07.25.10 | Jerry Frebowitz | Staff NotesPrint this Post
Tags: Janet Leigh
Here are 10 trivia facts about Bye Bye Birdie from 1963, which originally appeared as our Mystery Movie Quiz on our Facebook page. There are hundreds of pieces of behind-the-scenes information about the movie. Please feel free to comment and add more trivia we might have missed.
1. Most of this movie takes place in a small town.
The little town of Sweet Apple, Ohio is where most of the action take place. Kim McAfee was the lucky teenager chosen to kiss Conrad Birdie on The Ed Sullivan Show.
2. One of the female leads was married to a popular actor.
Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis were married from 1951 to 1962. Janet was married four times and Curtis was her third husband.
3. Part of the plot was inspired by a real life event.
When Elvis Presley was drafted in 1958, the media frenzy surrounding the event was world-wide news and thanks to enterprizing publicity departments, it stayed news for the duration of his military life.
4. An invention plays a part in the storyline.
Albert Peterson, played by Dick Van Dyke, was a songwriter and an inventor. In the movie, his chemical formula was used to speed up the Russian orchestra to make room for the song he wrote for Conrad Birdie, "One Last Kiss."
5. The film was nominated for two Oscars.
Johnny Green was nominated for Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment; Charles Rice was nominated for Best sound (Columbia SSD). The film was not nominated in any major category nor did it win.
6. The director of the film was also involved with a successful animation studio.
George Sydney, a very successful director at MGM, is the man credited with the on-screen pairing of dance partners Gene Kelly and Jerry the mouse (of Tom and Jerry fame) in Anchors Aweigh in 1945. This was due to his affiliation with the Hanna/Barbera Studio. He was one of the founders and financiers of Hanna/Barbera and was president of that studio for 10 years. Throughout the film, there is ample evidence of Hanna/Barbera merchandise seen in the background in many sequences.
7. 
One of the actors played the same role before.
Dick Van Dyke was launched to stardom when he played the role of Albert in the original Broadway cast in 1960, winning him the coveted Tony Award in 1961.
8. A star of "West Side Story" turned down a role in this film.
Whether she was ever regretful or not isn't known but Rita Moreno turned down the role of Rosie and made way for Janet Leigh, who was not known for her musical talent except for her appearance in an RKO musical, "Two Tickets To Broadway."
9. One of the actors would become best known for his appearances in a TV game show.
Paul Lynde who had appeared on Broadway, in movies and on TV shows is best known for occupying the center square in Hollywood Squares, both in the daytime version as well as in primetime. He continued to do so until 1979.
10. A famous sex symbol had the lead role playing a teenager.
Ann-Margret, in only her third movie (her 4th was Viva Las Vegas), was experimenting with that "good girl/bad girl" persona as had Rita Hayworth many years before, quickly becoming the dreamgirl of men and boys alike. The director of Bye Bye Birdie, George Sydney was very much taken with Ann-Margret. So much so in fact, he proposed the idea of her now legendary opening and closing sequences to the studio heads at Columbia and when they balked, he paid for the studio time as well as the crew's additional wages out of his own salary... and as the story goes, a star was born...
Now you can watch Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh and Ann-Margret in the theatrical trailer for Bye Bye Birdie:
..... "George Sydney, a very successful director at MGM, is the man credited with the on-screen pairing of dance partners Gene Kelly and Tom (of Tom and Jerry fame) in Anchors Aweigh in 1945." .....
That's actually dance partners Gene Kelly and Jerry, the mouse.
Thank you MrMovieClassics -- it is now corrected. When I type faster than I can think, trouble ensues!
Here's another game-show connection: When Dick Van Dyke left the Broadway version of "Birdie" in 1961 to do The Dick Van Dyke Show, his replacement was none other than game-show host par excellence Gene Rayburn.
Dick Van Dyke was not the only actor to play the same role in the Broadway production. The great Paul Lynde was also in both stage and screen versions of "Bye Bye Birdie."
Columbia recently remastered the Broadway version and it sounds really, really good over high fidelity equipment.
They should remaster the DVD for Blu-Ray, it could use some work. A title that has sold as well as Birdie deserves a Special Edition. The last reissue on DVD has one of ugliest covers ever.
The charcter Conrad Birdie is a play on the name of country music singer Conway Twitty who sounds Elvis-like on his biggest hit 'It's Only Make Believe"
Janet leigh also sang and danced in a musical verison of my sister eilenn starring betty garrettand featured a very youn Bob Fosse If it had been made by mgnit would be much more well knowned
On the subject of "strange" muscials. Has anyone seen Sweet Charity lately? I remember this movie from when I was a child and somehow in the Seventies it didn't seem that odd but now....? It is very original and very, very black. I admit I do have a weakness for Black Comedies and this one has some terrific music!
Let's Mention Paul Lynde' Bewitched Episodes..Great Fun..!
Am I the only one that thinks the movie version of BBB was a stinker? Casting international sex-symbol Ann Margaret as a sweet young Ohio school girl? Apple-pie Janet Leigh as a spicy, frustrated senorita? Rushin' Russians? Re-writing all the sub-plots. A hit show should not have been tampered with. Then the same thing was done with "Annie" The 4th of July instead of Christmas? Elephants instead of Santa Claus. Another stinker created out of a hit!
I think so Demeio. it was BBB that made Ann Margret a star--before that she had 2 minor film roles. And the roles that Janet Leigh played just prior to BBB, "The Manchurian Candidate," "Psycho" and "Touch of Evil" hardly projected an Apple Pie image. Birdie captures a snapshot of a time when teen idols ruled the R&R scene and the American teeenagers were in thier last days of innocence before the turbulent 60's began. AM singing the theme song awakened my pre-adolecent mind to the fact that there was a definate difference between boys and girls.
...but I do agree with you about "Annie"---even John Huston couldn't save that one.
The film, "Sweet Charity," was based on the Frederico Fellini movie, "Nights of Cabiria." (non musical)
Here's another interesting fact or two about the movie "Birdie"
1. The fast-moving turtle in the film version is nowhere in the original Broadway play. Evidently, it was added on by the makers of the movie for whatever reason.
2. All the action in the film is for the most part
extracted from the First Act of the stage version.
The film climaxes when the rock star is punched in the mouth on the air by the boy friend. In the play this ends the First Act but the story has a Second Act that never was adapted. And the ballet scene certainly could not be on an actual stage! "Birdie" has a reputation as being a good movie (especially Onna White's choreography) and I enjoyed it myself. However, the movie while retaining the play plot altered the musical considerably.
The great Jesse pearson died at only 49 of cancer. He was in one of the road shows and really impressed the producers who gave him the lead role. Boobby Rydell was excellent and kept up with Ann Margerett in every dance scene. It is a shame that he didn't make more musicals.