Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Randy T

  
  Lancaster gives Robert Stroud far more character, class and compassion than he ever deserved. Taken as fiction, <i>Birdman of Alcatraz</i> is good cinema.

• Stella D

  
  it's pretty melodramatic but i'd forgotten how really touching it is too. i love lancaster and thelma ritter and r.i.p. karl malden. according to people who knew the real stroud, his character in the film is highly fictionalized.

• Lafe F

  
  A Hollywoodized dramatization of the Birdman story which didn't seem like Alcatraz at all.

• xGary X

  
  Another classic prison drama, more a well-crafted and brilliantly acted character study than concentrating on the usual escape shenanigans.

• Danny R

  
  One of the finest prison films ever made that is a gripping true story, and a inspirational and compelling classic, starring Burt Lancaster in a powerful Oscar nominated performance, which is one of the greatest acting accomplishments of his distinguished career, as convict Robert… More
  One of the finest prison films ever made that is a gripping true story, and a inspirational and compelling classic, starring Burt Lancaster in a powerful Oscar nominated performance, which is one of the greatest acting accomplishments of his distinguished career, as convict Robert Stroud who during his lifetime of solitary confinement becomes a world-renowned bird authority while serving time for murder. It all began when he finds a feeble sparrow in the isolation yard and brings his newfound companion to his cell and nurses it back to heath. Despite having only a third grade education and no hope for parole, Stroud achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind prison walls by becoming a master ornithologist. Superior adult drama with brilliant direction by John Frankenheimer and extraordinary supporting performances by Karl Malden, Thelma Ritter, Neville Brand, Betty Field and Telly Savalas. Exquisite black & white cinematography by Burnett Guffey and a excellent score by Elmer Bernstein. A rewarding cinematic experience that earned four Academy Awards nominations: Best Actor: Burt Lancaster, Best Supporting Actor: Telly Savalas, Best Supporting Actress: Thelma Ritter, Best Supporting Actress: Betty Field. Highly Recommended.

• Anastasia B

  
  More a tale of personal growth and ultimate succes than a prison film, this one is a great story that could have been even greater, if it wasn't so polished, in order to meet Hollywood's criteria for a crowd-pleaser. The obvious symbolization of bird=freedom of the soul… More
  More a tale of personal growth and ultimate succes than a prison film, this one is a great story that could have been even greater, if it wasn't so polished, in order to meet Hollywood's criteria for a crowd-pleaser. The obvious symbolization of bird=freedom of the soul (even though behind bars) transforms Stroud from a vicious killer to a saint. The true story of Robert Stroud is not exactly the one we see on the film. His darker sides are brushed off or ignored - like the fact that he killed people in cold blood for trivial reasons. Prison historians have said that the real Stroud was a merciless killer who showed no remorse for his crimes. Still, the performance of Burt Lancaster makes it a classic film of human-interest, concentrating on Stout's intelligence and the fact that he he wrote two books: " Diseases of Canaries " and "Stroud's Digest on the Diseases of Birds". He also made several important contributions to avian pathology, most notably a cure for the hemorrhagic septicemia family of diseases, which gained him respect and also some level of sympathy in the bird-loving field.

• Jason R

  
  Burt Lancaster gives a really great performance as Robert Stroud, in Birdman of Alcatraz which is a very strange story of a convicted murderer who begins studying birds, and after years of doing so begins studying everything he can get a book on, and becomes one of the foremost… More
  Burt Lancaster gives a really great performance as Robert Stroud, in Birdman of Alcatraz which is a very strange story of a convicted murderer who begins studying birds, and after years of doing so begins studying everything he can get a book on, and becomes one of the foremost experts on birds and their diseases and eventually creates cures for some of the diseases. Other than Lancaster, a young Telly Savalas gives a really good performance as one of the other D-Block residents who shares Stroud's love of birds.

Read all 7 featured audience ratings