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Escape from Alcatraz (film)

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Escape from Alcatraz
Movie poster by Bill Gold
Directed byDon Siegel
Written byJ. Campbell Bruce (book)
Richard Tuggle
Produced byDon Siegel
StarringClint Eastwood
Patrick McGoohan
Fred Ward
Edited byJoel Cox
Music byJerry Fielding
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
June 22, 1979
Running time
112 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8 million[1]
Box office$43,000,000

Escape from Alcatraz is a 1979 American thriller film, directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood.[2] It dramatizes possibly the only successful escape attempt from the maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island. The film co-stars Fred Ward, and also features Patrick McGoohan as the suspicious, vindictive warden, and features the film debut of Danny Glover.

Plot

Frank Morris is sent to the prison on Alcatraz. There, he meets his old friends, brothers John and Clarence Anglin, and also makes the acquaintance of the prisoner in the cell next to his, Charlie Butts. After a series of negative experiences involving the warden of Alcatraz, Morris decides to escape and persuades the other three men to join him. The inmates dig through the walls of their cells with spoons, make papier-mâché dummies to act as decoys, and construct a raft out of raincoats. On the night of their escape, Butts gets frightened and does not go with the others. Morris and the Anglin brothers make it out of the prison and paddle their raft towards Angel Island, never to be seen again. Still, there is some hint at the end of the film that they made it to shore.

Cast

Ward made his first starring role in a motion picture. Siegel makes a cameo appearance as the prison doctor. Danny Glover makes his film debut in a brief appearance as an inmate.

Production

Screenplay

Screenwriter Richard Tuggle spent six months researching and writing a screenplay based on the 1963 non-fiction account by J. Campbell Bruce.[3] He went to the Writers Guild and received a list of literary agents who would accept unsolicited manuscripts. He submitted a copy to each, and also to anybody else in the business that he could cajole into reading it. Everyone rejected it, saying it had poor dialogue and characters, lacked a love interest, and that the public was not interested in prison stories. Tuggle decided to bypass producers and executives and deal directly with filmmakers. He called the agent for director Don Siegel and lied, saying he had met Siegel at a party and the director had expressed interest in reading his script. The agent forwarded the script to Siegel, who read it, liked it, and passed it on to Clint Eastwood.[4]

Eastwood was drawn to the role as ringleader Frank Morris and agreed to star, providing Siegel direct under the Malpaso banner. However, Siegel insisted that it be a Don Siegel film and out-maneuvered Clint by purchasing the rights to the film for $100,000.[1] This created a rift between the two friends. Although Siegel eventually agreed for it to be a Malpaso-Siegel production, Siegel went to Paramount Pictures, a rival studio,[3] and never directed an Eastwood picture again.

Background and filming

Alcatraz was closed shortly after the true events on which the film was based. It is not known whether the three escapees survived, as their bodies have never been found.

Although Alcatraz had its own power plant, it was no longer functional, and 15 miles of cable were required to connect the island to San Francisco's electricity. As Siegel and Tuggle worked on the script, the producers paid $500,000 to restore the decaying prison and recreate the cold atmosphere;[1] some interiors had to be recreated in the studio. Many of the improvements were kept intact after the film was made.

The dangerous escape down the prison wall and into the water was performed without stunt doubles by Eastwood, Fred Ward, and Jack Thibeau (who had both been cast partly for their athleticism). Director Siegel twice thought they had been lost to the treacherous currents.

Reception

Escape from Alcatraz was well received by critics and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1979.[5][6][7] Frank Rich of Time described the film as "cool, cinematic grace", while Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic called it "crystalline cinema".[8] It currently holds a 94% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.[9] The film grossed $5,306,354 in the U.S. during its opening weekend from June 24, 1979, shown on 815 screens. In total, the film earned $43,000,000 in U.S. theaters.[10] American Film Institute nominated the film under AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills category.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Hughes, p.175
  2. ^ Variety film review; June 20, 1979, page 18.
  3. ^ a b McGilligan, Patrick (1999). Clint: The Life and Legend. London: Harper Collins. p. 304. ISBN 0006383548.
  4. ^ Litwak, Mark (1986). Reel Power: The Struggle For Influence and Success in the New Hollywood. New York: William Morrow & Company. pp. 131–132. ISBN 0-688-04889-7.
  5. ^ "Best Films of 1979". listal.com. Retrieved June 11, 2010.
  6. ^ "Most Popular Feature Films Released in 1979". IMDb.com. Retrieved June 11, 2010.
  7. ^ "The Best Movies of 1979 by Rank". Films101.com. Retrieved June 11, 2010.
  8. ^ McGilligan, Patrick (1999). Clint: The Life and Legend. London: Harper Collins. p. 307. ISBN 0006383548.
  9. ^ "Escape from Alcatraz Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 11, 2010.
  10. ^ "Box Office Information for Escape from Alcatraz". BoxOfficeMojo.com. Retrieved June 11, 2010.

Bibliography

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