''Birds Do It'' is a 1966

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Andrew Marton Andrew Marton (born Endre Marton; 26 January 1904 – 7 January 1992) was a Hungarian-American film director. In his career, he directed 39 films and television programs, and worked on 16 as a second unit director, including the chariot race in ...

and starring

Soupy Sales Milton Supman (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009), known professionally as Soupy Sales, was an American comedian, actor, radio-television personality, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television ser ...

Tab Hunter Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond hair and clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. During the 1950s and 1960s ...

Arthur O'Connell Arthur Joseph O'Connell (March 29, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an American stage, film and television actor, who achieved prominence in character roles in the 1950s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for both ''Picn ...

Edward Andrews Edward Bryan Andrews Jr. (October 9, 1914 – March 8, 1985) was an American stage, film and television actor. Andrews was one of the most recognizable character actors on television and in films from the 1950s through the 1980s. His stark whi ...

and

Beverly Adams Beverly Adams (born November 7, 1945)) is a Canadian-American actress and author. Early life Adams was born in Alberta, Canada, but is a citizen of the United States. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Adams. Raised Roman Catholic, she ...

. It was made by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

and filmed at the

Ivan Tors Ivan Tors (born Iván Törzs; June 12, 1916 – June 4, 1983) was a Hungary, Hungarian playwright, film director, screenwriter, and Film producer, film and television producer with an emphasis on non-violent but exciting science fiction, underwat ...

Studios in Miami.

Plot

There are series of unsuccessful assassination attempts by an unknown organisation targeting Melvin Byrd. Byrd is a janitor in a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

laboratory headed by Major General Smithburn with his security officer being an inept bungler, Lt. Porter. Porter is captured and impersonated by an enemy double from the same organization attempting to kill Byrd. The head scientist Professor Waid 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 Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

"stronger than dirt" white knight commercial when cleaning the base. Waid's secret project is developing an

ionisation Ionization or ionisation is the process by which an atom or a molecule acquires a negative or positive charge by gaining or losing electrons, often in conjunction with other chemical changes. The resulting electrically charged atom or molecule i ...

process initially to be tested on a

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

that would make the subject capable of

anti-gravity Anti-gravity (also known as non-gravitational field) is the phenomenon of creating a place or object that is free from the force of gravity. It does not refer to either the lack of weight under gravity experienced in free fall or orbit, or to ba ...

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 ionization machine, causing him to be ionized. In addition to losing the ability to stay on the ground for longer than brief periods, Byrd finds himself forced to fight off the attentions of a Congresswoman and Waid's daughter Claudine as well as the assassins.

Cast

as Melvin Byrd *

as Lt. Porter *

as Prof. Wald *

as Gen. Smithburn *

Doris Dowling Doris Dowling (May 15, 1923 – June 18, 2004) was an American actress of film, stage and television. Best known for the films '' The Crimson Key'' (1946) and '' Bitter Rice'' (1949). Also known for playing Irene Adams on '' My Living Doll'' ( ...

as Congresswoman Clanger *

as Claudine Wald *

Louis Quinn Louis Quinn (born Louis Frackt; March 23, 1915 – September 14, 1988) was an American television and film actor, best known for his role as Roscoe, the comic relief racetrack tout, from 1958 to 1963 in the ABC/Warner Bros. detective televi ...

as Sgt. Shan * Warren Day as Curtis

Production

Producer Ivan Tors filmed ''Birds Do It'' at his Miami studios with cameos provided by

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...

(Columbia's

Matt Helm Matt Helm is a fictional character created by American author Donald Hamilton (1916–2006). Helm is a U.S. government counter-agent, a man whose primary job is to kill or nullify enemy agents—not a spy or secret agent in the ordinary sense of ...

Flipper Flipper may refer to: Common meanings *Flipper (anatomy), a forelimb of an aquatic animal, useful for steering and/or propulsion in water *Swimfins, footwear that boosts human swimming efficiency, also known as flippers * Flipper (cricket), a typ ...

, director

as himself, and a

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English and American actor. Known for his blended British and American accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing, he ...

impersonator played by

Ray Anthony Ray Anthony (born Raymond Antonini; January 20, 1922) is an American retired bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter and actor. He is the last living member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Biography Anthony was born to an Italian family in Bentleyv ...

. Sales was vocal in his dislike for the film, his only starring role. It was also the next-to-last film in Marton's long directing career. In his memoirs Sales said the film "is now shown in six states as capital punishment." He claimed to have rejected the script at first "and I rejected it at first, because God knows you have to protect yourself in this business — people only blame who they see on screen, not the writers or directors." Then he added "once it was rewritten, ''Birds Do It'' wasn’t such a terrible picture." The special effects of Byrd flying are in the style of the

Hertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or Cycle per second, cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in ter ...

Rent-A-Car commercials of the time. One sequence featured Byrd being attacked by skydivers in a sequence reminiscent of the pre-credits sequence of '' Moonraker'' with Byrd's stunt double wearing a parachute under his sport coat.

References

External links

* {{Andrew Marton 1966 films 1966 comedy films American comedy films Columbia Pictures films Films set in Florida Films shot in Florida Films directed by Andrew Marton 1960s English-language films 1960s American films