This is the deal: I own around 350 movies on DVD and Blu-ray. Through June 10, 2015, I will be watching and writing about them all, in the order they are arranged on my shelf (i.e., alphabetically, with certain exceptions). No movie will be left unwatched . I welcome your comments, your words of encouragement and your declarations of my insanity.
Movie #43: Bye Bye Birdie
I’m not really sure why I own this movie, except that I saw it when I was in high school and have had “We Love You, Conrad” in my head ever since.
Actually, as far as cultural impact goes, this movie has probably had more than people realize. “Put on a Happy Face,” which Albert (Dick Van Dyke) sings to Rosie (Janet Leigh) is considered a standard (even Tony Bennett has recorded it). Bye Bye Birdie also made Ann-Margret a huge star, and her iconic opening number has been referenced in several movies since, plus was the inspiration for an entire ad campaign during an episode of Mad Men.
Set in 1958 and released in 1963 — a year before The Beatles really turned the world of fangirls upside-down — Bye Bye Birdie satirizes the media events surrounding Elvis Presley being drafted into the army in 1957 and giving one lucky woman “one last kiss.” In the movie, the Elvis surrogate is one Conrad Birdie (Jesse Pearson) and the randomly selected lucky girl is Ann-Margret’s character Kim McAfee, from Sweet Apple, Ohio, which I’m pretty sure is not an actual place. (In the movie, when Ed Sullivan — the real guy, appearing as himself — is approached with this idea to have Conrad kiss one lucky girl, he insists she should be from Ohio, which is hilarious to me. I’m pretty sure Ohio has had this exact reputation in Hollywood since 1958; it’s never changed.)
The movie proceeds to mock just about everything, from teenagers to heartthrobs to mothers, to women in general, actually. There’s not a whole lot to recommend it from a modern feminist perspective, though it is something that, like Mad Men, can be used as a gauge for how much things have changed in 50 years, and how much they’ve remained very much the same.
One thing that’s definitely not changed is how older generations have viewed younger generations, since the beginning of time. The pundits who look down on the youth of today are the same kids being satirized in 1963, as are their current views, sung by the two disapproving parents in the movie, Paul Lynde and Maureen Stapleton as Kim’s father and Albert’s mother, in the song “Kids.” Sample lines: “Why can’t they be like we were, perfect in every way? What’s the matter with kids today?” That’s a theme that just never goes out of style.
So maybe Bye Bye Birdie isn’t an important film, maybe it’s an outdated film, but it’s still a pretty fun film, and it’s got great music. Except maybe “We Love You, Conrad,” which thanks to this project will now be in my head for the next twenty years. (I’m kidding, it never left.)
Viable Option 