Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Don Siegel

Writers:

J. Campbell Bruce (book)
Richard Tuggle (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 June 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

No one has ever escaped from Alcatraz... And no one ever will!

Plot:

A dramatization of the one possibly successful escape from the notorious prison.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Alcatraz | Escape | Island | Convict

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Frank Morris
Patrick McGoohan	...	Warden
Roberts Blossom	...	Doc
Jack Thibeau	...	Clarence Anglin
Fred Ward	...	John Anglin
Paul Benjamin	...	English
Larry Hankin	...	Charley Butts
Bruce M. Fischer	...	Wolf
Frank Ronzio	...	Litmus
Fred Stuthman	...	Johnson
David Cryer	...	Wagner
Madison Arnold	...	Zimmerman
Blair Burrows	...	Fight Guard
Bob Balhatchet	...	Medical Technical Assistant
Matthew Locricchio	...	Exam Guard (as Matthew J. Locricchio)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Iceland:14 | UK:AA (1979) (cut) | Spain:13 | West Germany:12 (f) | New Zealand:PG | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1980) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The dangerous escape down the prison wall and into the water was performed without stunt doubles. Director 'Don Siegel (I)' twice thought that he had lost his actors to the treacherous currents.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: On the boat ride over to the prison from San Francisco a radar unit can be seen spinning on top of the boat. That type of radar transponder wasn't developed until the mid 1970s. According to the information on screen, this took place in 1960.

Quotes:

Doc: [sadly] But, painting's all I have!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Hollywood Science: Escapes (#1.2)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

D Block Blues

Rock hard

Alcatraz was America's toughest high-security prison, and has been much beloved by film-makers since it closed and became available as a set. Don Siegel's film is based on the true story of an attempted escape. Some aspects are clichéd (the psychopathic homosexual, for example) and by concentrating on the brutality of the regime the film gets you on the side of the escapees at the price of suggesting that prison break-outs are actually a good thing. But in general, this is a successful film that has aged well, with no sickly sentiment or overdone melodrama; by concentrating on the unadorned details of the story, the film allows each one to count. A strong, uncompromising movie, gripping even if you know the ending before it starts.