Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Something for the Birds

  • 19521952
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 21m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
210
YOUR RATING
Victor Mature, Edmund Gwenn, and Patricia Neal in Something for the Birds (1952)
ComedyMusicRomance
Enviromentalist Anne Richards goes to Washington D. C. to fight for getting legislation passed to save the last remaining sanctuary of the almost-extinct California Condor. She enlists the a... Read allEnviromentalist Anne Richards goes to Washington D. C. to fight for getting legislation passed to save the last remaining sanctuary of the almost-extinct California Condor. She enlists the aid of Johnnie Adams, an engraver, and Washington's most successful party-crasher, and Stev... Read allEnviromentalist Anne Richards goes to Washington D. C. to fight for getting legislation passed to save the last remaining sanctuary of the almost-extinct California Condor. She enlists the aid of Johnnie Adams, an engraver, and Washington's most successful party-crasher, and Steve Bennett, a lobbyist for the opposition who comes over to Anne's side.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
210
YOUR RATING
    • Robert Wise
  • Writers
    • Alvin M. Josephy(story and screenplay)
    • Joseph Petracca(story and screenplay)
    • Boris Ingster(story and screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Victor Mature
    • Patricia Neal
    • Edmund Gwenn
    • Robert Wise
  • Writers
    • Alvin M. Josephy(story and screenplay)
    • Joseph Petracca(story and screenplay)
    • Boris Ingster(story and screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Victor Mature
    • Patricia Neal
    • Edmund Gwenn
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 8User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Victor Mature
    Victor Mature
    • Steve Bennett
    Patricia Neal
    Patricia Neal
    • Anne Richards
    Edmund Gwenn
    Edmund Gwenn
    • 'Admiral' Johnnie Adams
    Larry Keating
    Larry Keating
    • Roy Patterson
    Gladys Hurlbut
    Gladys Hurlbut
    • Della Rice
    Hugh Sanders
    Hugh Sanders
    • Jim Grady
    Christian Rub
    Christian Rub
    • Leo Fischer
    Wilton Graff
    Wilton Graff
    • Taylor
    Archer MacDonald
    Archer MacDonald
    • T. Courtney Lemmer
    Richard Garrick
    Richard Garrick
    • Chandler
    Ian Wolfe
    Ian Wolfe
    • Foster
    Russell Gaige
    • Winthrop
    John Brown
    • Mr. Lund
    Camillo Guercio
    • Duncan
    Joan Miller
    • Mac
    Madge Blake
    Madge Blake
    • Mrs. J.L. Chadwick
    Norman Field
    • Judge
    Gordon Nelson
    • Senator O'Malley
      • Robert Wise
    • Writers
      • Alvin M. Josephy(story and screenplay)
      • Joseph Petracca(story and screenplay)
      • Boris Ingster(story and screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Three Secrets
    7.0
    Three Secrets
    The Captive City
    6.6
    The Captive City
    Two Flags West
    6.7
    Two Flags West
    Topper
    7.2
    Topper
    7 Men from Now
    7.4
    7 Men from Now
    The Dam Busters
    7.4
    The Dam Busters
    Devil's Doorway
    7.2
    Devil's Doorway
    The Man from Laramie
    7.3
    The Man from Laramie
    Rio Grande
    7.0
    Rio Grande
    Fort Apache
    7.4
    Fort Apache
    Paradise Lagoon
    7.1
    Paradise Lagoon
    Them!
    7.2
    Them!

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Original cast announced were Anne Baxter, Paul Douglas, and Victor Moore. The film stalled in pre-production and Douglas left Fox and was replaced by Dana Andrews. Baxter dropped out and was replaced by Jeanne Crain, but her pregnancy stalled the picture some more until shooting finally began in May 1952 with Patricia Neal, Victor Mature, and Edmund Gwenn.
    • Quotes

      Anne Richards: Politics is too important to be left to the politicians.

    User reviews8

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    6/10
    Oddly Prescient Mismatch Comedy of Oil Lobbyists vs. Environmentalists
    Hard to believe this script was written in the early 1950s -- it sounds like it might be a pitch for some mismatch comedy of today. Neal is an environmental activist sent to Washington to help stop a bill that would allow drilling for natural gas in the habitat set aside by the government for the endangered California Condor. An evil oil company is sponsoring a bill in Washington that would allow them, and only them, to drill -- thus disrupting the Condor's delicate breeding patterns. She crashes a swank DC party to try to gain access to the Department of the Interior bureaucrat who's been ducking her, where she runs into a kindly retired Admiral (Gwenn, better known as Kris Kringle in "Miracle on 34th Street"), who is taken by her and agrees to introduce her to one of his many Washington pals, the sleazy but suave lobbyist lawyer played by Mature. What neither of them knows is that the Admiral is in fact an engraver at the Bureau of Printing and Engraving who's been forging party invitations for himself for years and has adopted the persona of a retired admiral. And Mature, infatuated with Neal, has to hide the fact that he's in fact the lobbyist hired by the gas company to get the special interest bill through Congress! Screwball complications ensue, of course, while Neal tries to get protection for the condors, Mature tries to seduce her without actually helping her against the interest of his client, and Gwenn finds his cover story unraveling the more he tries to help Neal, all under the comic theme of the whiff of corruption in government business.

    The acting is fine here, hardly true screwball, but with believable performances by all three principles. Neal isn't quite enough of a sex bomb to explain Mature's infatuation, and her natural intelligence and self-possession bely the fact she's supposed to be something of a naif around DC. Nevertheless her portrayal is earnest and just enough tongue in cheek. Mature himself is just creepy enough to be credible as a sleazoid lobbyist, although his B-list looks also don't suggest much chemistry with Neal. Gwenn is his usual sophisticated self, playing the double role of Washington insider and humble engraver.

    Modern sensibilities may be a bit perturbed by the comic use of the Condor's plight, but on the other hand it's a sober reminder of how little has changed that the plot would be just as plausible if remade today.

    Wait for this hilariously obscene line in the middle of the movie, which somehow slipped by the censors: "Unpack that 16" gun!"
    helpful•10
    4
    • wall17
    • Dec 16, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 1952 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
      • 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Twentieth Century Fox
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 21 minutes
      • Black and White

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Victor Mature, Edmund Gwenn, and Patricia Neal in Something for the Birds (1952)
    Top Gap
    What is the English language plot outline for Something for the Birds (1952)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.