The Birds

The Birds (1963)

553 mistakes - chronological order

(15 votes)

Continuity mistake: Before dinner as they stand on the porch talking Cathy smiles and looks up at Melanie. In the next shot she's looking down at the ground. (00:32:20)

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Continuity mistake: As they all walk up the steps to have dinner Lydia's sweater is rearranged. The button on the right side of it disappears under her collar between shots. (00:33:20)

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Continuity mistake: As Lydia calls Fred Brinkmeyer about the chickens, notice the lamp and candle to the left of the phone. When Mitch uses this lamp later to tie the shutter closed it and the candlestick holder next to it are moved 90 degrees so that they are facing against the wall. (00:33:40)

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Revealing mistake: As Lydia talks on the phone Mitch walks into and out again from the kitchen and you can see his shadow fall on the drapes to the right of the dining room table. Later on Cathy goes into the kitchen and right after Mitch sits on the piano stool look closely at her shadow. Though not as prominent as Mitch's it can be seen in the same place for 20 seconds as she waits for her cue to enter the dining room. (00:34:00)

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Audio problem: As Lydia talks on the phone about the chicken feed she says, "Well I'll try to go over and see him, maybe he ...". The next time she says something, her lips are moving differently. (00:35:15)

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Continuity mistake: After Lydia gets off the phone the wires of the light fixture hanging over the dining room table are pushed around to the sides of the bulb so you can barely see them. In the next shot it's been rotated and you can see them very well. (00:35:25)

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Audio problem: When we first see Melanie play the piano, the melody line that we hear is not what she's playing with her right hand. (00:35:40)

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Continuity mistake: As she cleans up after dinner Lydia says, "Then you knew Mitch in San Francisco". The drapes right over her head are pushed back more between the two shots. (00:35:45)

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Audio problem: As Melanie sits and smokes at the piano, Cathy says, "Of course they're mostly hoods" but her lips say something different. (00:35:55)

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Continuity mistake: When Melanie plays the piano, Cathy's bangs are combed differently between shots. (00:36:10 - 00:36:45)

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Continuity mistake: As Melanie plays the piano, the shadow of the picture of her father on the wall gets longer and shorter between shots. (00:36:25)

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Continuity mistake: After Cathy asks Melanie to come to her birthday party, the drape to left of her is rearranged between shots and now hangs straight down. (00:36:40)

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Continuity mistake: When Melanie explains that she can't go to the party because she has to go back to San Francisco, Cathy's right hand changes position between shots. (00:36:40)

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Audio problem: The overdub of Melanie playing piano in the living room is the same volume when the scene changes to a different room as Mitch and Lydia talk inside the kitchen. (00:37:55)

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Continuity mistake: As Mitch and Lydia talk in the kitchen the far wall in the dining room becomes darker between shots. (00:38:00)

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Audio problem: When Mitch says to Lydia in the kitchen, "Yeah, I suppose so. Her father's part owner of one of the big newspapers in San Francisco," his lips don't match up with what he's saying and his voice sounds entirely different from his previous sentence. (00:38:10)

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Continuity mistake: After dinner with Mitch, Melanie walks into Annie's apartment and between shots the shadow of Annie's head appears out of nowhere against the wall. (00:41:05)

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Continuity mistake: As Melanie walks into Annie's apartment we see the front door behind here to the left. Before the door had a shade on top of it, this door is different and doesn't have a shade or a space for it between the curtain and the window. (00:41:10)

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Continuity mistake: When we first see the three-branched lamp to the left of Annie's couch one branch is facing the camera and two are behind the lamp. Now, as she sits sipping her brandy the lamp has been reversed with the lone branch in the back facing the wall. It's much easier to see if you look at the branch in the lampshade. (00:41:10 - 00:43:30)

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Visible crew/equipment: As Melanie sits down on Annie's couch you can see the shadow of the boom mike move across the books in the bookcase to her left. (00:41:20)

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More quotes from The Birds
More trivia for The Birds

Question: What's making the birds go insane and attack people?

Answer: It is never explained, probably because it would ruin the mystery of the film to spell it out.

If you are a Hitchcock fan, you pay attention to dialogue. They mention quite often that it started Melanie's arrival, of which she brought 2 caged birds. The rest is implied.

Answer: None of the characters knew why the birds attacked, or the reason it was confined to the one town of Bodega Bay. The incident was so isolated that the outside news media was barely aware it was occurring or knew its severity, so there was no investigation into it at the time. Alfred Hitchc0ck's explanation was that the birds were rising up against humans to punish them for taking nature for granted.

raywest

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