History Film / TheDeadlyBees

* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: Hargrove, though a tad light on the "Heart of Gold" part. Turns out he's not a murderer, just a bit of a jerk, and he's very quick to rescue both Inspector Hawkins and Vicki when they run into trouble. In the original book, though, [Hargrove ''is'' the murderer]].

* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: Hargrove, though a tad light on the "Heart of Gold" part. Turns out he's not a murderer, just a bit of a jerk, and he's very quick to rescue both Inspector Hawkins and Vicki when they run into trouble. In the original book, though, [[TheUntwist Hargrove]] ''[[TheUntwist is]]'' [[TheUntwist the murderer]].

* ProductPlacement: There's no other reason for the appearance of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds_(band) The Birds]], except to advertise their tour of the US, which never happened. What ''did'' happen was a UK tour by Music/TheByrds, who The Birds' manager sued for having the same name; he was promptly fired by The Birds.[[note]]Ironically, The Birds had already fallen victim to NamesTheSame. They were originally called The Thunderbirds (in honor of Music/ChuckBerry's "Jaguar and Thunderbird") but changed to The Birds after finding out that there was already a English band called The Thunderbirds.[[/note]] Another song was shoehorned into the film: there was no reason for Vicki to blast "Baby, Let Me Love You" sung by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkie_Brooks Elkie Brooks]], especially since she wanted ''peace and quiet''.

* EarlyBirdCameo: One of the guitarists for The Birds was future [[Music/{{Faces}} Face]] and [[Music/TheRollingStones Rolling Stone]] Ron Wood.

* TooDumbToLive: I mean really, it should be ''obvious'' who the real killer is. Yet Vicki buys [[spoiler:Manfred's flimsy, stammering explanation for why he wasn't harmed by the swarming that killed Mrs. Hargrove]] without hesitation.

* UselessProtagonist: Apart from bumbling into danger, Vicki doesn't actually ''do'' much of anything.
** She does end up throwing that stone bust at Manfred which spills the bee aggressor formula on his face, and she accidentally destroys the deadly bees by starting a fire.

* ProductPlacement: There's no other reason for the appearance of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds_(band) The Birds]], except to advertise their tour of the US, which never happened. What ''did'' happen was a UK tour by The Byrds, where The Birds' manager sued them for having the same name; he was promptly fired by The Birds.[[note]]Ironically, The Birds had already fallen victim to NamesTheSame. They were originally called The Thunderbirds (in honor of Music/ChuckBerry's "Jaguar and Thunderbird") but changed to The Birds after finding out that there was already a English band called The Thunderbirds.[[/note]] Another song was shoehorned into the film: there was no reason for Vicki to blast "Baby, Let Me Love You" sung by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkie_Brooks Elkie Brooks]], especially since she wanted ''peace and quiet''.

Said friend, Ralph Hargrove (Guy Doleman), is a surly and despondent beekeeper, married to a surly and despondent old woman named Mary (Catherine Finn), who smokes and only pets their dog. Vicki's vacation really kicks into high gear once she meets the rival beekeeper in town, one Mr. Manfred (Frank Finlay).[[note]]Incidentally, Finlay played Iago to Creator/LaurenceOlivier's ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' only two years before this movie's release. Unbelievable as it seems while watching ''The Deadly Bees'', Finlay also portrayed Porthos in Richard Lester's ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1973''.[[/note]]

The depressing story begins with overworked pop star Vicki Robbins (Suzanna Leigh) collapsing whilst lip-synching a "live" TV performance. Her doctor prescribes some immediate R&R for her, and packs her off to an old friend of his who has a farm on Seagull Island, isolated from the pressures of the outside world.

Said friend, Ralph Hargrove (Guy Doleman), is a surly, despondent beekeeper. This cheerful old guy is married to a surly, despondent old woman that smokes and only pets their dog. Vicki's vacation really kicks into high gear once she meets the rival beekeeper in town, one Mr. Manfred (Frank Finlay).[[note]]Incidentally, Finlay played Iago to Creator/LaurenceOlivier's ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' only two years before this movie's release. Unbelievable as it seems while watching ''The Deadly Bees'', Finlay also portrayed Porthos in Richard Lester's ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1973''.[[/note]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Deadly_bees_6253.jpg]]

''The Deadly Bees'' is a 1967 British film produced by Creator/AmicusProductions and adapted from the novel ''A Taste for Honey''.

Said friend, Ralph Hargrove (Guy Doleman), is a surly, despondent beekeeper. This cheerful old guy is married to a surly, despondent old woman that smokes and only pets their dog. Vicki's vacation really kicks into high gear once she meets the rival beekeeper in town, one Mr. Manfred (Frank Finlay). [[note]]Incidentally, Finlay played Iago to Creator/LaurenceOlivier's ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' only two years before this movie's release. Unbelievable as it seems while watching ''The Deadly Bees'', Finlay also portrayed Porthos in Richard Lester's ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1973''.[[/note]]