Bye Bye Birdie

Columbia, 1963
Starring Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh, Ann-Margaret, and Paul Lynde
Directed by George Sidney
Music by Charles Strouse; Lyrics by Lee Adams

Our first review of the decade is an affectionate spoof of not only the early rock era, but of the teen fads and fashions of the time and the growing generation gap. How does this very early 60's tale look over 50 years later? Let's head to New York and the music offices on Tin Pan Alley and find out...

The Story: Rock idol Conrad Birdie (Jesse Pearson) was just drafted into the army. His primary songwriter Albert Peterson (Van Dyke) writes a song, "One Last Kiss," for him to sing on the popular variety program The Ed Sullivan Show. At its conclusion, he'll give a kiss to one of his adoring teen fans. Albert's devoted secretary and girlfriend Rose DeLeon (Leigh) chooses Kim MacAffee (Ann-Margaret) of Sweet Apple, Ohio as the lucky miss. Kim's utterly delighted. Her steady boyfriend, Hugo (Bobby Rydell), is most definitely not. Kim's dad Harry (Lynde) is against the whole thing until Rose says his whole family will be on Ed Sullivan. After that, he tries to get Albert, who is also a chemist, to market a new speed-up pill his son made. Meanwhile, Albert's clingy mother (Maureen Stapleton) has also arrived, hoping to keep her son in show business and as her meal ticket.

The Song and Dance: While some aspects of this show haven't worn well, teen girls swooning over the latest and hottest young idol haven't changed much in over fifty years. Van Dyke is fairly charming as hectic mama's boy Albert. Lynde is hilarious as Mr. McAffee, who goes from abashed that his daughter should kiss a guy she doesn't know and how the younger generation behaves to desperate to get on TV and show off to the world. There's some interesting use of color filters here, too, especially in the "Lot of Livin' To Do" number.

Favorite Number: Ann-Margaret wriggles her way through the title song in the opening and closing sequences against a blue screen, explaining why girls across America are upset over Birdie being drafted. She also gets to explain why she's so glad to be a teen in "How Lovely to Be a Woman." Conrad sings the Elvis-esque ballad "Honestly Sincere"...and his his-swiveling performance leaves every woman in Sweet Apple fainting. Albert tries to cheer up Rosie after his mother arrives with probably this show's best-known song, "Put On a Happy Face," in a charming duet downtown. The McAffee parents join Mrs. Peterson in lamenting about how "Kids" today don't respect their parents.

Trivia: The musical was inspired by Elvis Presley entering the Army in 1957. They wanted Elvis himself to play Conrad, but his manager didn't want him appearing in spoofs of himself.

Bye, Bye Birdie debuted on Broadway in 1961, with Chita Riviera as Rosie, Kay Medford as Mrs. Peterson, and Michael J. Pollard as Hugo. It was a surprise hit, running over a year. It also ran in London, with Riviera and Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall as Albert. A 1981 Broadway sequel with Rivera and Donald O'Connor, Bring Back Birdie, limped through a month, while a limited revival in 2009 featuring John Stamos and Gian Gershon received rather unimpressed reviews and barely made it through its scheduled run.

In addition to the film, there was also a TV version in 1995, with Vanessa Williams as Rose, Jason Alexander as Albert, Tyne Daly as Mrs. Peterson, and George Wendt as Harry McAffee that was somewhat closer to the original show. A live version announced for NBC with Jennifer Lopez keeps getting pushed back, due to her busy schedule.

What I Don't Like: It's the supporting cast that's the problem here. Ann-Margaret may be pretty and a good singer and dancer, but she's way too old for her role and is too sensual to be believable as a teenager who just got her first steady boyfriend. Neither Rydell nor Pearson come off as anything more than bland, no matter how many teen girls scream over the latter. Janet Leigh is no Hispanic beauty and is totally at sea in a black wig and a role that's too spicy for her sweet persona.

Teens may still scream at their favorite idols, but other details haven't worn as well. Ed Sullivan's show may have been the talk of the town in 1961, but most real families probably don't even remember it - or most similar variety programs - today. Sullivan's show was so instrumental to the time period, the MacAffees even sing a song about it. The whole side story with the speed-up pills comes off as silly and unnecessary filler. Not to mention, there were a lot of changes from the original show, with at least five songs dropped and much of the plot being re-written.

The Big Finale: Honestly, neither the stage nor film versions of this show are huge favorites of mine, but there's enough good numbers to be worth a look if you're a fan of Ann-Margaret, Lynde, or Van-Dyke or of the early rock era.

Home Media: Currently out of print on DVD; streaming is your best bet here.

DVD
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