Suspense films: a. Which female starred in Alfred Hitchcock's follow up to Psycho; the 1963 film, The Birds? b. For which 1972 beasty-horror film did Michael Jackson sing the theme song: a love song to a rat?

Following the monumental success of his 1960 thriller, *Psycho (Review)*, director Alfred Hitchcock selected a relative unknown for his next feature, the 1963 nature-horror film, *The Birds*. He cast model Tippi Hedren in the lead role after seeing her in a television commercial. With no prior acting experience, Hedren was thrust into a notoriously difficult production where she endured physically demanding scenes, including one that used live birds to simulate an attack. Despite the challenging circumstances, her performance as the besieged socialite Melanie Daniels became iconic, inextricably linking her to one of the most famous suspense films ever made.

A similarly unusual pairing of artist and subject occurred in the 1972 horror movie *Ben*. The film, a sequel to *Willard*, tells the story of a lonely boy who befriends the leader of a colony of killer rats. For the movie's theme song, a young Michael Jackson was chosen to perform the sentimental ballad, also titled "Ben." The song, a tender ode to friendship, stands in stark contrast (Review) to the film's dark subject matter. Many listeners were unaware the beloved track was a love song to a rat. The tune became Jackson's first solo number-one hit in the United States and earned a Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

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