What was the plot and who starred in the 1962 movie “The Birdman of Alcatraz”?
Birdman of Alcatraz is a 1962 film starring Burt Lancaster and directed by John Frankenheimer. It is a fictionalized version of the life of Robert Stroud, a federal prison inmate known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz” because of his life with birds. The film was adapted by Guy Trosper from the 1955 book by Thomas E. Gaddis. It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Burt Lancaster), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Telly Savalas), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Thelma Ritter) and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White. Stroud was never allowed to see the film. The movie is told in flashback, narrated by Gaddis (O’Brien), the author of the book upon which the movie is based. Robert Stroud (Lancaster) is imprisoned as a young man for committing a murder in Alaska. He is shown as a rebellious inmate, fighting against a rigid prison system. In an early scene he breaks open the window of a prison train, to allow the suffocating inmates to breathe. He is sentenced to
Birdman of Alcatraz is a 1962 film starring Burt Lancaster and directed by John Frankenheimer. It is a fictionalized version of the life of Robert Stroud, a federal prison inmate known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz” because of his life with birds. The movie is told in flashback, narrated by Gaddis (O’Brien), the author of the book upon which the movie is based. Robert Stroud (Lancaster) is imprisoned as a young man for committing a murder in Alaska. He is shown as a rebellious inmate, fighting against a rigid prison system. In an early scene he breaks open the window of a prison train, to allow the suffocating inmates to breathe. He is sentenced to life in prison after stabbing a guard who denied him a visit from his mother (Ritter). The terms of the sentence require that he be kept in solitary confinement for the rest of his life. His rebellious attitude puts him in conflict with the warden of Leavenworth Prison (Malden). To break the monotony, Stroud adopts a bird as a pet. When the bi
