St. Louis Welcomes Tippi Hedren Of THE BIRDS

On Monday April 4 St. Louis film fans were treated to a free screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 classic THE BIRDS. Preceding the film was an interview with one of the film’s stars, Tippi Hedren, conducted by Turner Classic Movies’ on air host, Ben Mankiewicz. The evening was part of Turner Classic Movies ” Road to Hollywood ” tour and co-presented by Charter Communications. This Spring TCM is sending Mankiewicz and Robert Osbourne all across the United States with film classics and their stars. As you can see by the above photo ( and others taken by Melissa Howland ), St. Louis movie lovers flocked to see THE BIRDS and Ms. Hedren,so many that over a hundred people were turned away. Below are some shots of her signing autographs for some lucky fans.

Later Ms. Hedren greeting some fans outside the Hi-Pointe theatre.

Inside the theatre before the film rolled, Mark Reardon of KMOX radio welcomed the audience and introduced Mankiewicz.

In the conversation between Mankiewicz and Hedren they discussed her discovery by Hitchcock, the perils of the actual production ( working with live birds ) , and Hitchcock’s obsessive behavior with her. She discussed her actress daughter Melanie Griffith and grand-daughter Dakota Johnson of THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Concluding the interview she talked about her work with wildlife conservation. Here’s some photos from that interview-