Rating of
3.5/4
Clint Eastwood and The Rock in a masterpiece!
mdtinney - wrote on 09/17/09
Star Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel made some excellent films together in the '70s. Their final collaboration came in 1979 with Escape From Alcatraz, a very authentic-looking prison drama based on the true story of the only successful escape from the notorious island-prison off San Francisco. In reality, no-one can be sure that Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers DID actually get away.... there is a very real possibility that they drowned or suffered hypothermia while trying to swim to safety. But the bodies of Morris and his cronies were never recovered, so neither can anyone categorically state that they perished. As a result of this legendary escape, Alcatraz lost its reputation as an inescapable penitentiary and was closed down just over a year later. Convicted bank robber Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood) is moved to Alcatraz after repeatedly attempting to escape from his previous jail. Here he finds himself at the mercy of a ruthless and power-hungry warden (Patrick McGoohan) whose attitude toward the prisoners is one of utter contempt. Frank also finds his new fellow inmates to be alternately hostile or hopeless. While some inmates spend their time bullying and intimidating, others wallow in despair as endless months pass them by. Among the desperate ones, Frank meets "Doc" Dalton (Roberts Blossom), a convict with a talent for painting who chops off his own fingers when the warden refuses to let him paint. Also, Frank meets the Anglin brothers - Clarence (Jack Thibeau) and John (Fred Ward) - another pair with a reputation for attempting to escape from the jails they have been in. Frank and the Anglins put into action an audacious new escape plan. Using stolen spoons they dig their way to a ventilation shaft; using mirrors they watch the corridors outside their cells for approaching guards; using makeshift mortar they hide their digging work; and using papier-mache they make lifelike heads which they place on their pillows to make it look like they are sleeping peacefully. Escape From Alcatraz is a film of great tension and gritty authenticity. Although Morris and the Anglins are bad men doing time for their bad crimes, we are made to root for them because the warden - indeed the whole "system" - is shown to be so cruel and unforgiving. Eastwood is physically commanding in his taciturn role, while McGoohan gives a chilling performance as the warden, and Blossom elicits great sympathy as the prisoner who harbours no desire to cause trouble but is devastated when banned from doing his beloved paintings. The whole prison atmosphere - with its tedium, fear, isolation and desperation - is evoked very realistically. The escape itself is shown in a sequence of 30 minutes or so at the end of the film. It is a mark of how well made Escape From Alcatraz is that this final 30 minute stretch takes place in near-darkness and is almost wordless, yet remains completely gripping.
