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. . . but the studio, horrified, wouldn't let Hitchcock shoot it.
The ending was to have gone like so:
End of the film as we know it now. They drive off.
Cut to the people in the car, driving along a winding road. The sun is coming out. There are no birds visible. Gradually, the characters relax. After a minute or so of screen, they are all smiling.
And then the car tops a rise. The camera stays on the characters and shows their faces drop in horror. The car screeches to a halt. Each character registers their shock in close-up. Finally, as the audience becomes frenzied with suspense, the camera reverses angle . . .
And reveals the Golden Gate Bridge, empty of traffic. Covered with birds. Cut to a close-up of a bird. It flutters and chirps as the camera moves in closer and closer. Its dark eye fills the screen. The screen goes black. The soundtrack continues with the ominous fluttering and croaking of the birds.
The studio wouldn't let him film it. Too depressing, they said.
Fuckers!
(BTW, I'm fine with ending as it is. I just think Hitchcock's original, pessimistic, end-of-the-world ending would have been just . . . ducky!)
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