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.