Bye Bye Birdie (1963 film)

Bye Bye Birdie
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGeorge Sidney
Screenplay byIrving Brecher
Based onBye Bye Birdie
by Michael Stewart
Produced byFred Kohlmar
Starring
CinematographyJoseph Biroc
Edited byCharles Nelson
Music by
Production
company
The Kohlmar-Sidney Company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
  • April 4, 1963 (1963-04-04)
(Radio City Music Hall, New York City)[1][2]
Running time
112 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million[3]
Box office$13.1 million

Bye Bye Birdie is a 1963 American musical romantic comedy film directed by George Sidney from a screenplay by Irving Brecher, based on Michael Stewart's book of the 1960 musical of the same name. It also features songs by composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Lee Adams, and a score by Johnny Green. Produced by Fred Kohlmar, the film stars Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret, Maureen Stapleton, Bobby Rydell, Jesse Pearson, and Ed Sullivan. Van Dyke and featured player Paul Lynde reprised their roles from the original Broadway production.

The story was inspired by Elvis Presley being drafted into the United States Army in 1957. Jesse Pearson plays the role of teen idol Conrad Birdie, whose character name is a word play on country singer Conway Twitty, who was himself a teen idol pop artist at that time. [4]

The film was Van Dyke's feature film debut and helped make Ann-Margret a superstar during the mid-1960s. Her performance earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress and her next role was with Presley in Viva Las Vegas.

In 2006, the film was ranked number 38 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.[5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYDN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Columbia Pictures' Volume Indefinite". Variety. May 23, 1962. p. 6.
  4. ^ Conway Twitty website biography Archived June 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ AMC Filmsite - 50 Best High School Movies Archived December 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, filmsite.org; accessed October 18, 2016.