Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) - A San Francisco Cinema Classic

"You're a highballin' sparrow. So you fly high, old cock. Go out there and bite the stars - for me. Find yourself a fat mama and make a family."

Director

John Frankenheimer

Cast
Burt Lancaster - Robert Stroud
Karl Malden - Harvey Shoemaker
Thelma Ritter - Elizabeth McCartney Stroud
Neville Brand - Bull Ransom
Betty Field - Stella Johnson
Telly Savalas - Feto Gomez
Edmond O'Brien - Thomas E. Gaddis

The 1962 classic biopic "Birdman of Alcatraz" starring Burt Lancaster is a fantastic film despite any historical inaccuracies in its depictions of convicted murderer Robert Stroud. The movie is a testimony to the idea that nurturing one's intellect can lead to a self-improvement and greater moral standards.

In 1909, Stroud was arrested in Alaska for manslaughter. He was sentenced to 12 years at McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary in Washington. This is where the film begins. 

Stroud isn't so inclined to follow the strict prison rules. 

While being transported by train to Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas, he smashes a window to allow cool air into the stifling train so the inmates can breathe. This incident of course reaches the ears of Leavenworth's warden, Harvey Shoemaker (Karl Malden) who sees it as an act of insubordination. Immediately, Stroud and Shoemaker are at odds with each other as prisoners and wardens often are. Stroud is not one to be told what to do. And Shoemaker runs a strict prison. Rules are meant to be adhered to. And crime deserves punishment that's carried out to its fullest extent. 

Stroud's mother, Elizabeth Stroud (Thelma Ritter), whom he's very close to, requests to pay her son a visit which he's been eagerly looking forward to. However, her request is denied. This infuriates Stroud, and he fatally stabs a prison guard out of anger. 

As a result, Stroud is ultimately sentenced to death by hanging. 

His mother manages to obtain a personal visit to First Lady Edith Wilson to ask if she'll convince her husband, President Woodrow Wilson, to change her son's death sentence to life in prison. 

Elizabeth's efforts pay off, and Stroud's sentence is changed. However, he has to carry out his life sentence in solitary confinement.

During a rainy evening alone in the prison yard, Stroud finds a nest with a baby sparrow still alive that fell out of a tree. 

So, he takes it back to his cell to care for and raise. This piques his interest, and Stroud starts reading up on birds. He has nothing but time, after all. 

Burt Lancaster as Robert Stroud in "Birdman of Alcatraz." 

News of his interests spreads throughout the prison. Other inmates begin bringing him small birds to tend to, which they've obtain from outside contacts. 

He starts building birdcages in his cell and experimenting with medicines to administer to sick birds. 

Stroud also starts writing books which impresses bird experts. Stroud becomes an expert himself.

His expertise in ornithology spreads outside the prison walls. 

Bird enthusiast, Stella Johnson (Betty Field), visits him in prison to propose he begin marketing his bird remedies. 

Stroud agrees. And soon after, he also agrees to marry Stella, much to his mother's dismay, 

Elizabeth is opposed to this union. After all, a woman up in Alaska was the start of his downfall into prison.  

His relationship is torn with his mother. And she refuses to support his release petition. 

Suddenly, the powers that be transfer Stroud to Alcatraz out in San Francisco. 

Unfortunately, he's not permitted to keep birds at Alcatraz and make money off his books and remedies. 

Stroud is getting rather old and begins writing a history of the U.S. penal system. 

The warden at Alcatraz, which happens to be none other than Harvey Shoemaker from Leavenworth (he was also transferred) suppresses Stroud's book project. 

In 1946, a prison riot erupts on Alcatraz. 

Though Stroud and the warden are still on unfriendly terms, Stroud helps put a stop to it. 

He gives the police the two firearms other inmates managed to get a hold. 

He informs the police guards and the warden that they can re-enter the prison without fear. Shoemaker insists Stroud has never lied to him before and takes his word for it. 

Stroud's admirers on the outside sign a petition. Stroud is then transferred to another jail out in Missouri. 

That's when he meets author Thomas F. Gaddis, who would later write a book about Stroud's life.

The character development is fantastic thanks to Lancaster's performance. It's impressive. His performance brings to mind Anthony Hopkins's role as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in "Silence of the Lambs" as well as it's prequel "Red Dragon" and sequel "Hannibal." Stroud, like Lecter, is a violent, monstrous character. Yet Hopkins gives him a suave je ne sais quoi mannerism that, dare I say, makes him likeable. Brian Cox plays Lecter in the 1986 movie "Manhunter" based on the novel "Red Dragon", but he doesn't quite give Lecter the same charm that contrasts his sadistic crimes. 

Lancaster gives Stroud a certain respectability which leads to a kind of likeability. He starts off in the movie as an unlikable inmate centered on his own desires. 

He dedicates his hard time towards something purposeful and beneficial. The birds give him the opportunity to think of something other than himself.

It's his gentle side which comes through in the story that leads Stroud to becoming a sympathetic character.

Regardless, it can't be forgotten that the real Robert Stroud was a convicted murderer and a notorious criminal. 

His name is counted among the "famous inmates" who did hard time on Alcatraz Island along with Al Capone and 'Machine Gun' Kelly.

In a 1996 SFGate article titled, "Alumni' revisit The Rock," former Alcatraz inmate Glenn Williams is quoted as saying, "That guy [Stroud] was not a sweetheart; he was a vicious killer. I think Burt Lancaster owes us all an apology."

And in the book "Full Circle," author Michael Palin quotes another former inmate, Jim Quillan, who describes Stroud as, "A guy that liked chaos and turmoil and upheaval... Always at somebody else's expense."

The movie utilizes the confined jail space to bring the audience up close into Stroud's space which he sets up to write, build cages, and study bird medicine. It's not forgotten that despite whatever good he might have accomplished in the way of ornithology, he was still in prison for life.  

Burt Lancaster nails the role. He takes a historic figure and depicts him as someone who becomes more human than monster as he puts his mind and efforts towards something that will benefit others. He makes it look so flawless and easy to do. 

The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)

"The fish... has a wife... in Brooklyn?"

Director

Arthur Lubin

Cast
Don Knotts - Henry Limpet
Carole Cook - Bessie Limpet
Jack Weston - George Stickle
Andrew Duggan - Harlock
Larry Keating - Admiral P.P. Spewter
Oscar Beregi, Jr. - Nazi admiral
Charles Meredith - Fleet Admiral
Elizabeth MacRae - voice of the Ladyfish
Paul Frees - voice of Crusty

Growing up, my grandmother lived in an apartment on Pacific Avenue in San Francisco. On holidays or special occasions, she would either come over to my family's house across the Bay in Oakland, or dad and company would battle that Bay Bridge traffic heading over to her Pacific Avenue apartment. Whichever way she was going, we would have to drive over to the city. Dad would have to pick her up if she came our direction. And then take her back.

"The City" by the way, is the general term for San Francisco. Even when living in Oakland "the city of" any reference to "the city" always meant San Francisco. 

I recall often going with him for the mere enjoyment of the car ride over to "the city."

I loved driving across the Bay Bridge, hitting Columbus Ave. though it meant seeing the bright lights and towering signs of certain red light establishments along Columbus which my young eyes shouldn't have seen. And then hitting my grandmother's vintage apartment building that was built back in the 1920s or 1930s. Even the building's elevator was an antique from the period. The elevator door had a doorknob, and you had to close the screen before hitting your floor. These trips, as I recall, generally took place on weekends. 

I remember some nights coming home early enough to catch the Saturday night movie on TV, starting around 8:00, and airing on either one of the local stations - KOFY-TV 20 or KBHK-TV 44. I especially remember channel 20 as it used to air old Batman reruns from the 1960s. 

And I recall KTVU channel 2 showing movies on Saturday nights as well. 

That was our FOX affiliate in the Bay Area. It still is. Channel 2 often picked better movies to air than the more local stations higher up on the TV dial. We didn't have cable then.  

For some reason, in my head I've tied those Saturday TV movies with trips back from San Francisco. I recall that I often hoped the movie would be "The Incredible Mr. Limpet." 

And once or twice, Mr. Limpet aired. 

"The Incredible Mr. Limpet" is a live action/ animated comedy - a precursor to later movies like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and "Space Jam." It even came out before Disney's "Mary Poppins" and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks." And those are pretty much the only live action/animated movies I can think of right now. 

The movie begins in the present day (i.e. the movie's present day which would be the 1960s) as Naval Officer Machinist's Mate 2nd Class (PO2) George Stickle (Jack Weston) and Admiral Harlock (Andrew Duggan) are having a secret conversation about the behavior of porpoises observed out in the ocean. These porpoises are displaying unusual behavior, and the two of them suspect the Navy's top-secret informant and asset, a fish named Henry Limpet, is the source of such behavior. 

The movie then goes back to the 1940s, just before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. 

Henry Limpet (Don Knotts), who's human at this point in time, has quite a love for fish. He also loves books, but fish are a little more fascinating. So much so, he wishes he could escape the world with all its difficulties and become a fish. 

Don Knotts as Henry Limpet in "The Incredible Mr. Limpet."

He's a patriotic yet shy kind of guy. 

Limpet's wife, Bessie (Carole Cook), is just as patriotic, and would like to see her husband enlist in the service. 

Henry tries to but is rejected because he has poor eyesight. 

Their friend George Stickle is working as a machinist in the Navy during this time. While on leave, he goes to visit Mr. and Mrs. Limpet.

The three of them decide to go to Coney Island for the day and have a picnic on the docs. 

Henry stares into the water and continues in his longing to become a fish. 

During his daydream, he falls into the water and actually turns into a fish. 

Oddly enough, Henry can't swim (as a human). But once he becomes a fish, it comes naturally to him. 

Bessie and George think Henry drowned. A rescue team attempts to locate Henry by sending a diver down there, but no such luck. All traces of Henry disappear. 

Henry quickly adapts to life as a fish. In fact, he discovers a new ability to generate a sonar-like shout underwater, which calls his "thrum." The word sounds like something you do moments before vomiting, but I digest...or digress. Whatever. Forget it.  

Henry makes friends with an old hermit crab named Crusty (voiced by Paul Frees) and quickly falls in love with a flirtatious Ladyfish (voice by Elizabeth MacRae). Although, he has moral qualms about the apparent mutual attraction as he is technically married. Can a fish be married to a human, he wonders. But he's a fish, and so is the ladyfish. 

Soon after this fluke of nature takes place causing Limpet to become a freak of nature, the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. 

Henry, who can still talk by the way, helps the U.S. Navy by communicating with the soldiers as well as George who, though shocked that Henry is still alive, eventually affirms Henry's reliability to the Navy. 

Henry directs U.S. Naval forces to a German U-boat close by. 

He uses his "thrum" capabilities and plays a crucial role in the battle of the Atlantic. 

Nazi forces develop thrum-seeking missiles to attack. And to make matters worse, Henry loses his glasses and can't see. 

It's not explained how Henry turns into a fish. However, it's alluded that this occurs thanks to some instantaneous evolution. This, of course, adds to the fantasy of this movie. But I digress. Despite that, it's an enjoyable movie with a little charm, likability, and some jokes that still get a laugh. Some of the funnier lines come from Limpet's interaction with the Ladyfish.
"What if I told you I used to be a human being?" he tells her.
"I don't care how terrible your past was, Limpet," she replies.
"Do you suppose that we could just be more or less friends," he asks.
"Friends? But wouldn't that be more or less nothing, Limpet?"

It's leans a bit into the area of preachiness. It wanders into some territories it really doesn't need to go into. 

The whole situation of Mr. Limpet falling in love with a ladyfish while mulling over the reality of his being a fish married to a human is a little cringy. Since he's married, I guess it does need to be address. 
"Henry, am I the widow of a man or the wife of a fish?" Bessie asks.
"Well, let's be logical, Bessie. You can't very well keep me in the bathtub, can you?"

And then Henry's spiel about the wonders of evolution, which is still a mere theory, feels forced. In one scene, Henry tells George, "With the war in Europe and new weapons being invented all the time, why, what if men were actually foolish enough to destroy themselves completely? Then, you see, the fish in the ocean would develop into a new race of men, and, well, this time they might turn out better, you see?"

Well, that's stupid. The idea starts off legitimately and ends on a conclusion that's amazingly ludicrous and delusional. I bring this up because I don't think this is meant to be comedic. If it is, then forget what I just wrote  

This really is a nitpick as its more of an explanation, albeit a poor one, about why Henry suddenly turns into a talking fish in the first place. Regardless, the premise is originally entertaining, and the animation is certainly pleasing for its time.
There's some emotion in "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" to make it worth the time to watch. And though it got a laugh out of me here and there, I can't say it's Knott's funniest, or even near his funniest movie. The humor comes more from the reactions of other characters, especially Jack Weston.
Mr. Limpet isn't the first talking animal movie Arthur Lubin\ directed. He also directed the 1950 movie "Francis" starring Francis the talking mule. He also directed the "Francis" sequels, "Francis Goes to the Races" (1951), "Francis Goes to West Point" (1952), "Francis Covers the Big Town" (1953) and "Francis Joins the WACS" (1954), and "Francis in the Navy" (1955). Like "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" there's a military theme with some of these Francis movies. 

Speaking of which, Lubin also has a fair number of other patriotic military movies in his arsenal such as "Eagle Squadron" (1942), and the Abbott and Costello military comedies, "Buck Privates" (1941), "In the Navy" (1941), and "Keep 'Em Flying" (1941). He also directed Abbott and Costello in "Hold That Ghost" (1941) and "Ride 'Em Cowboy" (1942).

As for "The Incredible Mr. Limpet," it has its charm and enjoyability despite it falling short for a Don Knotts comedy. He's too reserved in this picture, and his comedic talent isn't harnessed enough.