Everything and everyone had to be brought in and out by boat. Obviously the place needed a major overhaul if people could chip away the concrete like it was limestone.
Right, Alcatraz was very expensive to operate and very expensive to maintain. It’s still expensive to maintain just at a level where the National Park Service can allow visits and tours. The nearest equivalent to Alcatraz in the U.S. now is ADX Florence in Colorado. The “Alcatraz of the Rockies” is where the most dangerous prisoners and those who repeatedly committed crimes while in other prisons end up. It’s much cheaper to operate and maintain than Alcatraz was, and its design and operation are very different from Alcatraz. In many respects it is more severe and dehumanizing than Alcatraz ever was. There is a good deal of controversy over whether a place like ADX Florence should exist. I won’t try to answer that question here, but I do think that every American should at least know what the conditions are like for prisoners in our most severe prison.
I first knew him from a summer replacement series in the late 60s, called The Prisoner. Very British, very unusual and very quotable! “I am a FREE man!” “You are number 6. I am number 2.”
"I will not make any deals with you. I've resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered ! My life is my own."
Also, I believe the actor playing Charlie Butts is also in Home Alone as one of the cops that Kevin's mother keeps getting transferred back to on the phone.
The warden, Patrick McGoohan, is ironically best known as the titular character in "The Prisoner" a show entirely about escaping an inescapable prison.
@@chrissuperstargaming my brother was a Lance Corporal in the Marine Corps stationed aboard Camp Pendleton back in 1985. He was a trumpet player in the Marine Corps. band. In fact, you can see a great profile of him. At the end, he's in the marching band that welcomes Highway and the guys home. He's the trumpet player with the giant Marine Corps class ring on. Many think it was shot on Camp Lejuene, NC. The movie was shot at Camp Pendleton on the west coast.
@@chrissuperstargaming He did 15 years in Marines, left the Corps. to sell cars. He got bored, but was too old to go back to the Corps. So he went into the Air Force at same rank and pay. He retired from the Air Force as an Intelligence Officer. Now he works for Northrop. But he still has serious pride about being in Heartbreak Ridge. He had great stories hanging around Clint Eastwood that day on the set.
Don Siegel really is a director that should be talked about more, he did some great movies like this one, Dirty Harry, The Beguiled, Charley Varrick and John Waynes last movie The Shootist.
What's amazing is the true story is many more guys than even these shown in the movie helped them during the planning of this escape. One ex inmate there said planning an escape even if it's not for themselves was not only a duty, it was a feeling of accomplishment and something to do and a way to stick it to the guards and prison. They all wanted it to happen.
@6:10 Mythbusters did an episode testing the viability of the escape plan that was used in this movie. Every part of the plan that could be tested, was. It was declared “plausible”.
Except Morris said they are going for Angel Island, but mythbusters came to conclusion that Morris had the IQ and time to study the currents of the bay and only viable option was to head towards Marine Headlands (towards the base of the Golden gate bridge). Morris probably said it on purpose so that if anyone left in the prison was interrogated, they would search from the wrong place, which was a success.
Growing up, escape from alcatraz used to be shown on tv every year in the UK. Someone at our various terrestrial tv stations obviously loved the movie and just like you could guarantee that die hard and home alone would be shown at some point during the year (typically Christmas), you could guarantee that escape from alcatraz would be shown at some point too. An instant classic with a typically stoic Clint Eastwood performance. Great movie 👍
Danny Glover appears in his film acting debut, as one of the prison inmates. He is the inmate that Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood) first encounters when delivering books.
Escape from Alcatraz was the final collaboration between Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel, who had previously worked together on Coogan's Bluff, Two Mules for Sister Sara, The Beguiled, and their most famous collaboration, the first Dirty Harry movie. Siegel first gained notoriety for having directed the sci-fi horror classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers in 1956, while Eastwood's first screen appearances were the 1955 horror films Tarantula! and Revenge of the Creature, the sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon.
English was played by Paul Benjamin, who was in "Midnight Cowboy", "Across 110th Street", "The Anderson Tapes" and "Do The Right Thing". Larry Hankin, who played Charlie Butts, was also in Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
@@chongsfury4358 I always check. Even though I haven't found one in many years, I did once find a French 50 centimes from the 1910s. Same size and metal composition as a US dime.
I always loved this movie, and later a relative of mine who is in the film business pointed out that the entire prison escape is covered in like 10 shots. It is what they call a "tight" movie. So simple yet suspenseful.
Another great classic Eastwood and great reaction. (Where Eagles Dare, The Eiger Sanction, Firefox, Tightrope, In The Line of Fire and Absolute Power).
I realized for the first time watching this reaction that at least two actors in this movie are also in _Home Alone._ And I've really liked both movies for years.
By the way, for those here interested *VERDY channel* has also done a reaction to this film after being contacted by the coauthor of the book, Mike Lynch.
In the Line of Fire, The Mule, Blood Work, Absolute Power. I also enjoyed: Trouble with the Curve. Million Dollar Baby was a big hit. oh and... Where Eagles Dare. :)
Runaway Train was a *great* movie with an impressive pedigree, and some amazing performances (Jon Voight won the Golden Globe that year). I hope it gets rediscovered.
I love this film! It's addictive. Ice watched it many times over the years and I never tire of it! Great reactions! You've got to react to Million Dollar Baby soon,also Thunderbolt & Lightfoot and The Eiger Sanction! All great films!
Butts accidentally glued the fake grate to the wall and couldn't remove it without breaking it off, the guard would have noticed it broken and blown the escape so he waited till it was too late to join the others.
Check out Clint Eastwood in The Beguiled (1971). Play Misty for Me (1972), Fire fox (1982) and Heartbreak Ridge (1986). Play Misty was the first movie Clint directed and starred in.
Clint Eastwood : Pale Rider - Firefox - High Plains Drifter - Every Which Way But Loose - Tightrope - Spacecowboys - Hang Em High - Thunderbolt And Lightfoot . Just a few of many more 👍
The real sleeper of a Clint Eastwood film i've watched many time is Bridges of Madison County, also starring Myrle Streep. Myrle Streep is great in this movie, and he Italian accent adds to the story. I love this movie
ya know, that movie being a chick flick, and me being a sci-fi & horror fiend, not really my cup of tea.. but that said, it really is an excellent movie, Meryl Streep is pretty amazing 👍
Alcatraz Island was closed because a 1959 report indicated that the facility was over three times more expensive to run than the average American prison. The problem was made worse by the buildings' structural deterioration from exposure to salt spray, which would require $5 million to fix. Major repairs began in 1958, but by 1961 engineers considered the prison a lost cause. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy submitted plans for a new maximum-security institution at Marion, Illinois. Frank Morris' June 1962 escape from Alcatraz led to investigations which, combined with the major structural problems and expensive operation, led to its closure on March 21, 1963.
Took that tour also. Walked us through the cell blocs, with headphones that carried background audio of authentic prison sounds. Definitely an eerie vibe.
The old man painter was a great character actor. He was in Close encounters of the Third Kind (1977) And in Christine a horror movie based off the book by Stephen King. Directed and music by John HALLOWEEN / The Fog/ The Thing Carpenter. He almost always had a mustache and long greasy dirty hair. Like a creepy homeless man or old hippie bum type.
Ah the movie that introduced me to Clint Eastwood. I have a deep appreciation for Clint Eastwood. Everytime my buddy comes to my house he tells me I should take down my framed Clint Eastwood picture. I tell him hey Thats the man right there he stays where he is
I think you're the first reaction channel (that I regularly watch) to get to this movie. I think I was 1 of those many recommendations that you mentioned you received. I recommended it along with "Pale Rider" & "Outlaw Josey Wales" as 3 of the best Clint Eastwood movies. I saw this in the theatre when I was 10 years old and instantly became an Eastwood fan. Another great Eastwood film if you haven't seen it is "In the Line of Fire". John Malkovich is awesome in it. Thanks for watching this!
I saw this in 79 at a drive-in theater. I loved this movie. I think it's Eastwood's best movie. Hard to believe they escaped Alcatraz with all the noise and smells they made. And yes, Mythbusters dedicated an episode to this escape and the MADE IT to shore. Great reaction.
It was super glued to the wall. Butts kept complaining that his decoy wall kept falling out. So, he super glued it to the wall, then he couldn't get it open. Eventually, he kicked through it, but too late.
There’s a movie, “Murder in the First” starring Christian Slater and Kevin Bacon about the abuse Kevin Bacon’s character received at Alcatraz. According to that movie, the abuse was a big, if not only reason they closed Alcatraz. Not sure how true the story is.
This was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid (I'm old). I have been to Alcatraz Island a couple of times. Once as a tourist in the 80s and then again in the 90s I raced in the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon. The swim (1.5 miles I think) starts at Alcatraz Island and goes to shore (you actually start from a ferry next to the island and not on the island itself). So the swim can be done. I've done longer swims, but this was probably the toughest I ever did. Wind was blowing that day and there were whitecaps. Very choppy. And the water was a chilly 52F. I can't imagine going in that water without a wetsuit like I had. It was freezing. 🥶
16:57, the reason why is because he's worried that Doc's paintings represented having power within the prison island and the Warden was worried that Doc might not be inferior after all, as the Warden doesn't want someone to be superior, which can be very dangerous.
On March 21, 1963, USP Alcatraz closed after 29 years of operation. It did not close because of the disappearance of Morris and the Anglins (the decision to close the prison was made long before the three disappeared), but because the institution was too expensive to continue operating. An estimated $3-5 million was needed just for restoration and maintenance work to keep the prison open. That figure did not include daily operating costs - Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison (in 1959 the daily per capita cost at Alcatraz was $10.10 compared with $3.00 at USP Atlanta). The major expense was caused by the physical isolation of the island - the exact reason islands have been used as prisons throughout history. This isolation meant that everything (food, supplies, water, fuel...) had to be brought to Alcatraz by boat. For example, the island had no source of fresh water, so nearly one million gallons of water had to be barged to the island each week. The Federal Government found that it was more cost-effective to build a new institution than to keep Alcatraz open.
This is based on a true story, and it's a fascinating one. The movie actually kept a lot of the details of the escape true to the real events, showing the ingenuity and dedication of the escapees. The prison became a harsher place after the Battle of Alcatraz, which is also an incredible story worth looking into. Before that, the prison was highly secure, but allowed inmates some small pleasures. Afterwards, things were far more restrictive, and those conditions inspired the escape.
Myth busters actually restaged the escape, they made the raft from raincoats and left from Alcatraz and made it across the bay. So it was absolutely possible that Morris and the the other two escaped Alcatraz and survived.👍🏻👍🏻
Kind of an interesting choice to cast Patrick Mc Goohan as a warden, when many people (especially back then) would remember him as the prisoner (from the 1960s series)
One of my favorite Eastwood films is the WW2 film, Kelly's Heroes. Where Eagles Dare is another good WW2 adventure with Eastwood. Two Mules for Sister Sara is probably his most underrated western. You should probably watch his thriller, Play Misty for Me. I believe it was the second film he directed. It's a sold thriller with a terrific performance by Jessica Walters. If you want Clint you never thought you'd see try the musical Paint Your Wagon. Clint sings! After you're done with Clint, you should start on Burt Reynolds (Deliverance, White Lightning, Smokey and the Bandit, The Longest Yard, Hooper, The End, Sharkey's Machine, and City Heat co-starring Clint Eastwood).
Great movie. The irony is the actor who plays the warden was in a lead role in a 69's British tv series called The Prisoner you should see it (He was also in Braveheart as the bad)
Glad to see this one reacted to. Another Eastwood 70's gem is "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" (1974) also starring Jeff Bridges, directed by Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter).
I travelled from the uk to San Fran and went to Alcatraz. Amazing experience. I actually spent couple of minutes in the hole, felt like 20 minutes. Chilling, definitely felt spirits in Alcatraz. Continuing with classic Clint, you need to watch the duology of Every Which Way But Loose 1978 and Any Which Way You Can 1980, with the famous line ‘Right Turn Clyde’
The show "Mythbusters" re-enacted the escape by building life jackets and a raft from authentic-era raincoats modeled on the stuff the escapees left behind (and their best guess on what the prisoners would have done with the tools and materials they had), and they made it across the bay without too much difficulty. The episode is avail on RU-vid
Here is a few interesting things…. Warden is Longshanks from Braveheart…. Doc was the old man neighbor in Home Alone…. Butts is the upstairs neighbor Mr. Heckles in Friends..
Hey guys, a great movie to see a different side of Clint Eastwood, and it's really good, and fun is "Every which way but loose" you won't be disappointed!
From Wikipedia: The incident in which Doc chops off several fingers with a hatchet was based on an actual incident in 1937. Inmate Rufe Persful, maddened by what was then a policy of strict silence at all times, cut off four fingers with a hatchet to try to get transferred off Alcatraz.
44:12 Patrick McGoohan who plays the warden was in a 60s tv show called the prisoner. It's a cerebral Sci fi British tv show with just 17 episodes and I recommend you guys watch it at some point. He was also in Columbo quite a few times. Wonderful actor.
Hi guys, this is one of Clint Eastwood's best movies and he's one of the GOAT'S! I'm glad you're enjoying the Clint journey through his films and yes there is a lot of him to go. Either side of this movie (in 1978 & 1980) he did 2 hilarious comedies; Every Which Way But Loose & Any Which Way You Can - in which he plays a mechanic who moonlights as a bare knuckle boxer and has a pet orangutan. I highly recommend that you react to these movies asap, i'm sure you'll enjoy them, they're awesome!
Hi guys, glad you reacted to Escape From Alcatraz. You may want to do a little research because about 10 or 15 years ago there some letters mailed to the authorities that led them to believe that the letters were from Morris or the Anglin bros.
With the actual escape from Alcatraz. It's not likely a person survived the crossing. The water is very cold and the current is fairly strong, strong enough to make you work harder to fight against it. Three people would have a hard time just making it a quarter of the way, even then the cold and eventual hypothermia would be something that you wouldn't survive. Not to mention it's at night and you would lose sight of where you're paddling. Plus, the clothing would not provide any protection and would likely just add to the exhaustion, once the clothes were soaked with freezing water.
best Alcatraz film is "Birdman of Alcatraz" with Burt Lancaster , its old and in black and white but do not let that put you off , its a very good film .
I grew up on this movie and it's a true story. When Stephen King's Shawshank Redemption and The Grenn Mile came out, I felt like King must have been a fan of this. The latter two have much better actors and bigger budgets and are great movies. When I saw Shawshank for the first time, I was kind of like, similar to Escape from Alcatraz
I am excited. Never saw this movie. Only saw the clips of the movie from watching The Mythbusters recreate the escape. If you still have any questions...watch The Mythbusters episode: Escape from Alcatraz. They answer all of the questions and have the warden's daughter talk about the escape.
This was the last film Clint worked on with Don Siegel, one of his mentors whom encouraged and supported Eastwood to direct films. Siegel directed Eastwood in three features, including the first Dirty Harry entry. Eastwood partly paid tribute to Siegel in the end credits to Unforgiven.😊
