Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)

Directed by John Frankenheimer. Starring Burt Lancaster, Karl Malden, Telly Savalas, Thelma Ritter, Betty Field, Hugh Marlowe, Whit Bissell, Neville Brand, Crahan Denton, Edmond O’Brien.

Interesting if mostly made-up story of Robert Stroud (Lancaster), a prisoner serving a life sentence for killing a guard while in the clink for the murder of a different man. While in solitary, the hardened criminal takes a liking to feathered friends just within reach, starts raising and recuperating birds, and eventually becomes a highly-respected “expert” in ornithological study! (Truly, truth is stranger than fiction sometimes.) Lancaster imbues the subject with his natural towering stillness and integrity—and later in the man’s life, a grandfatherly warmth—which by most accounts is nothing at all like the real-life sociopath; while it may not work as a properly insightful biography, it succeeds as an overlong but sure-handed portrait of a deeply-flawed man who finds some measure of rehabilitation through “hobby”. Savalas makes a strong impression in a supporting role as a fellow inmate. The film’s title (taken from Thomas Gaddis’ book, an author who becomes a narrator and cameo participant as played by O’Brien) is misleading—Stroud should have been called the “Birdman of Leavenworth,” since once he was transferred to Alcatraz, he was no longer permitted to keep birds.

72/100