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Janet
Leigh .... Rosie DeLeon Ed
Sullivan .... Himself |
Directed
by |
Bye
Bye |
I
have watched this opening number 20 times. Uh... you know, so I can
understand the songs charm. Actually, its obvious where the song gets
its charm, 22 year old Ann-Margret. Here she wears a yellow dress
and flirts her song directly to the camera. The filmmakers knew what
they had in their beautiful, charismatic young star and so left her
alone in front of a blue screen. Aside from her beauty, she also
has great charisma. She is prepared to walk away with this film under
her arm. |
Conrad
Birdie |
This satirical theme appears many times throughout the film. This time it is performed at a dirge pace. Several female protesters are outraged with the governments decision to draft their idol, Conrad Birdie. So they take their issue to the Capitol Building in Washington DC. |
The
Telephone |
Did you hear that Hugo and Kim got pinned? For those of you who are out of the loop, that means they have a permanent understanding. Ursula, upon hearing the news calls her friends and they call their friends and so on and so on. Suddenly every teen in Sweet Apple, Ohio is on every phone. That is the premise for this cute number which incorporates split and multi-screen photography. It also introduces Hugo trying to convince his buddies that he isn't off his gourd getting hooked up. In all the ruckus though, my personal favorite is the suave fellah surrounded by several tennis babes... Heck, he's even on a car phone. |
How
Lovely to |
It is a pleasure to watch Ann-Margaret. Here her song celebrates coming of age while changing her clothes. The voyeuristic camera never shuts off so her performance had to be perfectly staged... and it is. On top of it all, the song has a infectious melody line and in the end, it's a definite film highlight. |
Conrad
Birdie |
The Conrad Birdie fan club excitedly sing in preparation of their hero's arrival to the small little town of Sweet Apple. The boys in town, totally against the attentions the girls are showing Birdie, sing counterpoint about their hatred of Conrad. Their argument comes to a head when the two mobs meet together. In a clever bit of direction, Hugo and Kim quickly become the ambassadors for each side. Their story to come symbolizes the larger conflict. |
Honestly |
Enter
the beautiful, talented and charismatic Conrad Birdie... He sings this
'practical' number to the entire town. It culminates with most of the
townsfolk passed out from excitement. There is a Problem with the casting of Jesse Pearson as Birdie. He's not very talented. Not very beautiful. He's also not very charismatic. He is weak enough that we side with the boys and their anti-Birdie rhetoric. If you look closely at the set, you'll see he's singing on the steps of the clock tower from BACK TO THE FUTURE. |
Hymn
for a |
Kim's father is totally against the whole Conrad deal until he is bribed with an appearance of the ED SULLIVAN show. He and his family appear in choir robes while singing this sacred song for their favorite human being, Ed. It's also nice to see the family unit as a support mechanism. They are happy to be singing together. Paul Lynde as the father is absolutely brilliant, finding comedy in the strangest places. One of the highlights of the film. |
One |
Trying to suppress Hugo's jealousy, Kim sings he is her "One Boy". Hugo (Bobby Rydell) breaks in and offers a nice harmony creating a very satisfying sound. Rosie, obviously satisfied with their performance as well, but not so satisfied with her own beau Albert, takes on a verse. Finally, Kim joins her in a cleverly photographed finale in which we see the similarity of each woman's plight. |
Put
on a |
This bouncy number is performed by the great Dick Van Dyke as Albert. Unfortunately, the filmmakers burdened it in excessive complexity. Albert's singing is supported by animated smiley faces, a ghostly dance partner and even one set of 'follow the bouncing ball' lyrics. These are cute elements on their own but have no added value to this song. This number should have been a high point, but it gets lost in distraction. |
Kids |
Paul Lynde is a natural for the role of Harry McAfee. His voice is laced with humor and KIDS receives great benefit. He is also joined by the very funny Maureen Stapleton as Albert's mother whose verse is lyrically clever, but a bit more stale in comparison. This seems to be the only moment where she is not over-the-top. The song sets up a conflict (a distrust of children) that for no apparent reason is totally resolved at the end of the song. |
One |
Conrad Birdie rehearses Albert's song. Jesse Pearson once again proves that even an Elvis-like rock idol can be boring and uninteresting. |
Got
a lot |
Conrad takes up some valuable screen time introducing this energetic group number. But, Ann-Margret and Bobby Rydell steal the number from him and save the moment. This is the most organized dance number in the film and showcases a dance duel between Hugo and Kim. Rydell as the preppy Hugo is unintentionally more 'cool' than Birdie. |
One
Last |
After the preposterous 'super speed' ballet, Conrad Birdie croons this song to Kim McAfee on the Ed Sullivan Show. Fortunately for us, Hugo punches him out of the story. |
Rosie |
All the problems have been resolved. Even Albert's mother issues are in the past so he can now move to his real love, Rosie. His first step to securing her love is finishing the love song he began to compose long before. "Rosie" is nicely and simply done. |
Bye
Bye |
And so we close out the movie the same way we opened, with Ann-Margret... This time she has literally let her hair down. I must admit that I find this bookend very effective. Kim display's her character's arc from 'Birdie groupie' to a beautiful grown woman. This number is worth watching at least 200 times a day. |
The
show Bye Bye Birdie hearkened back to a much simpler time. With its
abundance of teenager's roles, it is often revised by high schools
and community theater groups. The play is more responsible for that
reputation than the film, but the film reaches a larger audience in
a much shorter time. The song "A Healthy American Boy" was also cut. The song "What Did I ever See in Him?" was cut and that is a shame. It continued the relationship set up during the song "One Boy". Kim and Rosie lose the number and the viewers lose the comparison. Rosie has an additional loss when most of the song "Spanish Rose" was replaced by dialogue and dance. In my opinion the biggest loss in the film is Albert's beautiful "Talk to me." His song pleads for Rosie's love and showed growth, but as mentioned earlier, that growth never happens in the film. For
many, BYE BYE BIRDIE did not transfer well to the screen, but the
film is not the only document of the show available. In 1995, a new
production appeared that was a 'different', longer, possibly truer
interpretation. Although it used all of the music and the basic storyline
from the stage show, they attempted to make a new show. |
If
you would like to discuss the show, |
Order
the |
Order
the |