It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Bye Bye Birdie (1963) – Musical #168

Studio:
Columbia

Director:
George Sidney

Starring:
Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret, Janet Leigh, Paul Lynde, Maureen Stapleton, Bobby Rydell, Jesse Pearson, Mary LaRoche, Michael Evans, Robert Paige, Frank Albertson, Trudi Ames, Bryan Russell, Kim Darby (uncredited), Melody Patterson (uncredited), Melinda Marx (uncredited)
Themselves: John Daley, Ed Sullivan

Plot:
Rockstar Conrad Birdie (Pearson) is being drafted. Before he goes into the Army, Rosie DeLeon (Leigh) creates an idea for Birdie to kiss a fan from Ohio on the Ed Sullivan Show as his big send-off. Rosie’s idea is that Birdie will sing a song written by her boyfriend, Albert (Van Dyke), it will become a hit and he will make enough money so his mother (Stapleton) will be set and he can marry Rosie. Birdie’s visit to Ohio turns the town upside down and creates problems between the young girl Kim (Ann-Margret), her new steady boyfriend Hugo (Rydell) and her family (Lynde, LaRoche, Russell).

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