Al "Scarface" Capone. George "Machine Gun" Kelly. Alvin "Creepy" Karpis. "The Birdman of Alcatraz" Robert Stroud. Meyer "Mickey" Cohen. Even the recently infamous James "Whitey" Bulger was incarcerated at Alcatraz for a brief time beginning in 1959. Now a tourist attraction and bird sanctuary, I traveled to Alcatraz in 2014 to experience "the Rock." Alcatraz was no luxury hotel. We took a boat out to the prison and a cold drizzle met us. The currents around the island are treacherous with the waters of the Bay and the Pacific Ocean colliding. Inside, the prison was dark and depressing, the cells small and cramped. The only redeeming part of Alcatraz is its great view of San Francisco. Alcatraz was meant to keep violent and dangerous criminals from escaping yet 34 men attempted to escape the Rock. According to the book Alcatraz Most Wanted by Cory Kincade, seven were shot and killed, one drowned, two men actually made it to shore and were captured, and five are still missing and presumed dead. Director Don Siegel and actor Clint Eastwood decided to choose Alcatraz's most famous breakout when they collaborated on ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (1979) detailing the elaborate escape by prisoners Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin in 1962.
Director Siegel and Eastwood first teamed up for the urban cowboy western COOGAN'S BLUFF (1968). Siegel began his career as an editor (he did some of the montages in CASABLANCA) before moving on to direct film noir films like THE BIG STEAL (1949) with Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer or the sci-fi classic INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956). Siegel and Eastwood would also collaborate on TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA (1970) co-starring Shirley McClaine, the gothic Civil War film THE BEGUILED (1971), and their biggest hit DIRTY HARRY (1971) which introduced movie fans to the .457 Magnum wielding San Francisco cop "Dirty" Harry Callahan. ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ is a return to the Bay Area for Siegel and Eastwood although it's confined to San Francisco's most famous landmark besides the Golden Gate Bridge with Alcatraz. Eastwood has been quoted that Sergio Leone (A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS) and Don Siegel were his two biggest mentors and influences on his own directing career.
With a screenplay by Richard Tuggle based on the non-fiction book Escape from Alcatraz by J. Campbell Bruce and directed by Don Siegel, ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ begins on a cold, rainy night on January 18th,1960 as a boat brings prisoner Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood) from the San Francisco wharf out to Alcatraz Island and its maximum-security prison. Morris is strip searched, handcuffed, and led naked to his prison cell. The next day, Warden Arthur Dollison (Patrick McGoohan) requests for Morris to see him. Dollison reminds Morris that he's now incarcerated at Alcatraz due to his previous escapes from other prisons. No one has ever escaped from Alcatraz and lived. Morris stealthily takes Dollison's nail clippers before departing the warden's office. Morris begins to get the lay of the prison. He quickly meets the prison's large predator Wolf (Bruce M. Fischer) who tries to bully Morris. Morris punches Wolf in the gut during a shower encounter. Morris befriends Litmus (Frank Ronzio) and his pet mouse. Litmus is the scrounger of the prison. Morris is assigned to the library where he meets English (Paul Benjamin), leader of the black inmates. Out in the yard, Morris will encounter Chester "Doc" Dalton (Roberts Blossom) who paints to pass away the time. Morris discusses escaping Alcatraz with English. English tells him no one has ever made it to freedom after escaping.
Wolf comes after Morris in the yard with a shiv. Morris manages to hold Wolf off until guards can intervene. Even though Morris didn't instigate the fight, both he and Wolf are sent to solitary confinement. When Morris returns to his cell, he finds he has a new neighbor in the cell next to him - a convict named Charlie Butts (Larry Hankin). Warden Dollison walks the cell blocks. He decides to inspect Doc's cell. He finds an unflattering painting of himself by Doc. Dollison takes away all painting privileges for convicts. In protest, Doc cuts off a couple of his fingers in the welding shop. Doc is carried out on a stretcher, not to be seen again. Morris discovers a small grate in the corner of his cell that leads to a utility corridor behind the cells. In the mess hall, Morris runs into some familiar faces - brothers Clarence (Jack Thibeau) and John Anglin (Fred Ward). Like Morris, they have been transferred to Alcatraz for repeatedly escaping other prisons, most recently in Atlanta. Fed up with Warden Dollison's inhuman treatment of inmates, Morris reveals to the Anglins and Charlie that he may have found a way to escape.
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| Escaping Alcatraz Island via tour boat in March 2014. |
Morris and the Anglin's chip away at six inches of concrete around the grill in their respective cells, using smuggled items like a spoon to help. Charlie serves as a lookout for Morris. Morris has a close call when a guard almost catches him away from his bed during lights out. John Anglin begins making fake heads out of plaster and newspaper, using paint for the flesh tones and hair clippings from the barber shop for the head. Morris makes a big enough hole first. One night he does a reconnaissance mission, exploring the inner walls, with his dummy in his bed. He barely makes it back in time. Another time, John joins Morris as they map out their escape. The last piece of their escape is securing life jackets and a raft made out of rain jackets. Warden Dollison notices a yellow chrysanthemum on the lunch table occupied by Morris and his friends, Doc's favorite flower to paint. Dollison takes the flower and smashes it. Litmus lunges for Dollison and suffers a heart attack.
Dollison orders Morris's cell checked, weary Morris is planning something. The guard doesn't find Morris's hole in the corner (disguised with a fake front). Dollison wants Morris and Charlie separated. Morris moves up the escape night due to Dollison's recent actions. Bull tries to attack Morris again, but English intercepts his latest attempt. Each prisoner sneaks out of their cell except Charlie who has last minute second thoughts. The inmates climb pipes up to the ceiling then break through a vent in the roof. The guard in the tower hears a noise and turns his spotlight on the roof. He sees no one. The three men slide down drain pipes to the ground then climb over a fence. They make it to the water. Morris, John, and Clarence blow up their makeshift life vests and raft. They paddle out into the bay, disappearing into the night. The guards discover the dummies in their beds and notify Dollison. The next day, helicopters fly over the bay. Dollison and the police search nearby Angel Island. Dollison is sure the men are dead. He finds a yellow chrysanthemum on the beach, a clue that the inmates may have made it. ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ ends with titles that tell us "No bodies were ever found." Did Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers make it to shore? Most believe they drowned but there are a few who think they survived and made it to the mainland.
ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ provides Clint Eastwood with an opportunity to play another anti-hero character in real life convict Frank Morris. Morris is a loner. We learn early in the film that he has no family or next of kin. He's all alone in this world. Early in the film, Morris appears anti-social, even racist. He eats alone in the mess hall. He doesn't talk much to begin with. He has a problem with authority which might explain his multiple escape attempts from prison. Morris doesn't respect the warden or the guards or even the rules of the prison inmates. He won't submit to Wolf's attempt to bully him, punching Bull in the gut when the predator tries to prey on him in the shower. He uses the N word when he tells English, the leader of the black convicts he's not fond of them. To prove he doesn't believe in rules, written or unwritten, Morris even sits in the black convicts section outside in the yard. Morris is not making friends early.
Through the course of ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ, as he gets the lay of the prison and his fellow convicts, Morris will accumulate a family. He befriends Doc whose found an outlet from this hell through painting. He takes a liking to Litmus and his pet mouse. Litmus will become a scrounger for Morris, acquiring items that Morris needs for his escape attempt. His next cell neighbor Charlie Butts will become his eyes as Morris chips away at the grill in the corner. Morris even warms up to English with English bringing Morris books and magazines that help him with his escape plan. When the Anglin brothers show up at Alcatraz, it's like a family reunion. Morris and the Anglins had been locked up together at other prisons. He knows he can trust the two brothers. Morris is not alone after all.
Eastwood's Frank Morris in ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ is similar to Eastwood's cop Harry Callahan in DIRTY HARRY which is ironic as they are on opposite sides of the law. One a convict. One a law enforcement officer. Both like to stick it to the establishment, the Man. Harry Callahan doesn't get along with his fellow police officers or his police captain. He doesn't play by the rules when chasing criminals either. Frank Morris doesn't like authority either. He doesn't like the sadistic Warden Dollison or the prison guards. Morris hasn't played by the rules all his life which is why he's behind bars. He won't sit and live out his sentence on Alcatraz. Rather than rot in his small cell at the hands of an inhuman warden and system, Morris and the Anglin brothers opt for a slim chance of freedom. After their numerous escapes and recaptures, even death in the icy waters of the San Francisco Bay is more appealing than incarceration. Their escape attempt is their way of sticking it to the warden who has pledged that no prisoner will escape on his watch. The fact that no bodies are found will gnaw at Warden Dollison.
Warden Dollison (played by Patric McGoohan) represents Death in ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ. He wears black suits. He's cold, sadistic, and narcissistic. His actions lead to the maiming or death of prisoners on the Rock. Dollison breaks Doc's sanity when he takes away Doc's painting privileges after uncovering an unflattering portrait of himself by Doc. Doc will cut off several of his fingers in a fit of self-mutilation. Dollison's actions toward the benign Doc will push Morris to look for a way to escape. Morris can take Dollison's heavy handed punishment but he's getting older. He can get back at Dollison by escaping. Later, when Dollison sees a yellow flower on the inmates mess hall table (Doc liked to paint flowers), Dollison crushes it in front of Morris and the others. Litmus will lunge for Dollison only to suffer a heart attack. Death in the form of Dollison cannot be hurt. But Morris will go after Dollison's ego. His escape with the Anglin brothers, even if not entirely successful, will bring about the closure of Alcatraz in 1963. The dehumanizing treatment of prisoners by Dollison would ultimately fail.
Besides Eastwood (who was arguably one of the biggest movie stars at the time in 1979), ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ is full of mostly character actors. Roberts Blossom who plays Doc career blossomed in his 40s and 50s. Blossom had memorable small roles in Steven Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977) and Chris Columbus's HOME ALONE (1990). Paul Benjamin who plays English, leader of the black convicts and the prison's librarian first appeared in John Schlesinger's MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969). Besides ALCATRAZ, English had roles in Barry Shear's ACROSS 110TH STREET (1972) with Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto and Spike Lee's DO THE RIGHT THING (1990). Surprisingly, Larry Hankin who plays the solemn, conflicted cell neighbor Charlie Butts to Eastwood's Morris was a member of two comedy improv groups and nearly was cast as Jerry Seinfeld's kooky neighbor Kramer in hit TV comedy about nothing SEINFELD.
The biggest name besides Eastwood in ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ is Patrick McGoohan who plays the tyrannical Warden Arthur Dollison. McGoohan first found fame in the late 1960s in the sci-fi TV series THE PRISONER (1967-68) which had a prison like premise. McGoohan would have a resurgence in his career after ALCATRAZ appearing in David Cronenberg's SCANNERS (1980), memorably as King Edward I aka Longshanks in Mel Gibson's BRAVEHEART (1995), and as a judge in Joel Schumacher's A TIME TO KILL (1996) starring Matthew McConaughey and Sandra Bullock. Fred Ward who plays fellow escapee John Anglin would use his small but crucial role to begin a long and successful film career beginning with his performance as tragic astronaut Gus Grissom in Philip Kaufman's THE RIGHT STUFF (1983). The versatile Ward appeared in everything from the fun horror film TREMORS (1990) with Kevin Bacon to a Miami cop chasing killer Alec Baldwin in MIAMI BLUES (1990) to Hollywood fixer Walter Stuckel in Robert Altman's THE PLAYER (1992). Danny Glover (LETHAL WEAPON) has one of his first credits in ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ as an inmate (I must admit I didn't spot him).
Bringing authenticity to ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ is the fact that almost the entire film was filmed at the now closed prison. The infamous Cell Block D, the cells themselves, the mess hall, the yard, and the library are all actual Alcatraz locations in the film. Having toured Alcatraz the National Park in 2014, visitors can almost hear the ghosts of the former inmates, guards, and the families of the previous wardens on the former prison's grounds. Director Siegel is meticulous in detailing the minute details of the three men's escape plan from the every day items like nail clippers and spoons they used to chisel a hole in the corner of their cells to the lifelike dummies they made and planted in their beds to buy time as they made their escape on the night of June 11th, 1962.
Despite taking place entirely in a prison and with almost no female characters (Butts' wife is shown in one scene visiting him), ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ would be a critical and commercial success due to Eastwood's performance and star power and veteran director Don Siegel's storytelling ability. The third star of the film is Alcatraz itself. The Rock is had been used as a location in films before from John Frankenheimer's BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ (1962) starring Burt Lancaster as real life murderer and bird enthusiast Robert Stroud to John Boorman's revenge thriller POINT BLANK (1967) with Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson to Michael Bay's THE ROCK (1996) starring Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery. ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ captures the beauty, starkness, and cruelty of Alcatraz prison. Audiences don't usually root for criminals to escape from prison. Under the circumstances, you will root for Frank Morris and Clarence and John Anglin to make it to freedom. Whether they did or not is still up for debate although the odds seem pretty stacked against the three men. America and Hollywood loves underdogs so the dream that they might have survived will endure...at least on film.
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