The Birds (film) The Birds (film) The Birds is a 1963 American horror-thriller film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on the 1952 story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. It focuses on a series of sudden, unexplained violent bird attacks on the people of Bodega Bay, California over the course of a few days. The film stars Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren (in her screen debut), supported by Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette and Veronica Cartwright. The screenplay is by Evan Hunter, who was told by Hitchcock to develop new characters and a more elaborate plot while keeping du
Rod Taylor his "Twilight Zone" episode of a year earlier and the film "World Without End" in 1956. In or around 1960, he was approached regarding the role of James Bond in the first feature-length Bond film. Taylor reportedly declined to become involved because he considered the character of Bond "beneath him". Taylor later commented: "Every time a new Bond picture became a smash hit ... I tore out my hair." In the 1960–1961 television season, Taylor starred as foreign correspondent Glenn Evans in the ABC dramatic series "Hong Kong". His principal co-star was Lloyd Bochner; Jack Kruschen played the bartender, Tully.