8 Original Movie Endings That Never Made It To Screen

The Birds was the third time Alfred Hitchcock adapted the work of Daphne Du Maurier, following Rebecca and Jamaica Inn. It makes sense that the director would be attracted to the author's grim take on romance, particularly the blood-curdling sense of humour they seemed to share toward their later years. Rebecca, both the film and novel, were instant hits. The Birds, however, opened to a perplexed audience.

The director was coming off of Psycho, so his unpredictability was at an all-time high. But critics didn't know what to make of this nature run amok film. The desired ending wouldn't have changed reaction, but it would have been much more chilling.

The Birds doesn't have a traditional ending, its heroes wandering away quietly from flocks of menacing winged creatures as news reports of other attacks around the country. Originally, according to storyboards, all of this would still take place in the original ending: it would just happen on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Hitchcock had already used San Francisco seemingly for all it was worth in Vertigo, but a quiet, suspenseful walk across the bridge might have topped it. The budget, unfortunately, just wasn't there.