Birdman of Alcatraz
by Charles Crichton, John Frankenheimer
List Price:
Our Price: $6.93
You Save: $8.05 (54%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.49 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Betty Field, Burt Lancaster, Karl Malden, Neville Brand, Thelma RitterDirector: Charles Crichton, John Frankenheimer
Brand: Sony
Cinematographer: Burnett Guffey
Producer: Guy Trosper
Writer: Guy Trosper
Producer: Harold Hecht
Producer: Stuart Millar
Writer: Thomas E. Gaddis
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 147 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-03-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Birdman of Alcatraz
Movie Review: A Critique of Penal System, Great Human Drama
Summary: 5 Stars
Burt Lancaster won an Academy Award nomination and could easily have corralled another Oscar statuette to go with the one he secured two years earlier for his excellent effort in "Elmer Gantry" as he portrayed convicted killer Robert Stroud in "Birdman of Alcatraz." This was also a peak period for the film's director, John Frankenheimer, since in a five-year period beginning with this triumph he also scored big with "Seven Days in May," which also starred Lancaster, along with "The Manchurian Candidate" and "Seconds."
Stroud is depicted as a mamma's boy gone wrong who will not allow any fellow Leavenworth Penitentiary fellow inmates to look at his mother's picture or mention her name. He is sent to Leavenworth for killing a man in Alaska after the victim had beaten up a prostitute friend of Stroud's. The convict is then sent a hair's breath from the hangman's rope after he kills a prison guard in a rage. The explosion occurs after he has been told he would not be allowed to see his mother, who has journeyed from Alaska to Kansas to visit him.
Thelma Ritter, in a performance for which she received a Best Supporting Actress Academy nomination, battles zealously for her convict son throughout, and when he is sentenced to death she journeys to Washington, D.C. and obtains an appointment with First Lady Edith Wilson. President Wilson commutes Lancaster's sentence to life shortly before the execution is scheduled to occur. The result, however, is that the prisoner will spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement as a result of his hair trigger temper and homicidal propensities.
Lancaster verbally spars for the entire picture with his nemesis, prison warden Karl Malden, although they do achieve something of an understanding by film's end. Lancaster ultimately develops a world of his own in taking care of birds. A man of high intellect, he becomes one of the world's leading experts on bird diseases, and eventually is able to supply Malden with advice on his arthritic right arm.
The character arc revealed in the film is Lancaster losing his formidable shoulder chips and intense rage when he develops a fondness for birds that germinates into a full-fledged profession behind bars. He even launches a business with pet shop owner Betty Field, who marries him as well. Lancaster also develops an association with fellow solitary confinement prisoner Telly Savalas, who earned an Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category.
Ultimately Lancaster is transferred from Leavenworth to Alcatraz, the island-based high security federal prison near San Francisco. He is reunited with Malden, who is now warden there. While crushed that his move west compels him to give up his birds, Lancaster continues to read and supply advice concerning birds and humans. At one point he serves as peacemaker during the notorious Alcatraz prison riot. He also gets a chance to meet the man who has written a bestselling book on his life, played by Edmond O'Brien, who also serves as the film's narrator.
It is during his Alcatraz period that Lancaster becomes involved in preaching prison reform. When Malden sees the manuscript that Lancaster is writing critiquing the prison system he becomes initially insulted and enraged, then, after reflection, begins to see the validity of points being raised. Malden, tired after years as a warden in the prison system, dies shortly thereafter.
In addition to the earlier mentioned Oscar nominations for "Birdman of Alcatraz," Frankenheimer was also honored in the directing category, as was Burnett Guffey in the Cinematography grouping. Lancaster secured a major international honor by being named Best Foreign Actor for 1962 by the British Film Academy for "Birdman of Alcatraz."
While controversy continues to abide over whether Robert Stroud was realistically depicted in the film and mellowed to the degree demonstrated on screen, it is undeniable that "Birdman of Alcatraz" made excellent points in the dramatic category as well as in the ongoing discussion of how to deal with prisoners in the ongoing pursuit of helping them adapt to life both inside and outside institution walls.
Guy Troper wrote the script and Elmer Bernstein provided the musical score. The film's chief producer was Lancaster partner Harold Hecht.
Summary of Birdman of Alcatraz
How does bitter convict Robert Stroud cope with a lifetime of solitary confinement? The answer, in a sense, comes from abovein the form of a feeble sparrow he finds in the isolation yard. Stroud brings this newfound companion to his cell, nurses it to health and, from that point on, there's no turning back. Despite having only a third-grade education, and no hope of parole, Stroud becomes a renowned ornithologistand achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind prison walls than many in the outside world will ever know. The "finest prison picture ever made" (Variety), this inspirational and compelling classic stars Burt Lancaster in an OscarĀ(r)-nominated* performance as Stroudthe convict who, in his power to heal birds, finds the power to heal himself. *1962: ActorSimilar DVD Movies
Double Indemnity (Universal Legacy Series)NBC Universal; Release date: 2006-08-22; DVD
Best price: $15.58
Price in other shops:
Dead Man WalkingSARANDON,SUSAN; Release date: 2000-01-01; Published: 2000-01-01; DVD
Best price: $6.90
Price in other shops:
Jim Thorpe: All AmericanWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-10-23; DVD
Best price: $11.81
Price in other shops:
TCM Greatest Classic Legends Film Collection: Burt Lancaster (Local Hero / The Flame and the Arrow / Executive Action / Seven Days in May)WHV; Release date: 2011-07-12; DVD
Best price: $16.06
Price in other shops:
Real Story: Escape From AlcatrazInfinity; Release date: 2010-06-15; DVD
Best price: $7.63
Price in other shops:
The TrainTwentieth Century Fox; Release date: 1999-02-23; DVD
Best price: $7.96
Price in other shops:
Elmer GantrySony; Release date: 2001-03-06; DVD
Best price: $6.07
Price in other shops:
Death Wish / Escape From Alcatraz / Uncommon Valor (Triple Feature)Paramount; Release date: 2007-08-07; DVD
Best price: $33.88
The RockBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 1997-12-03; DVD
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops:
Escape From AlcatrazEASTWOOD,CLINT; Release date: 1999-03-09; DVD
Best price: $40.99