies
38 replies | jump to latest

Let's face it, Hitchcock's film without music is like (as Hitchcock would say) 'a pair of scissors without gleam....tasteless'

As a major Hitchcock fan it pointless denying that without the music scores his films (especially the Hermann scored ones) like Psycho, Vertigo, North By Northwest would be marginally flatter!

I don't dislike The Birds by any means, I think it's a great Hitchcock thriller, maybe not exactly Top 10 material, but there's no denying it's a still recognisable in popular culture, ask a general film fan about Hitchcock and Psycho and The Birds are the most famous!

So why does there seem to be a lot of negative views on the film? Maybe it hasn't dated that well, but then I got to thinking could a music score have saved it?

Imagine a pulsing Herrmann score to accompany the dramatic scenes, bold and dramatic not as sinister and icily terrifying as Psycho but something to really raise he suspense.

Psycho proved that Herrmann was capable of providing the most memorable of music, music we still all recognise today and I'm sure he could have created an equally memorable score for The Birds, maybe then it may have earned a greater reputation as a Hitchcock classic?

Thoughts guys?

[–] trevorh321 (5495) 3 years ago

I don't know that a score would have it better. I watched it again last night and I loved it. I didn't miss a score. I love the silence of the film in the quiet seaside town, its quiet normalcy, contrasting so sharply with the birds, first as they appear a few at a time, then as they attack in large waves and then, most notably, at the incredible ending. So many great scenes throughout. To me, it's already one of his best films and that they were able to do it so convincingly almost 50 years ago is incredible. In the 'man vs animals' genre of films, this would rank very high. The only ones off the top of my head I think I like better are Jaws and maybe the original King Kong. But The Birds is a very unique and impressive film.