Birds Do It
(1966, U.S.) 88/95 minutes
With: Soupy Sales (Melvyn Byrd), Tab Hunter (Lt. Porter), Arthur O'Connell (Professor Wald), Beverly Adams (Claudine), Edward Andrews (General Smithburn), Frank Nastasi (Cab Driver)
Plot Outline: A space-aged janitor is inadvertently made to fly.
***
Idiotic comedy is a disastrous cross between an Albert Zugsmith sex farce and a Disney kiddy romp, with touches of "Get Smart" and THE LOVE GOD? thrown in.
After a painful animated opening announcing that this is an Ivan
"Daktari" Tors production, we meet our hero, Melvyn Byrd. Soupy Sales,
fresh from local TV fame, plays the charismatic sad sack Byrd. He
tries to appear cute and harmless, but he still looks like a creepy
gigolo, a low-rent Sinatra, a charming predatory sleaze, a Rat_Pack wannabe.
Familiar comic face Edward Andrews plays a befuddled Army General, and heartthrob Tab Hunter has dual roles as sergeants, good and evil. Soupy's TV sidekick, Frank Nastasi, is even in there somewhere.
There's lots of sci-fi gadgets and tricks, reminding one of Columbia's
terrible sci-fi comedy HAVE ROCKET, WILL TRAVEL, with the Three Stooges.
There are stupid protesting teenage peaceniks dancing at a party called "Ban the Bomb a-Go Go." There are a slew of lame anti-government jokes. And curiously, there is a good deal of brand-name product placement, including Kentucky Fried Chicken, Coca Cola, Ajax Cleaner (The White Knight), Hertz Rent-a-Car, Yamaha Motorbikes, etc.
Much of the film consists of tedious visual puns, as when Soupy changes the letters on a giant neon sign from "DIPLOMAT" to "MAD PLOT." The "zany" forced finale has Soupy flying over Miami hotels via some lame optical scenes, with all manner of kooky craft trying to capture him.
There are at least two brief, uncredited cameos: bratpack pal Dean Martin as a golfer, and Ivan Tors' cash cow, Flipper. Filmed entirely on location in Miami, Florida.
As the double entendre title implies, this awful film don't
know whether its a kooky kiddy sci-fi comedy or a risqué bedroom
farce, failing miserably as both. Really sad. Poor Soupy. He must have
been lured by big bucks and the promise of big-screen fame, but like
so many great TV comedians who succumb to making Hollywood quick-cash product, he isn't allowed to be himself or do much of anything.
Despite the suggestive title, this is about as far away from the
quasi-lecherous quality of Sales' indelible TV shows, and is
neither for kids or adults.
Video/DVD availability: VHS (unavailable)
Columbia Pictures Corporation / Ivan Tors Productions
Story: Leonard Kaufman
Screenplay: Art Arthur, Arnie Kogen
Produced by: Stanley Colbert, Ivan Tors
Directed by: Andrew Marton
