Musical Matinees (The Mavericks): Bye Bye Birdie

Bye Bye Birdie (1963) is one of a new genre of musicals that appeared in the 1960s and 1970s. These films were willing to be different from and/or challenge the style and stories of the classical Hollywood musicals, and expand the viewers' awareness of what was happening in the culture - both historically and in current day. In short, they were Mavericks.

Bye Bye Birdie was inspired by Elvis Presley being drafted into the United States Army in 1957 and was based on Michael Stewart's book about the 1960 musical of the same name. . Jesse Pearson plays the role of teen idol Conrad Birdie, whose character name is a word play on country singer Conway Twitty, who was himself a teen idol pop artist at that time.

Produced by Fred Kohlmar, the film stars Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret, Maureen Stapleton, Bobby Rydell, Jesse Pearson, and Ed Sullivan. Van Dyke and featured player Paul Lynde reprised their roles from the original Broadway production. The film was Van Dyke's feature film debut and helped make Ann-Margret a superstar during the mid-1960s. Her performance earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress and her next role was with Presley in Viva Las Vegas.

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