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Cast
Clint Eastwood as Frank Lee Morris
Jack Thibeau as Clarence Anglin
Fred Ward as John Anglin
Patrick McGoohan as the Warden
Larry Hankin as Charlie Butts
Paul Benjamin as English
Frank Ronzio as Litmus
Roberts Blossom as Chester "Doc" Dalton
Bruce M. Fischer as Wolf Grace
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.
[edit] Production
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 they have never turned up.
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.
[edit] 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.
10/10
