History Film / TheDeadlyBees

* 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. 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''.

* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler:The Manfred character]] wasn't evil at all in the book, and [[spoiler: is hinted to be Franchise/SherlockHolmes himself]]. Inverted with Hargrove, who ''was'' the villain in the book, but is innocent in the movie.

* {{Pastiche}}: The original book was one of SherlockHolmes. [[spoiler:In fact, it's hinted that the character who assists the hero is Sherlock himself.]] This character was turned into Manfred for the movie and made the villain.

* YourCheatingHeart: Averted. Doris (the bartender/coroner's daughter) is implied to have a thing for (twice her age, miserable, average-looking) Hargrove, but he seems more annoyed by her attempts at seduction than anything. Eventually she gets attacked by the same bees that made him a widower, so at least they'll have ''that'' in common.
------

** [[Protip for Manfred: They had spray bottles back in the 1960s.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: The Manfred character wasn't evil at all in the book, and [[spoiler: is hinted to be Franchise/SherlockHolmes himself]]. Inverted with Hargrove, who ''was'' the villain in the book, but is innocent in the movie.
* AssholeVictim: Invoked by Manfred on trying to kill Hargrove. He states no one would miss him because he was "rude".

* BrickJoke: Harcourt (the Bowler-Hatted Guy) at the end was one of the inspectors from the beginning of the film, finally showing up late to investigate the bee-centric goings on at Seagull Island. Adding to the strangeness is that he's sporting a goofy grin, absolutely delighted to visit Seagull Island, for whatever reason.

* EvilVersusEvil: Manfred hints that Hargrove was interested in his killer bees to use for ''himself''. So it may be that Hargrove is a villain after all.
** More likely, Manfred was just paranoid about someone wanting to steal his secrets and wanted Hargrove eliminated. Hargrove extracting blood from the horse wasn't for the adrenaline, but rather to treat its illness. Hargrove was also a veterinarian.

* ForTheEvulz: It's not quite clear why Manfred wants to kill Hargrove, except he's TheRival beekeeper and a bit of an asshole.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In about two seconds, Manfred manages to spill his smell o' fear juice on himself ''and'' break the tape player pacifying his bees. Simple Darwinism takes care of the rest.

* JustBetweenYouAndMe / EvilGloating: Manfred becomes MrExposition because he's sure Vicki is completely at his mercy.

* LethalKlutz: Vicki ends up defeating Manfred and saving the day almost entirely by accident.
* MisterExposition: Shut up, Manfred. Shut up.

** Of course, the intended target of most of the attacks was Hargrove. Manfred is just an incompetent nitwit.

* ObviouslyEvil: Manfred couldn't be any more transparent if he ''tried''. Hargrove is a subversion, being an outright JerkAss but not a villain.

* TooDumbToLive: I mean really, it should be ''obvious'' who the real killer is. Yet Vicki buys Manfred's flimsy, stammering explanation for why he wasn't harmed by the swarming that killed Mrs. Hargrove without hesitation.
** Protip for Manfred: They had spray bottles back in the 1960s.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: "The dog’s meat! Have you seen it?"

* {{Fanservice}}: "This movie objectifies bras."
* {{Final Girl}}: Vicki.

[[TheStinger "The dog's meat! Have you seen it?"]]

* MurderIsTheBestSolution

* BeeAfraid

* MundaneMadeAwesome: Okay, honey is tasty, but you'd think Hargrove considers it to be ambrosia of the gods.

* 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. Another songs 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''.

* 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.

* 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, where people expecting Music/TheByrds probably were very disappointed.

** Of course, the intended target of most of the attacks was Hargrove. Manfed is just an incompetent nitwit.

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

* PrettyInMink: Vicky starts out wearing to film a music video, and then promptly collapses in the middle of the song, probably due to fainting from the heat.

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 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]]

* CarChase: Late in the film, Vicki tries to drive off with Hargrove's jeep in a panicked escape attempt. As this was also the late 60s, she does this wearing only a coat and underwear.

* NeutralFemale: Doris. So neutral, in fact, that the movie [[NotQuiteDead didn't have the heart to actually kill her off]].

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

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

* HeyItsThatGuy: Guy Doleman (Hargrove) played the original Number 2 in the first episode of ''Series/ThePrisoner''.