The Birds (film) Maurier's title and concept of unexplained bird attacks. In 2016, "The Birds" was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress, and selected for preservation in its National Film Registry. Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), a young socialite, meets criminal defense attorney Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in a San Francisco pet shop. Mitch wants to purchase a pair of lovebirds for his sister's eleventh birthday, but the shop has none. He recognizes Melanie from a court appearance, but she does not know him; he plays a prank by pretending to mistake her for a saleswoman. Melanie
The Birds (film) of suspense: the title and the publicity would have already informed the audience that birds attack, but they do not know when. The initial humor followed by horror would turn the suspense into shock. Hitchcock solicited comments from several people regarding the first draft of Hunter's screenplay. Consolidating their criticisms, Hitchcock wrote to Hunter, suggesting that the script (particularly the first part) was too long, contained insufficient characterization in the two leads, and that some scenes lacked drama and audience interest. Hitchcock at later stages consulted with his friends Hume Cronyn (whose wife Jessica Tandy was playing Lydia) and V.S.