Birdman of Alcatraz [Blu-ray]

Overview

In this film based on a true story, Burt Lancaster plays Robert Stroud, a withdrawn prison inmate who cures a sick bird that flies into his cell and eventually becomes a world-renowned ornithologist -- all while serving a life sentence. An overbearing warden (Karl Malden) eventually transfers Stroud to the notoriously brutal prison on Alcatraz, but he is able to continue his research, abort a riot, start a romance, and eventually get his story out through a determined reporter (Edmond O'Brien). Directed with his usual solid craftsmanship by John Frankenheimer, Birdman Of Alcatraz tells a quietly moving tale for which Lancaster, Telly Savalas (as one of Stroud's fellow inmates), and Thelma Ritter (as Stroud's mother) all received Oscar nominations.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/27/2018
UPC:	0887090139915
Original Release:	1962
Source:	Olive
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	2:29:00
Sales rank:	4,967

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Burt Lancaster	Robert Franklin Stroud
Karl Malden	Harvey Shoemaker
Telly Savalas	Feto Gomez
Thelma Ritter	Elizabeth Stroud
Betty Field	Stella Johnson
Neville Brand	Bull Ransom
Edmond O'Brien	Tom Gaddis
Hugh Marlowe	Roy Comstock
Crahan Denton	Kramer,Kramer
James Westerfield	Jess Younger
Whit Bissell	Dr. Ellis
Stella Johnson	Betty Field
Leonard Penn	Eddie Kassellis
Chris Robinson	Young Convict
Robert Burton	Senator Lewis
Lewis Charles	Chaplain Wentzel
Nick Dennis	Crazed Prisoner
Raymond Greenleaf	Judge
William Hansen	Fred Daw
Harry Holcombe	Editor
Harry Jackson	Reporter
Len Lesser	Burns
Adrienne Marden	Mrs. Woodrow Wilson
George Mitchell	Father Matthieu
Edward Mallory	John Clary
Elmer Bernstein	Composer

Technical Credits

Elizabeth Stroud

Guy Trosper

Guy Troper

John Frankenheimer	Director
Elizabeth Stroud	Screenwriter
Harold Hecht	Executive Producer,Producer
Stuart Millar	Producer
Guy Trosper	Producer,Screenwriter
Charles Crichton	Director
Guy Troper	Producer,Screenwriter
George Cooper	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Burt Lancaster sits comfortably in his manly yet sensitive mode as Robert Stroud, and director John Frankenheimer gives him an easy road to absolution. The film manages to stay interesting despite being locked for the most part inside a jail cell. In what has to be his best movie role (outside of perhaps The Dirty Dozen), Telly Savalas brings a lot to the proceedings as a jail mate of Stroud's. Thelma Ritter, a consistently underrated character actress, is also notable as Stroud's mother. As Hollywood went through a significant transition in the mid-Sixties, Frankenheimer helped to reshape the action-thriller genre with a string of exciting, intelligent, and successful movies with a distinct political awareness: The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May, The Train, Seconds, and The Fixer were all made in a six-year period after The Birdman from Alcatraz.

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