Bye Bye Birdie movie storyline. Conrad Birdie, arguably the biggest rock and roll superstar in the world, has just been drafted, which brings his legion of teen-aged female fans marching in the streets in protest. One other person not happy about Birdie being drafted is struggling songwriter Albert F. Peterson, a mama’s boy of a man who was finally going to hit the big time when one of his songs was to be featured in a Birdie movie.
Rosie DeLeon, Albert’s long suffering secretary and fiancée of six years, pitches an idea to Ed Sullivan: have Birdie appear on his television program, Toast of the Town (1948) kissing one of his fans as a symbolic goodbye to all his fans, while he sings a yet to be written song by Albert to be called “One Last Kiss”. Sullivan buys the idea. Rosie is hoping that this move will bring financial security to Albert, who will then be able to support his mama, ex-vaudevillian Mae Peterson who wanted Albert to go into show business instead of his want to become a bio-chemist, and marry her (of course if Mama allows the marriage, she who doesn’t even know they’re engaged).
The fan chosen is Kim McAfee of Sweet Apple, Ohio. Up until being chosen as the recipient of Birdie’s kiss, Kim’s sole focus in life was being pinned by her boyfriend, Hugo Peabody. Birdie’s presence in Sweet Apple brings up many issues which may thwart Rosie and Albert’s plans, including a jealous Hugo, an exasperated Harry McAfee (Kim’s father), and a ballooning line-up on the show, all these problems which Rosie and Albert try to manage. The ultimate problem may be outside of Rosie and Albert’s control, except for a little assistance of some bio-chemistry hopefully to solve the problem. Regardless, Rosie, in the end, may only be able to take so much of Albert siding with Mama instead of her.
Bye Bye Birdie is a 1963 American musical comedy film based on the stage production of the same name. The screenplay was adapted from Michael Stewart’s book for the musical by Irving Brecher, with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams. Directed by George Sidney, the film stars Dick Van Dyke in his feature film debut, reprising his Broadway role as Albert Peterson, along with Maureen Stapleton as Mae Peterson, Janet Leigh as Rosie DeLeon, Paul Lynde reprising his Broadway role as Harry MacAfee, Bobby Rydell as Hugo Peabody, and Ann-Margret as Kim MacAfee.
The story was inspired by the phenomenon of singer 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, at that time, a teen idol pop artist. Presley himself was the first choice for the role of Birdie, but his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, rejected the idea as he did not want Presley in any roles that were parodies of himself or his career. Ed Sullivan appears as himself, host of the popular long-running CBS variety show. The film is credited with making Ann-Margret a superstar during the mid-1960s, leading to her appearing with Elvis himself in Viva Las Vegas (1964).
Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
Directed by: George Sidney
Starring: Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret, Paul Lynde, Maureen Stapleton, Bobby Rydell, Jesse Pearson, Ed Sullivan, Mary LaRoche, Michael Evans, Gregory Morton, Milton Frome
Screenplay by: Irving Brecher
Production Design by: Paul Groesse
Cinematography by: Joseph Biroc
Film Editing by: Charles Nelson
Set Decoration by: Arthur Krams
Music by: Johnny Green
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: April 4, 1963
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