Ann-Margret Soars to Stardom in Bye Bye Birdie

                Harkening back to an innocent, Baby Boomer-style Americana prior to upheavals shortly to come, 1963’s Bye Bye Birdie from Columbia Pictures offers a lively musical/comedy entertainment that wins an audience over with plenty of upbeat numbers inventively choregraphed by Oona White, a fun, good-natured tone upheld throughout the whimsical story’s unfolding by veteran director George Sidney and via the star-making, dedicated performance of the gifted, alluring and magnetic Ann-Margret, whom Sidney wisely centers many key musical segments around, including the iconic opening and closing retentions of the title song created for the movie. Based on the hit 1960 Broadway success, with book by Michael Stewart, lyrics by Lee Adams and music by Charles Strouse, the Irving Brecher screenplay adroitly transfers the material involving the title figure, Conrad Birdie, an Elvis-inspired teen idol, his induction into the Army and the frenzy it causes among his followers, while Sidney sets up tunes such as “The Telephone Hour,” “Honestly Sincere” and “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” with ingratiating style and humor. With a game, energetic cast lead by Dick Van Dyke recreating his Tony-winning role and a buoyant, playful scoring by Johnny Green that is in perfect sync with Sidney’s high-spirited helming, Bye Bye Birdie offers viewers a nostalgic opportunity to spend 111 minutes looking back at a more carefree cinematic era.

By 1963 George Sidney had solidified his position among the top film directors of the musical/comedy ilk, finding great success at the outset of his career in the 1940s via his rich association with MGM with hits such as Anchors Aweigh, the 1946 Judy Garland vehicle The Harvey Girls, huge early 1950’s Technicolor smashes Annie Get Your Gun and Showboat, Kiss Me Kate and, post-MGM, continuing his box-office hits at Columbia with 1956’s The Eddy Dunchin Story and the following year’s screen adaptation of Pal Joey, with an ideally cast Frank Sinatra. Helming the all-star 1960 Pepe, meant to be a smash follow-up for the beloved comedian Cantinflas after his triumph in the Oscar winning blockbuster Around the World in Eighty Days, set Sidney back when the film met with a tepid critical and box office reception. However, Sidney appeared invigorated by the choice Birdie assignment, bringing flair and distinction to the carefully crafted musical sequences, and showcasing Ann-Margret to ensure she’s seen to best advantage in the excitingly mounted songs. Although some of the comic material falls flat and there are romantic complications that wear thin, Sidney keeps the action apace enough to ensure the movie doesn’t grow tiresome and, with nearly every number an enlivening winner, helps place Birdie among the better stage-to-film musicals of the period. Following this return to form, Sidney would reteam with Ann-Margret for another big hit, Viva Las Vegas, and a not-so-big hit, The Swinger, before concluding his fruitful career with 1967’s Half a Sixpence.

As Kim MacAfee, the sweet sixteen Sweet Apple, Ohio resident chosen to bestow “One Last Kiss” on Conrad before his Army departure, Ann-Margret justifies the trust Sidney places in her, exhibiting a sense of confidence, talent and love of performing that is overwhelming to watch. The vibrant star takes what could be a standard ingenue role and adds startling charisma and sensuality to the part which, along with her high-powered singing and dancing abilities, allows audiences to become enthralled by her presence, specifically in the famous opening and closing moments wherein, against a dark blue background, as Kim Ann-Margret first laments the drafting of Birdie, then seductively bids him adieu in an exuberant, mischievous fare-thee-well fashion. During these bookends, Ann-Margret performs directly to the camera with such an all-out verve for performing and emotional resonance she places the movie on another level, lingering in memory enough to later inspire a great Mad Men episode based on her unusual impact in these sequences. She also thrives in the showpiece “Livin’” number, dancing with a vigor and abandon that are eye-catching, while also displaying slyness and energy in her opening solo, “How Lovely to Be a Woman,” then bringing a more subtle skill to her plaintive trilling of “One Boy.” After her enormous breakthrough in Birdie, Ann-Margret would banter and generate electric chemistry with her most famous costar, Elvis Presley, in Viva Las Vegas, then proceed throughout the 1960s with a hit-and-miss filmography, gaining a high point via 1965’s The Cincinnati Kid as a flirty vixen opposite Steve McQueen, before reinventing herself as a dramatic star of depth and perception with Oscar-nominated work in 1971’s Carnal Knowledge, then carefully balancing her career afterwards with high voltage appearances on stage and screen (including another Oscar nom, mixing flagrancy and a touching vulnerability in 1975’s wild rock opera Tommy) with moving performances in fare such as television’s Who Will Love My Children?, in the process amassing four Golden Globes to go with her “Best Newcomer of 1962” Globe and, after six nominations, finally winning an Emmy for a 2010 episode of Law & Order: SVU.

For Dick Van Dyke, riding high at the time on television via his self-titled show, with Birdie he launched his feature film career in fitting fashion, bringing his Broadway role of hack songwriter/would be chemist Albert Peterson to the screen with the light, good-natured, boyish charm and agility that made him so easy for audiences to identify with. His earnestness is nicely matched by Janet Leigh as his Girl Friday and fiancée, Rosie. Leigh was at a career high after her legendary performance in Psycho, followed by ace work in another all-time classic, The Manchurian Candidate. Although she may not be an ideal stand-in for Chita Rivera’s acclaimed stage interpretation of Rosie, Leigh’s gifts as an instinctive screen actor, honed since her 1947 debut in MGM’s The Romance of Rosy Ridge, lends a fresh presence to the part, as the star enacts Rosie with focus and energy. She and Van Dyke work very well together, both in narrative scenes and their two numbers together, possibly the best-known standard, “Put on a Happy Face,” and their final scene, singing and dancing to Albert’s ode to his ladylove, “Rosie.” Post-Birdie, Van Dyke soon followed with his biggest screen success in Mary Poppins, then continued to thrive on film and television, while Leigh would pare back her film output as she raised a family, with Harper, The Fog and a nice, touching cameo opposite daughter Jamie Lee Curtis in 1998’s Halloween: H20 representing some of her best later-career work.

Chief among the supporting players, Paul Lynde, a hit in the Broadway production, gains some of the film’s biggest guffaws as Kim’s acerbic father, who is unnerved by the event of Conrad Birdie in Sweet Apple. Lynde’s great comic timing and colorful playing in Birdie helped set him up for a strong list of credits in film and television for the rest of the decade and beyond, including standout work on Bewitched, then major stardom as the center of Hollywood Squares, while Mary LaRoche does a nice job emulating the perfect Donna Reed-type housewife as Kim’s also-concerned mother. Maureen Stapleton is prominent as Albert’s possessive mom, getting her best moment dueting with Lynde on the amusing “Kids.” True teen idol Bobby Rydell, sporting an amazing pompadour and toothy grin, matches up well with Ann-Margret as Hugo, Kim’s boyfriend jealous of Birdie’s connection to Kim, and demonstrates the strong vocal prowess that made him such a hit on records during the early-mid 1960s during the “Livin’” number.  As the title character, Jesse Pearson captures Birdie’s egocentric nature and brings a playful liveliness to his big “Honesty Sincere” showcase and while singing his portion of “Livin’.” Playing themselves, John Daly (from What’s My Line?) and Ed Sullivan (who is paid tribute to in song) add to the merriment and help firmly set the movie’s early 1960’s sense of time-and-place.

With an April 1963 opening, Bye Bye Birdie went on to set a box office record at the Radio City Music Hall and placed in the top ten hits of the year with $6,000,000 in rentals (according to Variety). The film garnered some mixed reviews but propelled Ann-Margret, who graced the cover of Life magazine shortly before the release of Birdie, to major stardom. During awards season, both the movie and Ann-Margret would gain Golden Globe nominations in the Musical/Comedy category, while the Oscars would nominate Birdie for Best Scoring- Adaptation or Treatment (Johnny Green) and Best Sound (Charles Rice). The soundtrack also met with success, rising to #2 for two weeks on the Billboard album chart. Physical media releases, television showings, several songs becoming standards with pop cultural references in shows such as the aforementioned Mad Men, The Simpsons and Friends, and Ann-Margret’s iconic opening and closing of the film have allowed Birdie to remain among the most beloved musicals of its era, while gaining additional fans with each new generation. Those looking for a diverting, satirical musical/comedy featuring a remarkable star-making performance should ignore the title and welcome a watch of this high-flying Birdie.