#221: Escape from Alcatraz

Release Date: June 22nd, 1979

Format: Streaming (123movies)

Written by: Richard Tuggle

Directed by: Don Siegel

4 Stars

Director Don Siegel was in his late 60s when he directed Escape from Alcatraz. With age comes wisdom, and the old guy was wise enough to stick to the script (a taut, tough one from writer Richard Tuggle) and trust in his star, Clint Eastwood.

Both decisions pay off. Tuggle’s script is as unsparing as Alcatraz itself. Erosion is the dominant motif: the prison is being eroded by merciless wind and salt water, while the men inside are being spiritually eroded. Their salvation will not come from self-reformation; Alcatraz doesn’t care about that. Their salvation will come from escape, and their escape must be earned. Siegel’s camera is there to show the chiseling, the climbing, the building, and the final fateful plunge into the frigid Pacific.

And when I say that Siegel’s camera is there to capture the coldness of Tuggle’s script, I mean it’s really there. The film was shot on location, which if you’ve ever been to Alcatraz Island, seems impossible. The island has no fresh water sources, and by the late ‘70s its generators were too irreparable to supply any meaningful power to the production. The studio had to run miles of power lines across the seabed to power the cameras and lighting equipment. I’m sure it was an expensive and difficult decision, but a necessary one. Alcatraz should get co-billing with Clint Eastwood, its presence looms so large.

Speaking of Eastwood, he’s perfectly cast here. He was Hollywood’s biggest star in 1979 - unless you were in the American south, then it would be Burt - but Burt wouldn’t work as well here. Too much bravado. Clint is colder. He seems chiseled out of the island itself. His face and body are angular, his eyes like thin shards placed behind hard cheek bones. When his character, Frank Morris, arrives at the island, he’s marched to his cell naked in front of all the prisoners. 

He looks lean and tough, but he’s exposed, like Alcatraz. Both are being slowly eroded by time, and there’s plenty of time in prison. 

Postscript: I can’t supply much of an auteurist lens to Escape from Alcatraz, as I’ve only seen two of Don Siegel’s films, this and Dirty Harry. I am aware, though, that Clint dedicated his Best Picture-winning Unforgiven to two men: Sergio and Don.