THIS ONE'S FOR THE BIRDS

Besides being known as "The Master of Suspense", Alfred Hitchcock was also known for his deadpan humor. The ad campaign for his now 60-year-old film, THE BIRDS included the grammatically-quirky phrase, "The Birds Is Coming" and appeared on billboards everywhere.

If the article below was bird seed, it would be millet, but there's still a few morsels to peck at. It's from the March 19, 2023 issue of PARADE magazine, a newsprint insert for Sunday papers across the country that has been around for years. The cover is a graphic simulacra of the February 1, 1963 issue of LIFE magazine.

One final note: When asked if birds could inherit the Earth, and which ones particularly, he answered: “Crows, probably. You can see that they’re working that way already. They hold courts, have a fair language and a rudimentary banking system. I like their chances of taking over.” The quote came 20 years before THE BIRDS was filmed!

THE PARADE OF FRANKENSTEIN

The popular Sunday supplement found in many U.S. newspapers has published a special FRANKENSTEIN COLLECTOR'S EDITION magazine commemorating the 200th Anniversary of Mary Shelley's monster.

I was surprised to see it for sale on the Barnes & Noble newsstand. It covers the chronology of the Universal Studios films and the various sidelines that have been created about the monster.

It's a little pricey at $12.99, but it's a nicely-produced magazine. Although it looks to cover the kind of ground that Monsterologists are already familiar with, it would be useful to anyone not familiar with Frankenstein in the films (but who isn't?) or wanting to have a summary of Frankie's career between two magazine covers.

One gripe that I have is that, while taking an admittedly quick look through the pages, I found no reference to the man responsible for creating our collective modern image of the Frankenstein Monster, Jack P. Pierce. That will be remedied with an updated message from MMW. Stay tuned. . .

Back cover.