CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Bele Torso Notorious escapees didn't drown, they body-surfed behind a ferry to freedom and started a farm in Brazil! Frank Morris, Clarence Anglin and John Anglin remain the only people who have escaped Alcatraz and never been found - a disappearance that is one of the country's most notorious unsolved mysteries. A letter sent to San Francisco police in 2013 and obtained by CBS affiliate KPIX, a man claiming to be one of the escapees said that all three of the prisoners survived the attempt - but that he was the only one still living. The letter claimed that Morris died in 2008 and that Clarence Anglin died in 2011. More than 50 raincoats that they stole or gathered were turned into makeshift life preservers and a 6×14 foot rubber raft, the seams carefully stitched together and "vulcanized" by the hot steam pipes in the prison (the idea came from magazines that were found in the prisoners' cells). They also built wooden paddles and converted a musical instrument into a tool to inflate the raft. Relatives of John and Clarence Anglin firmly believe they survived their escape: At least four members of the Anglin family, including two nephews and a sister, spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle in 2013, furnishing what they said was evidence the men were alive - including a Christmas card the family received in 1962 that read: "To Mother, from John. Merry Christmas."

alexanderdavies-99382 "Escape from Alcatraz" was the last time Clint Eastwood worked with Don Siegel after a gap of 8 years. Most of the cast aren't very well known except for Patrick McGoohan, who is outstanding as the cold and austere prison governor. He and Clint Eastwood make for an excellent combination in the scenes they share. If McGoohan was hoping to intimidate Eastwood, it wasn't working! The low key approach works best for this film. The whole thing is very good, with a suitably ambiguous ending.Don Siegel's direction is amongst his best.

romanorum1 Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, on an island surrounded by freezing cold water in San Francisco Bay, is a mile or so from land. Formerly known as an escape-proof maximum security prison, no one was ever known to have emerged from "The Rock." Three men who came closest are believed to have drowned as nothing was ever heard from them (1962). Nevertheless, they did escape and were never returned.The movie focuses on the three: Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood) and the Anglin Brothers (Jack Thibeau and Frank Ward). Because he had escaped from several other prisons, Frank Morris is transferred to Alcatraz in 1960 and immediately begins to plan an escape. The director depicts well how Morris fashions a papier-mâché likeness of his head to fool the guards. Morris learned how to accomplish the simple welding of metals in a jail cell to create a hand tool from a nail clipper, spoon, and a dime. He used the tool to chip away at the corroded concrete walls - because of moist air - surrounding the low ventilation grilles. After, he squeezed his way through the newly created opening to the utility corridor and scaled the ventilation shaft that led to the cell-block roof. After that a barbed wire fence was climbed to escape the prison property. From there the three men, using makeshift life preservers and rafts, successfully swam in the tidal and icy bay waters to Angel Island. From there they either swam their way to safety or drowned in the bay. Director Don Siegel shows in detail the drudgery of living in the small, individual cells in a taut screenplay. He is meticulous; for instance, note the slight differences in prisoners' clothing. Also, he did well in recreating the authentic look of the Alcatraz of the early 1960s, even though the place had been closed as a correctional institution for a decade and a half. The performances are at a high level, from the perfect vehicle for Clint Eastwood as a determined Morris to Patrick McGoohan's stern and mean-spirited warden. ("We don't make good citizens but we make good prisoners.") Interesting characters include Doc (Roberts Blossum), a gifted painter; Litmus (Frank Ronzio), who can find things that Morris needs for a price (usually Morris' desserts) and who keeps a pet mouse; English (Paul Benjamin), a bitter Negro librarian (his daughter is marrying a white man); and Charley Butts (Larry Hankin), who doesn't quite escape. As a side thought, Hollywood has always been sympathetic to prisoners. Also, studios have usually portrayed penitentiary guards as sadistic, mean-spirited, and/or nasty. In "Escape from Alcatraz" though, the guards do not systematically beat their prisoners although they lack empathy. There's a scene early on when the prison tough Wolf (Bruce M. Fischer) tries to kill Morris, who successfully defends himself. Yet, like Wolf, the character is condemned to the dreaded D-Block without explanation.Alcatraz prison, which housed over 1500 prisoners in its history, closed in 1963. Its famous residents included Whitey Bulger, Al Capone, Alvin Karpis, Machine-Gun Kelly, "Doc" Barker, and Robert Stroud ("The Birdman of Alcatraz").

Irishchatter I honestly think this is one of the best movies Clint Eastwood has ever done. He's brilliant on the "Good, bad and the ugly" film and yet he's at his best with this one! It's very different from his usual films since they are nearly western so it's good to put that aside and do a history genre instead! I have to say, I found the movie quite intense wen the four men were escaping from Alcatraz prison. I knew how the story went before I watched this movie but seriously, you still don't want the men to be caught. It makes me wonder were they drowned or did they manage to survive onshore? It's honestly hard to know because there hasn't been enough evidence where they were planning to go! All the police got were the hole inside the bottom walls. I suppose there's more but god knows where they went? It's such an interesting case!Well done Clint Eastwood for making this movie happen and being involved in it!