| Birds Do It | |
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Original film poster |
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| Directed by | Andrew Marton |
| Produced by | Stanley Colbert, Ivan Tors |
| Written by | Art Arthur, Arnie Kogen, Leonard Kaufman (Story) |
| Starring | Soupy Sales, Tab Hunter, Arthur O'Connell, Edward Andrews, Doris Dowling, Beverly Adams |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August, 1966 |
| Running time | 88 min. |
| Language | English |
Birds Do It is a 1966 comedy movie that was made by Columbia Pictures and filmed at the Ivan Tors Studios in Miami. It stars Soupy Sales in his film debut as a leading man, Tab Hunter, Arthur O'Connell, Edward Andrews and Beverly Adams. Although shown very rarely on television, the movie is now available for online order in bare-bones DVD format through Sony's Columbia Classics line.
Contents |
The films opens with a series of unsuccessful assassination attempts by an unknown organisation with their target being Melvin Byrd (Sales). Byrd is a janitor in a NASA laboratory headed by Major General Smithburn (Andrews) with his security officer the bumbling Lt. Porter (Hunter) who is captured and impersonated by an enemy double from the same organisation attempting to kill Byrd.
The head scientist Professor Waid (O'Connell) has employed Byrd due to his excellent janitorial skills as Waid blames American space program failures on dust that caused disasters. Byrd parodies the Ajax "stronger than dirt" white knight commercial when cleaning the base.
Waid's secret project is developing an ionisation process initially to be tested on a chimpanzee (Daktari's Judy the Chimp) that would make the subject capable of anti-gravity with a side effect that not only gives him the ability to fly, but makes him "the most attractive man" on earth! When General Smithburn leads a Congressional delegation who are in Florida due to European junkets being cancelled, Byrd hides in the ionisation machine leading him to be ionised. In addition to the being unable to stay in the ground Byrd must fight off the attentions of a Congresswoman (Doris Dowling) and Waid's daughter Claudine (Adams) as well as the assassins.
Producer Ivan Tors filmed at his Miami studios with cameos provided by Dean Martin (Columbia's Matt Helm), Flipper, director Andrew Marton as himself and a Cary Grant impersonator played by Ray Anthony.[1]
Star Soupy Sales has been vocal in his dislike for this particular film.
The special effects of Byrd flying are in the style of the Hertz rent a car adverts of the time with one sequence features Byrd being attacked by sky divers in a sequence reminiscent of the pre credits sequence of Moonraker with Byrd's stunt double wearing a parachute under his sport coat.