Discover Movies Made in NorCal
Alfred Hitchcock and The Birds

Alfred Hitchcock and his movie, The Birds, were well known in Sonoma County in the 1960s - for the coastal side of Sonoma County is where he chose to stage this notorious film.

Alfred Hitchcock (Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, formally, but popularly known as the Master of Suspense), boasted an illustrious movie making career that spanned half a century.

After moving to Hollywood from his native London in 1939, the  celebrated film director produced some of his finest and most disturbing thrillers, including Notorious in 1946, Strangers on a Train in 1951, Rear Window in 1954, Vertigo in 1958, North by Northwest in 1959, and the infamous thriller/horror flick Psycho in 1960.

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Alfred Hitchcock and The Birds, Released in 1963!

But none struck more terror into the hearts of bird owners everywhere than his 1963 horror film, The Birds!

I was 18 and living in my very first apartment with my blue parakeet, Dickie, when I saw the movie. Now, I'd had Dickie since I was about 12 and we were great buds.

But when I came home from watching The Birds at the local theater, I could no longer bring myself to put a hand in his cage or let him out to roam around the apartment like I used to do!

Okay, that only lasted about a week, but it really was freaky!!

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Alfred Hitchcock Comes to Bodega Bay for The Birds

If you remember The Birds, the 1963 suspense/horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, you may recognize this house - it was used as the school house where the children, their teacher, Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette), and the movie's love interest, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) are attacked and chased down the street in front of the schoolhouse by a huge flock of very angry crows.

The movie was purportedly set in Bodega Bay but, while some scenes were shot at locations there, the schoolhouse is actually in the town of Bodega, which is about six miles inland from Bodega Bay on Bodega Highway.

The town also contains Saint Teresa of Avila Church, which was built in 1859 and subsequently appeared in The Birds; the Northern Light Surf Shop - a locally-owned, real-deal surf shop; and the Bodega Country Store, which lays claim to owning the largest collection of Hitchcock memorabilia.

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Alfred Hitchcock and The Birds: More Photos from the Movie

This poster shows the two main characters, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) and Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) with 'the birds' menacing in the background.

This is a still from the film itself, with the children running from the schoolhouse as 'the birds' begin chasing them.

A close-up still from the film. If you look closely, you can see a bit of the editing and special effects that were used to create many of the scenes with 'the birds'.

For more information about this famous and fascinating director, visit Biography.com. Be sure to visit Bodega next time you're in Sonoma County - if you're not afraid of the birds that live there!

And for more Northern California photos and photo galleries, see the Related Pages links in the right-hand column.

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