The Birds

Plot summary for
The Birds (1963 ) More at IMDbPro »

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Spoiled socialite and notorious practical joker Melanie Daniels is shopping in a San Francisco pet store when she meets Mitch Brenner. Mitch is looking to buy a pair of love birds for his young sister's birthday; he recognizes Melanie but pretends to mistake her for an assistant. She decides to get her own back by buying the birds and driving up to the quiet coastal town of Bodega Bay, where Mitch spends his weekends with his sister and mother. Shortly after she arrives, Melanie is attacked by a gull, but this is just the start of a series of attacks by an increasing number of birds. Written by Col Needham {col@imdb.com}

When Melanie Daniels is crossing a lake, she is nipped by a gull. Gradually, incidents of bird attacks on humans by pecking increases. Glass windows splinter as birds dive into them, children are sent home from school to safety, townspeople take refuge in a lunchroom, Ms. Daniels is trapped in a phone booth, and, finally, everyone hides in homes tightly boarded up against repeated attacks by the birds. Written by filmfactsman

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Summoned by the dying General Sternwood, Philip Marlowe is asked to deal with several problems that are troubling his family. Marlowe finds that each problem centers about the disappearance of Sternwood's favoured employee who has left with a mobster's wife. Each of the problems becomes a cover for something else as Marlowe probes. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net}
Private-eye Philip Marlowe is hired to keep an eye on General Sternwood's youngest daughter, Carmen, who has fallen into bad company and is likely to do some damage to herself and her family before long. He soon finds himself falling in love with her older sister, Vivien, who initially takes a deep dislike to Mr Marlowe. However, the plot thickens when murder follows murder... Written by Graeme Roy {gsr@cbmamiga.demon.co.uk}
Plot Synopsis: Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) is a young San Francisco socialite whose father is very wealthy and owns a large newspaper... more (warning! contains spoilers)
Plot Synopsis: First, the Raymond Chandler novel: he took hold of LA like it was one of those glass balls of a winter scene filled with water - he turned it upside down and shook it well... more (warning! contains spoilers)

Plot summary for
The Big Sleep (1978 ) More at IMDbPro »

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Set in England, rather than California, the story follows Raymond Chandler's book fairly closely otherwise. Philip Marlowe is asked by the elderly (and near death) General Sternwood to investigate an attempt at blackmail on one of his daughters. He soon finds that the attempt is half hearted at best and seems to be more connected with the disappearance of the other daughter's husband, Rusty Regan. Rusty's wife, seems unconcerned with his disappearance, further complicating the mystery. Only General Sternwood seems concerned as mobsters and hired killers continue to appear in the path of the investigation. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net}