Escape from Alcatraz (1979) - A San Francisco Cinema Classic

"The prisoners count the hours, the bulls count the prisoners, and the king bulls count the counts."

Director

Don Siegal

Cast
Clint Eastwood - Frank Morris
Patrick McGoohan - Warden Arthur Dollison
Fred Ward - John Anglin
Jack Thibeau - Clarence Anglin
Larry Hankin - Charley Butts
Frank Ronzio - Litmus
Roberts Blossom - Doc
Paul Benjamin - English

While several inmates have attempted to escape Alcatraz Maximum Security Federal Prison in the San Francisco Bay, a year before Alcatraz closed, three prisoners stand out among the others primarily for their elaborate plan to get themselves off the rock. 

Frank Morris, along with brothers John and Clarence Anglin famously escaped from Alcatraz in June, 1962. 

And frankly, I personally think at least one of them, if not all, made it to shore.

Since the three escaped together on the night of June 12, if they all died while swimming in the frigid San Francisco Bay, I would think at least one body would have been discovered. No remains were found.

In a 2022 episode of "Expedition Unknown" covering the escape, host Josh Gates suggests and explores the possibility that the prisoners not only made it to the mainland from Alcatraz, but they also fled the U.S. to the jungles of Brazil where they remained in hiding for years. 

Of course, the episode makes it sound plausible as it presents evidence to suggest such. And maybe they did make it to Brazil. Either way, I think they survived despite the FBI's report claiming the contrary. 

As for the 1979 movie, "Escape from Alcatraz," starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Don Siegel, the film is rather accurate, at least as far as the depiction of the escape. 

The movie starts with criminal Frank Morris (Eastwood) being taken to Alcatraz Maximum Security Prison on a rainy San Francisco night. He's sent to "the Rock" after having escaped from other penitentiaries. 

"Alcatraz was built to keep all the rotten eggs in one basket, and I was specially chosen to make sure that the stink from the basket does not escape. Since I've been warden, a few people have tried to escape. Most of them have been recaptured; those that haven't have been killed or drowned in the bay. No one has ever escaped from Alcatraz. And no one ever will," Warden Arthur Dollison (Patrick McGoohan) tells Morris upon their introduction. 

Little does the warden know, or maybe he knows full well, that Morris has already started preparing his escape right away beginning with his swiping the warden's nail clippers off his desk. 

Clint Eastwood as Frank Morris in "Escape from Alcatraz."

Morris quickly becomes acquainted with other inmates, ultimately to assess how they can benefit him. Still, he sticks close to a few. Doc (Roberts Blossom) is an old-timer on the rock who spends his hard time painting. Doc includes a chrysanthemum in each painting as a symbol of something within that not even the warden can take away. 

During a cell inspection, the warden discovers a painting of himself among Doc's other paintings. As a result, he takes Doc's painting privileges away. This sends Doc over the edge to the point of self-harm. 

Morris also befriends a young new inmate named Charley Butts (Larry Hankin) and an older inmate who calls himself Litmus (Frank Ronzio). Litmus is a man that knows how to get things. 

Morris learns how things work on the Rock thanks to a black inmate called English (Paul Benjamin). He doesn't care for white inmates but respects Morris's determination to break out. 

Morris makes enemies with an inmate, Wolf, who's imprisoned for rape. After Wolf tries to stab Morris with a knife, they're both sent to isolation cells. 

Two brothers named John and Clarence Anglin (Fred Ward) and (Jack Thibeau) show up at Alcatraz for bank robbery. They know Morris from a previous prison sentence and quickly start talking about getting out early. 

The Anglins and Morris, along with Charley Butts, come up with a detailed plan to escape. The back cell walls are weaker than the other two walls. Morris spends his cell time chipping away around the weak air vent which leads to a space behind the cells for piping which the guards don't inspect. The space extends up to the ceiling. They would create papier-mâché masks with flesh colored paint and hair taken from the prison barber shop to fool the guards into thinking they're sleeping in bed while the criminals make their way to the roof during the night hours. They also make a raft out of raincoats and rubber cement to get across the Bay. 

The Anglins and Morris manage to get out of their cells. However, Charley Butts, can't. So, they have to leave without him. 

And the rest, obviously, is history. 

The reenacted story of how the three inmates prepared their escape, carried it out, and whether or not they made it to shore, is the most intriguing part of the movie. The lead-up initially strikes me as mildly paced. Morris has nothing but time. 

The movie doesn't just focus on Morris's escape preparations. It also depicts prison life on the rock. Part of this is necessary as the drive for Frank Morris to work as hard and methodically as he did to escape the "unescapable" Alcatraz. But that depiction is done as realistically as possible to the point of slight monotony. In a way, it's a brilliant method in storytelling. Otherwise, it gives the movie a slow feeling. 

I happen to think it's well paced. I would understand if others thought it's a slow movie. The drab grey stone walls, faded blue prison garb, and dreary downtrodden demeanor of the inmates certainly doesn't help. But, it's prison. And it's not just prison, it's "the rock!" 

Anyways, the characters are memorable. Each inmate carries a different perspective of time on Alcatraz such as the seclusion, the weight of unending observation and punishment, institutionalization, and the taunting and tantalizing city of San Francisco within eyesight of the inmates, but yet so far. Freedom is a few bricks, some fencing, and a dangerous body of water away. The movie depicts this story with careful consideration. 

It takes its time as characters are introduced and develop, and prison time ticks its way towards the movie's namesake. 

Director Don Siegel has directed some other well-made movies including "Dirty Harry" also starring Clint Eastwood, which also takes place in San Francisco. He also directed "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," and another prison movie, "Riot in Cell Block 11." Siegal has a talent for creating tension and gripping scenes in his movies. His directing talent shines within "Escape from Alcatraz." 

This film is accurate as far as the escape is concerned.  

It's not an action packed, guns blazing movie. It stays true to the feel of how that escape went down. It's a fascinating movie in the truest meaning of the word.