{"id":72000,"date":"2014-05-30T12:27:43","date_gmt":"2014-05-30T16:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=72000"},"modified":"2014-05-30T12:27:43","modified_gmt":"2014-05-30T16:27:43","slug":"by-conservative-estimate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/30\/by-conservative-estimate\/","title":{"rendered":"By Conservative Estimate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bill-and-coo-movie-poster-1948-1020251348\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a weekend recommendation for you\u2014think of it as an extended Staff Pick, if you like.<\/p>\n

Bill and Coo<\/em> was made in 1948 to showcase \u201cBurton\u2019s Birds,\u201d a troupe of trained lovebirds managed by former silent-movie actor George Burton. And does it ever! The tiny, Trucolor-hued town of Chirpendale is filled with bird characters of all kinds, doing all sorts of remarkable things: working in barber shops, wearing dunce caps, performing in circuses. In this idyll, we are told, \u201clove, happiness and contentment blend together in harmony.\u201d That is, until the Black Menace\u2014a crow\u2014descends and wreaks havoc. There\u2019s romance (the eponymous Bill and Coo), adventure, song and dance. The film won a special Oscar. A New York Times<\/em> critic deemed it \u201cby conservative estimate, the God-damnedest thing I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

I adored Bill and Coo<\/em> as a kid\u2014we had a bootleg Betamax video of it\u2014but I worried it wouldn\u2019t hold up, or that as an adult I\u2019d see signs of avian exploitation. (For the record, I\u2019ve detected no indication of that, although maybe there\u2019s an untold story that bears serious investigation.) I need not have\u2014it is as weird, and as entertaining, as can be. A novelty, yes\u2014but a wonderfully watchable one.<\/p>\n

The whole film is readily available online<\/a>\u2014and you\u2019ll be doing yourself a favor if you watch it from start to finish. But here\u2019s a taste. <\/p>\n