Escape from Alcatraz

Despite only being used as a federal prison for about 30 years, Alcatraz has a rather outsized place in American culture for being the prison from which nobody could escape. Or could they? That's the question addressed in the 1979 movie Escape from Alcatraz.

Clint Eastwood plays Frank Morris, a prisoner who had escaped from several prisons, which ultimately led to his being imprisoned in Alcatraz in January 1960. The Warden (Patrick McGoohan) informs Morris that Alcatraz is unlike any other prison he's been in and that escape is impossible, although it's not as if a little thing like that is going to stop Morris. Among the prisoners Morris meets are elderly painter Doc (Roberts Blossom), prison librarian English (Fred Ward), and the Anglin brothers, Clarence and John (Jack Thibeau and Fred Ward respectively), the last two of whom you'd think would have been split up even if that made it more likely one of them would escape.

Prison life is suitably brutal, and eventually when Morris sees a cockroach go into the ventilation system, that gives him an idea for escape. Perhaps he can chip away at the concrete walls surrounding the grilles, and escape through the ventilation shaft. It seems unlikely, but it's also not as if Morris has anywhere else to go. So he starts, and eventually gets the Anglins to start along with a fourth prisoner, Charley Butts (Larry Hankin).

Still, there are all sorts of problems. Where does the ventilation shaft actually go? What are they going to do once they get out of the shaft? How are they going to prevent the guards from finding they've gone into the shaft? And how the hell are they going to get off the island? Slowly the prisoners come up with answers to all of the questions, and get about the hard work of planning and effecting the escape.

And then, just as they set a date for the escape, there's one more problem. The warden decides he's going to move Morris to a different cell, meaning that Morris is going to have to move up the escape, and they might not be fully ready for it.

The most interesting thing about Escape from Alcatraz is that it's based on a true story, which you will have noticed if you clicked on the link to Frank Morris above. Now, since it's based on a true story that link does more or less give away what happens in the movie, as well as pointing out a few differences between real life and the movie. But even if you know what happened in reality, the movie is stlll worth watching.

Despite Morris being only one of three men who tried to escape together, this is still Clint Eastwood's movie all the way. He's quite good. The movie is methodical, which can make it seem slow at times, but also serves to ratchet up the suspense. I can very highly recommend it if you want a good true crime movie.