Book to Film -ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (1979)

As soon as career criminal Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood) arrives at the infamous Alcatraz Pr*son in 1960, he starts plotting the impossible: escape. Based on a real-life case that remains unsolved, Eastwood’s fifth and final collaboration with director Don Siegel adopts a tense, realistic view of maximum-security Pr*son life, bolstered by the decision to shoot (mostly) on location at the then-recently decommissioned Alcatraz facility.

Adapted by screenwriter Richard Tuggle from the 1963 book of the same name by reporter J. Campbell Bruce, Tuggle’s script was rejected by multiple studios before eventually landing in the hands of Siegel’s agent. Siegel liked what he read and passed it on to Eastwood, who agreed to play Morris only if Siegel directed, a move that ultimately ended their working relationship. The cast includes a young Fred Ward and Jack Thibeau as Morris’s co-conspirators, with The Prisoner’s Patrick McGoohan playing the sadistic Warden, one of the few characters created for the film. Escape from Alcatraz was praised for its stripped-back realism and has gone on to influence decades of Pr*son break films and series, from The Shawshank Redemption to Escape at Dannemora.

Doors/Bar 1.00pm Film 2.00pm.

Host or Publisher The Backlot Perth