Bye Bye Birdie

Name: Bye Bye Birdie
Released: 1963-4-4
Cast: Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret, Maureen Stapleton, Bobby Rydell

Bye Bye Birdie

G
1h 52m
1963

89%

age 9+

PRICING SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Confirm current pricing with applicable retailer. All transactions subject to applicable license terms and conditions.

Lots of laughs and great songs have made this all-time favorite based on the hit Broadway show one of the most memorable musicals of all time. When rock star and teenage heart-throb Conrad Birdie gets drafted, the nation's teenagers go haywire and Conrad's manager, Albert (Dick Van Dyke), faces unemployment. So Albert and his girlfriend (Janet Leigh) organize a nationwide contest in which one lucky girl wins a farewell kiss from Conrad on the Ed Sullivan Show. Kim McAfee (Ann-Margret) turns out to be the lucky teenager and Conrad's whole entourage moves into her quiet, Midwestern home much to the chagrin of her ever irritable father (Paul Lynde) and her jealous boyfriend (Bobby Rydell). The result is chaos and a series of hilarious romantic complications.

Director:

George Sidney

Producer:

Fred Kohlmar

Writer:

Irving Brecher

Cast:

Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret, Maureen Stapleton, Bobby Rydell, Jesse Pearson, Ed Sullivan, Paul Lynde

Rotten Tomatoes® Score

TOMATOMETER®

89%

Critics Consensus: A poppy satire on pop music, Bye Bye Birdie is silly, light, and very, very pink.

Reviews

LarsenOnFilm

Josh Larsen

Ann-Margret makes one thing clear every second she's on screen in Bye Bye Birdie: no matter how hokey, forcibly madcap, or just plain dumb the material gets, she's coming out of this thing a star.

Underrated satirical musical that has contributed more to popular culture than many people are aware of.

A wonderfully energetic and colourful adaptation of the smash Broadway hit, satirising the traumatic induction of one Elvis Presley into the US Army.

June 25, 2017

FULL REVIEW

TIME Magazine

[Bye Bye Birdie] had an apple-cheekiness about it on the stage that seems slightly worm-eaten on film, and the result is more goof than spoof.

June 25, 2017

FULL REVIEW

TV Guide

Innocent-yet-sexy Ann-Margret is perfectly cast as the teenybopper, Van Dyke is winning in one of his few lead feature film roles, and Paul Lynde hilariously conveys a father's inability to understand teenagers and rock music.

June 25, 2017

FULL REVIEW

Common Sense Media

age 9+

Common Sense Says

Fun but dated musical will appeal to parents more than kids.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this 1963 movie musical is rated G, but the adolescent-hormone focus of the plot may not be as age-appropriate for early-elementary-aged kids. There's nothing overt or explicit, but the amount of innuendo and the emphasis on high-school romances and celebrity crushes would probably earn this musical a PG rating now. There's some innuendo that will go over little kids' heads -- teenage girls swooning, screaming, and literally fainting in the presence of an attractive singer. Close-up shots of the singer's Elvis-style pelvic-thrusts and references to going steady, kissing, and engagement are prevalent throughout the movie. Otherwise, there's little that parents need to think twice about in the high-school musical.