Birdman of Alcatraz is a
1962 filmThe year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....
starring
Burt LancasterBurton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
and directed by
John FrankenheimerJohn Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films...
. It is a fictionalized version of the life of Robert Stroud, a federal prison inmate known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz" because of his life with birds. In spite of the title, much of the action is set at
Leavenworth prisonThe United States Penitentiary , Leavenworth was the largest maximum security federal prison in the United States from 1903 until 2005. It became a medium security prison in 2005.It is located in Leavenworth, Kansas...
where Stroud was jailed with his birds. When moved to Alcatraz he was not allowed to keep any pets. (See
"Jail Birds: The Story of Robert Stroud" by Rachel Bell.)
The film was adapted by
Guy TrosperGuy Trosper was an American screenwriter. He came to prominence in Hollywood because of his scripts for two baseball movies: The Stratton Story in 1949, a big hit for James Stewart, and The Pride of St...
from the 1955 book by
Thomas E. GaddisThomas E. Gaddis was a United States author, most noted for his book about Robert Stroud, who was known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz". Gaddis was born in Denver, Colorado. He wrote many non-fiction books, mostly biographies...
. It was nominated for
Academy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for
Best Actor in a Leading RolePerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(
Burt LancasterBurton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
),
Best Actor in a Supporting RolePerformance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(
Telly SavalasAristotelis "Telly" Savalas was an American film and television actor and singer, whose career spanned four decades. Best known for playing the title role in the 1970s crime drama Kojak, Savalas was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz...
),
Best Actress in a Supporting RolePerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(
Thelma RitterThelma Ritter was an American supporting and character actress from the 1940s until her death in 1969.-Early life:...
) and
Best Cinematography, Black-and-WhiteThe Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
. Stroud was never allowed to see the film.
Plot
Robert Stroud (Lancaster) is imprisoned as a young man for committing a murder in
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. He is shown as a rebellious inmate, fighting against a rigid prison system: on his way to jail by train he breaks open the window to allow the suffocating inmates to breathe. His rebellious attitude puts him in conflict with Harvey Shoemaker (Malden), the warden of
Leavenworth PrisonThe United States Penitentiary , Leavenworth was the largest maximum security federal prison in the United States from 1903 until 2005. It became a medium security prison in 2005.It is located in Leavenworth, Kansas...
.
While in jail, Stroud learns that his mother (Ritter) tried to visit him but was denied and told to return later in the week. Outraged, he attacks a guard over the issue and the man is killed. Stroud is sentenced to death, but his mother runs a successful campaign and it is commuted to life in prison. The terms of the sentence require that he be kept in
solitary confinementSolitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
for the rest of his life.
To break the monotony, Stroud adopts a
sparrowThe sparrows are a family of small passerine birds, Passeridae. They are also known as true sparrows, or Old World sparrows, names also used for a genus of the family, Passer...
as a pet. This starts a trend and he and the other convicts acquire birds, such as
canariesCanaries may refer to:* Canary Islands, an archipelago in the Atlantic belonging to Spain* Canaries Quarter, a village on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia* "The Canaries", the nickname of two English football teams: Norwich City F.C. and Hitchin Town F.C....
, as gifts from the outside. Before long, Stroud has built up a collection of birds and cages. When they fall ill, he makes experiments and comes up with a cure. As the years pass, Stroud becomes an expert on bird diseases and even publishes a book on the subject. His writings are so impressive that a doctor describes him as a "genius".
Stroud later meets bird-lover Stella Johnson (Field) and agrees to go into business, marketing his bird remedies. He and Stella later marry, but his mother disapproves and this causes a rift between mother and son. He is abruptly transferred to the federal
penitentiaryA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
at Alcatraz (the "Rock"), a new maximum security institution where he is not permitted to keep birds. He is now growing elderly but still shows a rebellious side, writing a history of the U.S. penal system that is suppressed by Shoemaker, now warden of the Rock.
Still at odds with authority, Stroud nevertheless manages to help stop a
prison rebellion in 1946The Battle of Alcatraz, which lasted from May 2–4, 1946, was the result of an unsuccessful escape attempt at Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary. Two guards—William A. Miller and Harold Stites—were killed along with three of the inmates. Eleven guards and one convict were also injured...
by throwing out the guns acquired by the convicts. He then assures the authorities that they can now re-enter the premises without fear of being shot. Although Stroud has been a thorn in his side for decades, Shoemaker acknowledges that he has never lied to him and takes him at his word.
Although constantly denied
paroleParole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
, Stroud is eventually transferred to another prison in
MissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
after a petition campaign. During the move, he meets several reporters and displays a range of knowledge on more than just birds, such as the technical details of a passing jet aircraft. He even gets to meet
Thomas E. GaddisThomas E. Gaddis was a United States author, most noted for his book about Robert Stroud, who was known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz". Gaddis was born in Denver, Colorado. He wrote many non-fiction books, mostly biographies...
(
Edmond O'BrienEdmond O'Brien was an American actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A. and his Oscar winning role in The Barefoot Contessa...
) the author of the book based on his life.
Cast
- Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
as Robert Franklin Stroud
- Karl Malden
Karl Malden was an American actor. In a career that spanned more than seven decades, he performed in such classic films as A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks...
as Harvey Shoemaker
- Thelma Ritter
Thelma Ritter was an American supporting and character actress from the 1940s until her death in 1969.-Early life:...
as Elizabeth Stroud
- Betty Field
Betty Field was an American film and stage actress. Through her father, she was a direct descendant of the Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullins....
as Stella Johnson
- Telly Savalas
Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas was an American film and television actor and singer, whose career spanned four decades. Best known for playing the title role in the 1970s crime drama Kojak, Savalas was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz...
as Feto Gomez
- Neville Brand
Neville Brand was an American television and movie actor.-Early life:Neville Brand was born in Illinois. He was born to Leo and Helen Brand as one of seven children. Leo, was an electrician and bridge building steel worker in Detroit, where Neville was raised...
as Bull Ransom
- Edmond O'Brien
Edmond O'Brien was an American actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A. and his Oscar winning role in The Barefoot Contessa...
as Thomas E. 'Tom' GaddisThomas E. Gaddis was a United States author, most noted for his book about Robert Stroud, who was known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz". Gaddis was born in Denver, Colorado. He wrote many non-fiction books, mostly biographies...
- Whit Bissell
Whitner Nutting Bissell , better known as Whit Bissell, was an American actor.-Early life:Born in New York City, Bissell was the son of prominent surgeon Dr. J. Dougal Bissell. He trained with the Carolina Playmakers, a theatrical organization associated with the University of North Carolina at...
as Dr. Ellis
Reception
According to those who knew him while he was in prison, the mild-mannered characterization of Stroud, as presented in Gaddis' book and the subsequent film, was largely fiction. Former inmate Glenn Williams went so far as to say that Stroud "was not a sweetheart; he was a vicious killer. I think Burt Lancaster owes us all an apology." He and another former convict, Jim Quillan, described the real Stroud as a "jerk", "a guy that liked chaos and turmoil and upheaval... Always at somebody else's expense." They regarded the film as a "comedy... an excellent comedy. The film was placed at #76 on The AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers."
External links