Birdman Of Alcatraz Details

1962

Rated:
70
from 1008 members

Starring	Karl Malden, Burt Lancaster, Thelma Ritter, Neville Brand
Director	John Frankenheimer
Genres	Drama

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Birdman Of Alcatraz

Burt Lancaster reteams with John Frankenheimer, starring as the title character, Robert E. Stroud. Sentenced to a dozen years in prison for killing a man in 1909, he loses any chance for parole by stabbing another prisoner. Incarcerated in Leavenworth, he adds to his problems by killing a prison guard for refusing to let his mother (Thelma Ritter) visit him and is sentenced to death. His mother begs Mrs. Woodrow Wilson to intercede, and the president commutes Stroud's sentence to life in isolation, under the gaze of the harsh warden Harvey Shoemaker (Karl Malden). One day in the isolation yard he comes across a wounded sparrow, nurses it back to health, and eventually teaches it to perform tricks. With the departure of Shoemaker, Stroud is allowed to have more birds in his cell and begins a study of them. As the years pass, he becomes an expert on caged birds, finally writing a book on the diseases to which they are susceptible. After he wins a prize in a magazine competition, he receives a visit from Stella Johnson (Betty Field), who suggests they start a business manufacturing avian medicine. Backed by an outstanding cast, Lancaster gives one of his finest performances in this moving account of a vicious killer's spiritual rebirth.

Starring	Karl Malden, Burt Lancaster, Thelma Ritter, Neville Brand, Edmund O'Brien, Betty Field, Telly Savalas, Hugh Marlowe, James Westerfield
Director	John Frankenheimer
Studio	MGM ENTERTAINMENT
Run time	DVD: 2 hrs 22 mins
Certificate
Genres	Drama
Language	DVD: English
Released	DVD: 15 Apr 2002 Production year: 1962
Format	DVD

Critics' reviews (3) of Birdman Of Alcatraz
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Real-life killer Robert Stroud was apparently quite unlike the tough, taciturn inmate portrayed by Burt Lancaster here in director John Frankenheimer's thought-provoking study of one man's attempt to survive an unforgiving prison system. Stroud used his years in solitary confinement to become a world authority on ornithology, despite the cruel injustices meted out by the prison warden (convincingly played by Karl Malden). Lancaster was Oscar-nominated for his performance, which is ranked by many to be one of the finest of his career. He is well supported by fellow nominees Telly Savalas and Thelma Ritter, and by Streets of San Francisco star Malden. Burnett Guffrey's masterly black-and-white photography perfectly captures the claustrophobia of life in jail.
- Radio Times
- Posted 29 Jan 2006
Overlong and rather weary biopic of Robert Stroud, who spent nearly sixty years in prison and became a cause célèbre. One cannot deny many effective moments, notably of direction, but it's a long haul.
- Halliwell's Film Guide
- Posted 02 Mar 2006
Most helpful member's review of Birdman Of Alcatraz
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

one faultless film

a fantastic piece of acting if ever there was one - and a story touching beyond words. if you want a classic piece of b&w cinema then you can't do much better than this.
- - A customer from London
  - Posted 27 Jul 2004 19:58
Most recent members' review of Birdman Of Alcatraz
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

Thoughtful cinema.

Interesting, thought-provoking film. No action-packed thriller this, but a steady, thoughtful film about a troubled man's inner world. Lancaster is brilliant, and in fact the acting generally is first class. And the film has a lovely luminous, grainy b&w texture. And a perceptive, careful, patient script takes you smoothly into the Birdman's world. It's a message movie, for sure, about treatment of prisoners, but it works at not being self-indulgent, and I think to an extent it's successful in this respect and does well to present a reasonably balanced representation of the arguments, but I'm not convinced of what I think is the central argument of the film. I don't know anything about the real life circumstances that I understand this film is based on, and I emphasise I am not discussing the reality, but only the film as it stands as a piece of cinema. Ultimately, the film seemed to be arguing the central character's argument, a demand for dignity, but Lancaster's character in the film was never ill-treated and his demands seemed to amount largely to his being allowed to live a normal life in spite of being in prison, but prison is supposed to be punishment. The root definiton of 'rehabilitation' might well be a restoration to dignity (I think it was put something like that in the film) but I found the character's demand for dignity self-absorbed and hollow in view of his callousness. He was not in prison to learn how to be a better person, he was in prison to be punished for murder (and I would say the murder we saw the character commit in the story showed him to be a very dangerous man). Yes, over time he came to appreciate the gift of life, all well and good, but I don't recall him also making a speech about the root definition of 'justice'. Certainly prisoners must not be mistreated, and must be accorded basic human dignity, absolutely no argument there, and I'm sure it's no easy life, but the thing is that this character's demands in this particular film actually seemed to be about his being able to do whatever he wanted, which is another matter entirely. So, I wasn't persuaded, but it's an interesting film which goes to some effort to present a reasonably balanced picture. Definitely worth watching. And the quality of the script and acting etc are very enjoyable. I'd watch it again sometime.
- - A customer from Devon, England
  - Posted 20 Jan 2006 01:35
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