The Birds

The Birds (1963) was the first film Alfred Hitchcock made after Psycho. Drawn from a Daphne Du Maurier story as well as contemporary newspaper reports of bird attacks in California, The Birds featured the icy blonde Tippi Hedren in her first starring role. A film about anxiety, sexual power, and the violence of nature, it is quintessential Hitchcock. Camille Paglia, in a virtuoso study, draws together the film's aesthetic, technical and mythical qualities, and analyzes its depiction of gender and family relations. This elegant, highly readable book will delight students and fans of The Birds. The Birds (1963) was the first film Alfred Hitchcock made after Psycho. Drawn from a Daphne Du Maurier story as well as contemporary newspaper reports of bird attacks in California, The Birds featured the icy blonde Tippi Hedren in her first starring role. A film about anxiety, sexual power, and the violence of nature, it is quintessential Hitchcock. Camille Paglia, in a virtuoso study, draws together the film's aesthetic, technical and mythical qualities, and analyzes its depiction of gender and family relations. This elegant, highly readable book will delight students and fans of The Birds.