Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

★ 7.5 1h 53m 3,114 votes IMDb
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San Francisco Bay, January 18, 1960. Frank Lee Morris is transferred to Alcatraz, a maximum security prison located on a rocky island. Although no one has ever managed to escape from there, Frank and other inmates begin to carefully prepare an escape plan.

Escape from Alcatraz

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Cast

Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood as Frank Morris Age 95 · San Francisco, California, USA Clinton "Clint" Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American film actor, director, producer, composer, and former politician. Following his breakthrough role on the TV series "Rawhide" (1959–65), E...
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan as Warden Died 2009 · New York City, New York, USA Patrick Joseph McGoohan (March 19, 1928 – January 13, 2009) was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television ser...
Roberts Blossom
Roberts Blossom as Doc Died 2011 · New Haven, Connecticut, USA Roberts Scott Blossom (March 25, 1924 – July 8, 2011) was an American poet and character actor of theatre, film, and television. He was best known for his roles as Old Man Marley in Home Alone (1990).
Jack Thibeau
Jack Thibeau as Clarence Anglin Age 79 · Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, UK Jack Thibeau (born June 12, 1946) is an American film and television actor best known for playing the prisoner Clarence Anglin in the 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz. During his career, he frequently a...
Fred Ward
Fred Ward as John Anglin Died 2022 · San Diego, California, USA Freddie Joe Ward (December 30, 1942 – May 8, 2022) was an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He was best known for his starring roles in the...
Paul Benjamin
Paul Benjamin as English Died 2019 · Pelion, South Carolina, USA Paul Benjamin (February 4, 1935 – June 28, 2019) was an American actor. is an American actor. Benjamin was born in Pelion, South Carolina. He made his film debut in 1969 as a bartender in Midnight C...

Audience Reviews

r96sk 9/10 Jan 21, 2022
Gotta feel for this due to the later emergence of <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/the-shawshank-redemption/">The Shawshank Redemption</a>'</em> and even <em>'<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_Break">Prison Break</a>'</em>, but <em>'Escape From Alcatraz'</em> still merits its own props as a great film.

I love a good prison escape flick, shown by my love for those two aforementioned productions which do improve on the formula; TSR - one of my favourite films, fwiw - particularly must've took a lot of inspiration from this, I noted a fair few similarities.

With the cast, you have an excellent performance from Clint Eastwood. Patrick McGoohan fits his role nicely, while Paul Benjamin and Larry Hankin are the best of the rest. I would've liked more development for the characters of Fred Ward and Jack Thibeau, who felt a little tacked on. Elsewhere, Danny Glover makes his acting debut in a tiny, tiny role.

I found the pacing to be very good, sure the story I guess is obvious in terms of its direction but I still got tense and edgy whilst watching the escape take place. The ambience of the film is a positive too, with the exception of one moment early on where there's an overly on the nose lightning strike as one of the characters mentions Alcatraz - nothing major, it's a nit-pick and it's my only one so that's a big plus.

Interesting to note this was the final collaboration between Eastwood and director Don Siegel, take out <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/coogans-bluff/">Coogan's Bluff</a>'</em> and that was an extremely effective partnership - this 1979 release and <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/two-mules-for-sister-sara/">Two Mules for Sister Sara</a>'</em> being my favourites.
JPV852 8/10 Nov 08, 2022
Seen this one several times and still is a well done and straight forward, well shot, escape-thriller with fine performances all around. Nothing fancy and just enough character development to make you care. **4.0/5**
CinemaSerf 7/10 Jun 05, 2023
Clint Eastwood is at the top of his game in this thriller. He is bank robber Frank Morris, Incarcerated in one of America's most impregnable prisons, under the menacing gaze of warden Patrick McGoohan. He quickly concludes that he has little left to live for but escape. Together with twins Clarence and John Anglin (Fred Ward and Jack Thibeau) he puts together an intricate plan to escape their prison by using the utility tunnels to escape the complex then some makeshift inflatables to get across San Francisco bay. The facts of the story mean the ending is never in doubt - insofar as we actually know what the ending was/is! Now that rather detracts from any sense of jeopardy with the screenplay, but is one of the aspects that make Eastwood all the more compelling - his meticulous planning, ingenuity and sheer perspicacity is enthralling - ok, at times a little slow - to watch. He has to deal with the odd internal fracas, most notably from "Wolf" (Bruce Fisher) who would have some fun with him, if you get my drift... but none of that detracts him from his goal. Aside from this mission, Don Siegel offers us quite a detailed glimpse into life behind bars towards the end of this crumbling building's life; and we are exposed to the relentless tedium and despair of many which engenders some sympathy - however evil they may have been to be sent there in the first place. What Siegel doesn't really do, though, is use McGoohan to much effect. His usual less-is-more style of performance is certainly here, but all to infrequently to really build an sense of menace. Still, it's Eastwood's film and he is great...

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