“Bye Bye Birdie” is the story of a popular rock singer who travels to Ohio for his farewell appearance before he is drafted into the U. S. Army. He is scheduled to give a big kiss at the concert on national television to the winner of a contest that determined who is his biggest fan. This winsome musical was well put together by director George Sidney (“Viva Las Vegas” 1964) and screenwriter Irving Brecher, faithful to the 1960 Broadway play, music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams, and the original book by Michael Stewart. Obviously, Elvis Presley was the inspiration for everything, but never mentioned.
The stars of the show include huge talents like Ann-Margret as the lucky teenage girl, Dick Van Dyke (in his feature film debut) as a songwriter, Janet Leigh as his girl friend, Jesse Pearson as Conrad Birdie, as well as Maureen Stapleton, Bobby Rydell, Paul Lynde, Mary LaRoche, Michael Evans, Robert Paige, Milton Frome, Trudi Ames, and John Daly and Ed Sullivan as themselves. Kim Darby was in an uncredited role, one of her first movie appearances.
The watchable bouncy musical “Bye Bye Birdie” was a big hit at the box office for The Kohlmar-Sidney Company and Columbia Pictures. “Bye Bye Birdie” was the eighth highest grossing film of 1963. It was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Musical Scoring (Johnny Green) and Best Sound. Ann-Margret’s next film would be “Viva Las Vegas” with Elvis Presley.
Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
cinema
My Review
“Bye Bye Birdie” is the story of a popular rock singer who travels to Ohio for his farewell appearance before he is drafted into the U. S. Army. He is scheduled to give a big kiss at the concert on national television to the winner of a contest that determined who is his biggest fan. This winsome musical was well put together by director George Sidney (“Viva Las Vegas” 1964) and screenwriter Irving Brecher, faithful to the 1960 Broadway play, music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams, and the original book by Michael Stewart. Obviously, Elvis Presley was the inspiration for everything, but never mentioned.
The stars of the show include huge talents like Ann-Margret as the lucky teenage girl, Dick Van Dyke (in his feature film debut) as a songwriter, Janet Leigh as his girl friend, Jesse Pearson as Conrad Birdie, as well as Maureen Stapleton, Bobby Rydell, Paul Lynde, Mary LaRoche, Michael Evans, Robert Paige, Milton Frome, Trudi Ames, and John Daly and Ed Sullivan as themselves. Kim Darby was in an uncredited role, one of her first movie appearances.
The watchable bouncy musical “Bye Bye Birdie” was a big hit at the box office for The Kohlmar-Sidney Company and Columbia Pictures. “Bye Bye Birdie” was the eighth highest grossing film of 1963. It was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Musical Scoring (Johnny Green) and Best Sound. Ann-Margret’s next film would be “Viva Las Vegas” with Elvis Presley.