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IMDb > Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
Escape from Alcatraz
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Escape from Alcatraz (1979) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   20,535 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 73% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
J. Campbell Bruce (book)
Richard Tuggle (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Escape from Alcatraz on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
22 June 1979 (USA) more
Genre:
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. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
NewsDesk:
(8 articles)
"Sequel" To "Escape From Alcatraz" Being Pitched
 (From CinemaRetro. 21 October 2009, 7:12 PM, PDT)

First Look: MythBusters Fall Premiere
 (From Screen Rant. 6 October 2009, 3:23 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
Full of prison clichés but more of a reflection on prison life than a genre movie more (98 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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)
more
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Additional Details

Runtime:
112 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Visitors to Alcatraz Island may be interested in viewing the actual cells that had been home to the real-life inmates depicted here by Clint Eastwood (Frank Morris), Fred Ward (John William Anglin), and Jack Thibeau (John's brother Clarence Anglin). Their cells #138, #140 and #144 are located in B Block ("Michigan Avenue") along the bottom row. The cells used in the film, however, are located in the C Block, middle cells on the Broadway side along the bottom row. more
Goofs:
Continuity: Frank Morris' bed is on the right side of the cell in some scenes, and on the left in others. more
Quotes:
Warden: I want painting privileges taken away from Chester Dalton. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Rock (1996) more
Soundtrack:
D Block Blues more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
18 out of 31 people found the following comment useful.
Full of prison clichés but more of a reflection on prison life than a genre movie, 31 May 2004
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

When people disobey the rules of society they get sent to prison. When they disobey the rules of prison they get sent to Alcatraz. Transferred from Atlanta, this is the true story of Frank Morris – the only man to break out of Alcatraz prison. Morris comes to the prison to find cruel guards and monotony are the norm, all resided over by the disinterested warden. With time he makes both friends and enemies and begins to plan his way out of his cell and out of the prison.

I have seen this film once before, probably more than a decade ago and I wasn't going to try and review it from my distant memory of it so I watched it again the other day. From my memory of the film and the opening 15 minutes I assumed that this was just going to be an effective break-out thriller with all the usual clichés in place – the shanks, the old man with a small animal, the old timer who goes nuts etc, and in some regards this is what it is. However it is also very unusual for a prison movie because it is so very low key and slow. In this way it is like the prison life itself – based in routine without a great deal actually happening, certainly the film engages consistently rather than relying on a handful of set pieces to do it. For this reason some viewers may be turned off by it as they expect more from prison dramas, certainly viewers of HBO's Oz cannot help but find this to be lacking in action.

I don't want my comments to be taken out of context so I will say that I think that this is a very effective film in what it tries to do. It is slow but never dull, clichéd but never uninteresting. Siegel's direction shows good control and it is matched by a performance from Clint Eastwood that is so understated that at times it seemed like he would disappear from the screen with a slight whiff of smoke – this was not a showy performance but it was a very good one. He is supported by a cast that delivers mostly clichéd characters but delivers them without overdoing it or pushing it to the point where they are too obvious. The support cast includes turns from Blossum, Benjamin, Fischer, Hankin and Fred Ward. McGoohan doesn't have a great deal to do but he plays his character well, with a strange half smile on his face for much of the time – a knowing look reflecting the irony of the most famous Prisoner becoming the warden perhaps?

Overall this is lacking in fireworks or big set pieces (even the escape at the end is delivered without dramatic flourishes or tense music) but that is it's aim. The film captures the dull routine of prison life including the violence and the treatment while also telling a good story that it has the good taste to leave open as it was in real life.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Quiest and Peaceful Prison bing-10
Reasons I don't think the escape was possible gfnoyes
What was Doc in for ? theperfectten
In my opinion, this did not have to happen. . . pipoboy
Did they survive? compo_simmonite
interview w/Richard Tuggle in CR combrm
more

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