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Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
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Overview
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Release Date:
4 April 1963 (USA) morePlot:
A rock singer travels to a small Ohio town to make his "farewell" television performance and kiss his biggest fan before he is drafted. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(45 articles)
Stamos Gets A Star (From WENN. 9 November 2009, 1:56 PM, PST)
This Week on Stage: 'The Understudy,' 'Idiot Savant,' and 'Nightingale'
(From EW.com - PopWatch. 7 November 2009, 5:00 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Spreading Sunshine All Over The Place more (63 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Janet Leigh | ... | Rosie DeLeon |
 | Dick Van Dyke | ... | Albert F. Peterson |
 | Ann-Margret | ... | Kim McAfee |
 | Maureen Stapleton | ... | Mama Mae Peterson |
 | Bobby Rydell | ... | Hugo Peabody |
| Jesse Pearson | ... | Conrad Birdie |
| Paul Lynde | ... | Harry McAfee |
| Mary LaRoche | ... | Doris McAfee |
| Michael Evans | ... | Claude Paisley |
| Robert Paige | ... | Bob Precht |
| Gregory Morton | ... | Maestro Borov |
| Bryan Russell | ... | Randolph McAfee |
| Milton Frome | ... | Mr. Maude |
 | Ed Sullivan | ... | Himself |
| Ben Astar | ... | Ballet manager |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
112 minCountry:
USAColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 moreCertification:
Argentina:Atp | Singapore:PG | USA:Approved (No. 20408) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:G (1996)Filming Locations:
Greek Theatre, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USAFun Stuff
Goofs:
Plot holes: The first time Rosie tries to call Kim, she gets a busy signal and then says that while Kim is chatting away on the phone, she has no idea her life is about to change. How could Rosie know who's on the line when it's busy? moreSoundtrack:
How Lovely To Be a Woman moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (63 total)
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Bye Bye Birdie which ran a most respectable 607 performances on Broadway was the second musical by the team of Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. And though they've been responsible for such additional Broadway hits as Applause, Golden Boy, All American, not one other of their shows has ever been adapted to the screen.
Though Bye Bye Birdie contains a number of hit songs still performed frequently today, it's never been revived. Interesting in that Grease which was a satire of that pre-Beatles era of rock and roll is performed all the time. You'd think the real article would occasionally be revived.
The only ones who make the transition from Broadway to Hollywood from the cast are Dick Van Dyke and Paul Lynde. Probably because respectively they are so identified with the songs Put On A Happy Face and Kids that no one would see the film if they weren't in it.
Based on the great pop culture uproar when Elvis Presley got drafted, Bye Bye Birdie is about a contest thought up by production assistant Janet Leigh to the Ed Sullivan Show to help her struggling songwriter boyfriend Dick Van Dyke. He writes a song One Last Kiss and Janet puts the idea to Sullivan to have Conrad Birdie {Jesse Pearson) sing it on the show to a special Conrad Birdie fan selected at random and bestow one last kiss before Uncle Sam takes him.
The lucky girl is Ann-Margret of Sweet Apple, Ohio and wouldn't you know that she'd come from a town like that. The teen virgin roles Sandra Dee didn't get are the ones Ann-Margret got and unlike Dee, that girl could sing and dance. Her boyfriend is Bobby Rydell who was at the height of his teen idol popularity as well and they do make an attractive and charming couple.
The dynamic of the triangle of Birdie, boyfriend, and fan is a very big change from the Broadway show. Realize that Bobby Rydell's part was played on Broadway by Michael J. Pollard and you KNOW it has to be different. Rydell, Pearson, and Ann-Margret sing and dance A Lot of Living To Do.
Janet Leigh is not thought of as a musical performer, but she did acquit herself well, though she would never have classified herself in Chita Rivera's echelon as a dancer. Leigh was in Howard Hughes's earlier attempt at RKO for a big musical in Two Tickets to Broadway and she did well there as she does here.
To say Bye Bye Birdie is from a more innocent time is to belabor the obvious. But if Grease can be continually revived, why can't Bye Bye Birdie?