| | What none of them know is that the birds have followed Melanie from San Francisco to Bodega Bay. They only discover this when a flock of crows launch an unprovoked attack on the one-room [[school]]house where Mitch's sister is singing. Melanie and Mitch manage to let the children escape, but nobody in town will believe Melanie when she calls her father on the telephone to report what's happening. One old lady who watches birds for a living tiresomely explains to Melanie that birds simply don't behave that way, and so it's impossible for birds to attack other living things. But her explanation is cut short when the birds return, knocking down a man who is filling his tank at the [[gas station]] across the street. The [[gas]] flows down the street to where a tourist is lighting his cigar; then it explodes. The heat and light draw more seagulls to the gas station, and the gulls trap Melanie in a phone booth. Finally they fly away. | | What none of them know is that the birds have followed Melanie from San Francisco to Bodega Bay. They only discover this when a flock of crows launch an unprovoked attack on the one-room [[school]]house where Mitch's sister is singing. Melanie and Mitch manage to let the children escape, but nobody in town will believe Melanie when she calls her father on the telephone to report what's happening. One old lady who watches birds for a living tiresomely explains to Melanie that birds simply don't behave that way, and so it's impossible for birds to attack other living things. But her explanation is cut short when the birds return, knocking down a man who is filling his tank at the [[gas station]] across the street. The [[gas]] flows down the street to where a tourist is lighting his cigar; then it explodes. The heat and light draw more seagulls to the gas station, and the gulls trap Melanie in a phone booth. Finally they fly away. |
| | Melanie and Mitch return to the Brenner house, and Mitch boards up all the windows so the birds can't get in. They spend the night there, waking with fear. In the middle of the night, Melanie goes up to the attic because she thought she heard a noise, but it was a trap set by some birds who had been in the attic all along. She is viciously attacked, and saved only by Mitch's coming upstairs at the right moment to save her. After this episode, they know they have to get out of Bodega Bay. Mitch tiptoes outside — the ground and house being now covered with roosting birds — and brings the car. The family gets in and drives away, under the watchful eyes of the million birds in Bodega Bay. The memorable final shot shows the car leaving the farm, of which the road is also covered in birds. Hitchcock leaves the ending deliberately ambiguous, leaving the audience to wonder whether Melanie and Mitch will survive in a birds' world or not. | | Melanie and Mitch return to the Brenner house, and Mitch boards up all the windows so the birds can't get in. They spend the night there, waking with fear. In the middle of the night, Melanie goes up to the attic because she thought she heard a noise, but it was a trap set by some birds who had been in the attic all along. She is viciously attacked, and saved only by Mitch's coming upstairs at the right moment to save her. After this episode, they know they have to get out of Bodega Bay. Mitch tiptoes outside — the ground and house being now covered with roosting birds — and brings the car. The family gets in and drives away, under the watchful eyes of the million birds in Bodega Bay. The memorable final shot shows the car leaving the farm, of which the road is also covered in birds. Hitchcock leaves the ending deliberately ambiguous, leaving the audience to wonder whether Melanie and Mitch will survive in a birds' world or not. |