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04/07/1962 Drama, Crime, History 2h 27m
75
User score

Inside the rock called Alcatraz they tried to chain a volcano they called 'The Bird Man'!

Overview

After killing a prison guard, convict Robert Stroud faces life imprisonment in solitary confinement. Driven nearly mad by loneliness and despair, Stroud's life gains new meaning when he happens upon a helpless baby sparrow in the exercise yard and nurses it back to health. Despite having only a third grade education, Stroud goes on to become a renowned ornithologist and achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind bars than most people find in the outside world.

  1. John Frankenheimer

    Director

Top billed cast

  1. Burt Lancaster

    Robert Stroud

  2. Karl Malden

    Harvey Shoemaker

  3. Thelma Ritter

    Elizabeth Stroud

  4. Neville Brand

    Bull Ransom

  5. Betty Field

    Stella Johnson

  6. Telly Savalas

    Feto Gomez

  7. Edmond O'Brien

    Tom Gaddis

  8. Hugh Marlowe

    Roy Comstock

  9. Whit Bissell

    Dr. Ellis

  10. View more

Full Cast & Crew

Reviews

A review by CinemaSerf
Written by CinemaSerf on 2024-07-20
It's barely the start of the twentieth century when Stroud (Burt Lancaster) starts his long career in jail. He is already guilty of murder before he loses the plot with a malevolent guard and adds to his crimes. Sentenced to swing, it's only the direct intervention by his mother with the President himself, that sees his punishment commuted and him returned to the prison run by the psychologically brutal Harvey Shoemaker (Karl Malden) who rules his empire like it were a fiefdom - and Stroud is never to leave solitary confinement. On his brief daily wander round the prison yard he discovers a sp...read the rest
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  19. Made in Britain70%
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Status
Released

Original Language
English

Budget
$2,650,000.00

Revenue
$3,100,000.00

Keywords