Birdman of Alcatraz

– After killing a prison guard, convict Robert Stroud faces life imprisonment in solitary confinement...

Type:
Movie
Rating:
7.80 / 10
Duration:
2 Hours and 27 Minutes
Release Year:
1962
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)

After killing a prison guard, convict Robert Stroud faces life imprisonment in solitary confinement. Driven nearly mad by loneliness and despair, Stroud's life gains new meaning when he happens upon a helpless baby sparrow in the exercise yard and nurses it back to health. Despite having only a third grade education, Stroud goes on to become a renowned ornithologist and achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind bars than most people find in the outside world.

Story Timeline:
Producing Country:
USA
Filming Locations:
Genre:

Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) - Trailer

Release Date:

15 Sep 1962

Language:

English

MPAA Content-Rating:
Not Rated

Director:

John Frankenheimer, Charles Crichton

Writer:

Guy Trosper (screenplay), Thomas E. Gaddis (book)

Main Actors:

Burt Lancaster, Karl Malden, Thelma Ritter, Neville Brand

Plot:

In 1912, the notorious and violent prisoner Robert Franklin Stroud is transferred to the Leavenworth Prison convicted for murdering a man. When a guard cancels the visit of his mother, Elizabeth Stroud, due to a violation of the internal rules, he stabs and kills the guard and goes to trial three times. He is sentenced to be executed by the gallows, but his mother appeals to President Woodrow Wilson who commutes his sentence to life imprisonment. However, the warden, Harvey Shoemaker, decides to keep Stroud in solitary for the rest of his life. One day, Stroud finds a sparrow that has fallen from the nest in the yard and he raises the bird until it is strong enough to fly. Stroud finds a motivation for his life raising and caring for birds and becomes an expert in birds. He marries Stella Johnson and together they run a business, providing medicine developed by Stroud. But a few years after, Stroud is transferred to Alcatraz and has to leave his birds behind.

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 8 nominations.

Production:

MGM Home Entertainment

Ratings:
Internet Movie Database:
7.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes:
85%
Metacritic:
76%