Movies about Alcatraz
Alcatraz has been the subject and the site of many a Hollywood film, some portraying The Rock in relatively accurate ways and some complete fiction. Here are the top five — with a few myths debunked.
1. “Escape from Alcatraz” (1979): Starring Clint Eastwood, the movie dramatizes the real-life 1962 escape of inmates Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin. The numbers you see today above the cell doors were added for the movie.
2. ” Birdman of Alcatraz” (1962): Burt Lancaster plays real-life inmate Robert Stroud as a convicted murderer turned ornithologist, although Stroud never had birds at Alcatraz — he kept canaries when he was at Leavenworth.
3. “The Rock” (1996): Though set on, well, The Rock, very little of the movie was actually filmed on Alcatraz. “If you see that movie, it doesn’t look anything like this,” says Kelcie Taylor, historic interpreter for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, which leads the evening tours. Starring Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery, the movie tells a fictional tale of rogue commandos taking over the famous prison.
4. “Point Blank” (1967): This was the first film shot at Alcatraz after the prison was closed. Lee Marvin and John Vernon star in this stylish thriller involving marital affairs and a vengeful rampage.
5. “Skidoo” (1968): Yes, even Groucho Marx showed up on Alcatraz for this comic Otto Preminger romp, along with Jackie Gleason and Carol Channing. It has something to do with a retired gangster, a mob kingpin named God, a hit on a fellow mobster and hippies dropping acid. Who knew?
— Angela Hill, Staff
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