Thought-provoking studio of a prisoner , Robert Stroud , who during many years in prison became a world-renowned bird authority . At one point, the real Robert Stroud had over 400 birds in his cell . Burt Lancaster plays Stroud , in one of his best acting as the convict murderer and according to the biography of Robert Stroud , he killed the prison guard because he was denied a visit from his brother, not his mother as portrayed in the film. However , Robert Stroud really should be known as the "Birdman of Leavenworth," since it was there that he kept his birds and did his research , he was not actually allowed any birds during his time at Alcatraz. Due to this popular movie, the real Robert Stroud became one of the most famous inmates of the federal prison at Alcatraz, second only to mob boss 'Al Capone . The real Stroud was an extremely difficult and demented inmate who, though highly intelligent, was a vicious killer and a psychopath , spending 53 years in prison. Robert Stroud died the day before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; therefore news of his death was not well publicized.
This is a pensive examen of an inmate and contains emotion , imaginative sidelights , interesting dialog ; though overlong and sometimes static . Very good acting by Burt Lancaster as a surly convicted murderer held in permanent isolation who redeems himself when he becomes a renowned bird expert .Well produced by the same Lancaster and United Artists . In fact , Burt Lancaster was forced by United Artists to make four films for $150,000 a picture in the 1960s: The young savages , The Alcatraz Birdman , The train and The Hallelujah trail rather than his normal fee of $750,000, because of cost overruns at his production company, Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, for which he was personally responsible . Extraordinary support cast gives magnificent performance such as Karl Malden as Harvey Shoemaker , Thelma Ritter as Elizabeth Stroud , Neville Brand as Bull Ransom , Telly Savalas as Feto Gomez , Edmond O'Brien as Thomas Gaddis , Hugh Marlowe as Albert Comstock , Whit Bissell as Dr. Ellis and Betty Field as Robert Stroud's wife and business partner, whom he married while in jail, she was actually called Della Mae Jones . Atmospheric cinematography by Burnet Guffey , one of the main cameraman of Noir Film along with cinematographer John Alton , the latter was fired two weeks into production and replaced by Guffey . Evocative as well as sensitive musical score by Elmer Bernstein .
The motion picture was stunningly directed by John Frankenheimer , though Charles Crichton was fired several weeks into production to be replaced . At the beginning Frankenheimer worked for TV and turned to the cinema industry with The Young Stranger (1957) . Disappointed his with first feature film experience he came back to his successful television career directing a total of 152 live television shows in the 50s . He took another opportunity to change to the big screen , collaborating with Burt Lancaster in The Young Savages (1961) and Birdman of Alcatraz (62) ending up becoming a successful director well-known by his skills with actors and expressing on movies his views on important social deeds and philosophical events and film-making some classics as ¨The Manchurian candidate¨, ¨Seven days of May¨ and ¨The Train¨ and , in addition , ¨Grand Prix¨ also with great car races . Later on , he went on directing nice films such as ¨I Walk the line¨, ¨The gypsy moths¨, ¨Black Sunday¨ ,¨French Connection 2¨, ¨Ronin¨, among others . Rating : Better than average and well worth seeing . The flick will appeal to Burt Lancaster fans .
6 out of 9 found this helpful