'Birdman of Alcatraz'
A retrospective movie review by Walter Frith
There is no prison film like 1962's 'Birdman of Alcatraz'. In fact, many don't view it as a film about prison. It's more of a one man show with supporting characters appearing every now and then. It strikes at the very heart of one man's life behind bars determined not to waste his years in becoming just another statistic.
In this true story, Burt Lancaster plays Robert Stroud, a man sentenced to life imprisonment who becomes a world famous and respected authority on birds. After discovering how he will spend the rest of his life, he is exercising in the prison yard one day when he finds an injured bird and nurses it back to health and this leads him to dedicate his life to the feathered creatures.
Karl Malden plays Lancaster's adversary as the stern prison warden who monitors Lancaster's years in prison. The film's striking black and white photography is used in one moody scene where Malden tells Lancaster he will be in solitary confinement for the rest of his life and Malden's face is in a total silhouette. Director of photography Burnett Guffey adds greatly to the film's personality of a darkened life away from society and each frame is a work of art. Photography inside cramped corners is often more skillfully presented in contrast to the outside where scenes often light themselves and there is plenty of room to move about. 'Birdman of Alcatraz' is one of the most properly photographed films I've ever seen.
John Frankenheimer who has directed such sharply textured thrillers as 'Black Sunday', 'French Connection II' and the documentary style feature 'Grand Prix' has scored well with 'Birdman of Alcatraz' in working with a cast which features Telly Savalas who would receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and along with fellow actors Thelma Ritter, Betty Field, Neville Brand, Edmond O'Brien and Hugh Marlowe, the film showcases one of Burt Lancaster's most under rated performances. It proves to be an alternative biography without over blown emotion or elaborate sets and lets the actors do their work well.
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