Bye Bye Birdie

These recent episodes of Mad Men have reignited my childhood love for George Sidney’s 1963 film Bye Bye Birdie, staring 1960s starlet Ann-Margret. I won’t reveal too much in case y’all aren’t caught up on Mad Men episodes, but I will say this – Bye Bye Birdie‘s famous opening scene of Ann-Margret singing and dancing in front of a simple blue screen evokes myriad feelings among the employees of Sterling Cooper.

And a little bit of movie trivia – the director had this stroke of genius once the film was completed and the studios didn’t want to finance the new scene. So what did good old George do? He paid for it himself and lo and behold, this is what we all remember. Watch, learn, love….