FILM · 1979 · USA
Escape from Alcatraz
27 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
27 Interesting Facts About Escape from Alcatraz
Interesting Facts (19)
- #001
Alcatraz was one of the few prisons in America at the time that had hot water for showers. This was not a compassionate decision, but was intended to prevent inmates from becoming too accustomed to cold water in case they tried to leave the prison and swim away from the island.
- #002
Clint Eastwood once said of his character Frank Morris: "Morris was a loner type of man. He had no education, but according to prison records his I.Q. was 133. If he had channeled his pursuits a little differently, he could have been successful in life."
- #003
For several years it was believed that the inmates' escape raft was never found, which apparently indicated that it never reached Angel Island. However, a History Channel documentary cited two recently discovered F.B.I. documents — a teletype and an internal memorandum — stating that the raft was one of the items found on Angel Island. Both documents were created within the first few days after the escape by the F.B.I. investigation team. There were civilian boats on the other side of the island. The inmates could easily have reached the mainland aboard one of these boats.
- #004
The Escape from Alcatraz/Duck Quack/Stud Finder (2003) episode of the television series Mythbusters proved that the escape method was theoretically possible. They recreated the entire escape using the same materials available to the inmates. They even used the same type of raincoats from which the boat was made. The makeshift raft built and crewed by the MythBusters team did indeed reach shore, but it reached Cape Marin rather than Angel Island.
- #005
The character Charley Butts (Larry Hankin) is based on inmate Allen West, who also took part in the 1962 escape attempt along with Frank Lee Morris and the Anglin brothers. In real life, however, West did not get scared and decide to stay behind (as Butts does in this film). On the night of the escape attempt, West tried to leave his cell through the hole he had made in the ventilation grille in the cell wall, but discovered that a metal bar blocked his way. The other three inmates had to leave West behind as they escaped from the island.
- #006
A 2015 History Channel documentary included photographs from the Anglin brothers' family, claimed to have been taken somewhere in South America around 1975. Facial recognition experts believe the photograph is genuine and confirm at least that the Anglins survived the escape. As of 2018, they are still considered at large.
- #007
One of the most popular questions asked of Alcatraz Prison tour guides since the film was shot there has been "Which one was Clint Eastwood's cell?"
- #008
The boat that brings Morris to Alcatraz at the beginning of the film (the M/V Warden Johnston, named after Alcatraz's first warden) had actually been used to transport inmates to and from Alcatraz and was not a mock-up. The boat was built for this specific purpose by inmates at McNeil Island in Washington and was used for most of the time Alcatraz served as a prison. The film's producers borrowed the Johnston from the Sea Scout crew operating it at the time (Sea Scout Ship #145, based in Redwood City, California). Gary Warren, credited as a security guard, was actually the boat operator and was also the leader of the Scout crew at the time.
- #009
Paramount Pictures had to spend a considerable amount of money on the prison's maintenance, rearrangement and renovation costs. This came to about half a million dollars. Bringing the prison back to its 1963 condition required major expense and work. Reconnecting the island to the city's electricity required fifteen miles of cable, most of which was worn out. After the film, most of the improvements were kept intact. For the film shoots, water-soluble, removable and peelable paint and other temporary camouflage were applied over paintings and graffiti made by Native Americans there. They had once occupied the island as a political protest, and the material was of heritage value. After filming, the paint had to be carefully removed so that the markings could be visually recovered.
- #010
For the rain in the opening scene, fresh water had to be transported by boat. Using salt water would have damaged expensive equipment.
- #011
Visitors to Alcatraz Island may be interested in seeing the actual cells that housed the real-life inmates portrayed here by Clint Eastwood (Frank Lee Morris), Fred Ward (John William Anglin) and Jack Thibeau (John's brother Clarence Anglin). Cells #138 (Morris), 150 (J Anglin) and 152 (C Anglin) are located along the lower tier in B Block ("Michigan Avenue"). However, the cells used in this film are in C Block, along the lower tier on the Broadway side.
- #012
Patrick McGoohan was initially signed to make the film before Clint Eastwood. Eastwood agreed to star on the condition that Siegel replace him with former colleagues Donald Sutherland or John Vernon, but he changed his mind once he realized he needed an actor who would be both cold and distant, and McGoohan stayed in the cast.
- #013
Screenwriter Richard Tuggle spent six months researching and writing the film's script. Tuggle went to the Writers Guild and obtained a list of literary agents who would accept unsolicited drafts, but he was rejected. Tuggle then contacted Don Siegel's manager and allegedly told him that he had met Siegel at a party and that Siegel had shown interest in him. Siegel read it and sent it to Eastwood. Publicity for this film reported that the purchase of its screenplay was one of the fastest deals ever made for a first film script. Tuggle later directed Clint Eastwood's Tightrope (1984).
- #014
The character English (Paul Benjamin) was based on Alcatraz inmate Clarence Carnes. In real life, Carnes was not a Black man but a dark-skinned Choctaw Indian.
- #015
According to his biography, Don Siegel insisted that the script not place too much emphasis on Morris (Clint Eastwood), so that the audience would have more room to use their imaginations.
- #016
This was the first film Clint Eastwood had made for Paramount Pictures since Paint Your Wagon (1969). He had initially stated that he would never work at the studio again after what he saw as an incredibly wasteful and expensive shoot on that western musical. He also said that his experience with the 1969 box-office failure inspired him to found his own production company in order to avoid the bureaucracy and politics of the major studios.
- #017
Larry Hankin's character Charley Butts was based on Allen West. And while Hankin's role was partly comic relief, West was tougher and more violent than the others; he had been sent to Alcatraz not only for car theft (which is mentioned in the film) but because of more than twenty previous convictions and an escape attempt (plus he killed an inmate in 1972). He was also not afraid, as shown in the film; he failed to remove the ventilation shaft to join the other inmates. He assisted the FBI in the investigation and died in prison in 1978.
- #018
The windshield wipers on the boat's two front windows at the beginning of the film were installed specifically for that scene. Originally, the two front windows had bars running vertically down the center, similar to many other windows surrounding the pilot house.
- #019
Epilogue at the end of the title sequence: a major search was conducted for Frank Lee Morris, John William Anglin and Clarence Anglin. Law enforcement was certain they would find the bodies. They never did. Alcatraz was closed less than a year later.
Production Story (1)
- #020
Doc's (Roberts Blossom) chopping off several of his fingers with a hatchet was based on a real event that occurred in 1937. Driven mad by the strict silence policy always enforced at the time, inmate Rufe Persfal cut off four of his fingers with a hatchet in order to be transferred from Alcatraz.
Behind the Scenes (4)
- #021
The dangerous escape from the prison wall into the water was performed without a stunt double. It was carried out by Clint Eastwood, Fred Ward and Jack Thibeau; the latter two were cast in the film partly for their athletic abilities. Producer and director Don Siegel twice thought he had lost his actors to the treacherous currents.
- #022
During filming, tourists were allowed onto the island, with a new boatload arriving every half hour. They became so distracting that most of the shooting was shifted to night shoots.
- #023
Don Siegel was 66 years old during filming, and Paramount wanted a younger director alongside a famous star for the film. Siegel asked Clint Eastwood whether he wanted to do it, or at least asked his old friend Burt Reynolds to look at the script (though Reynolds would have had to shave his distinctive mustache, which Eastwood knew he would be reluctant to do). Although Eastwood was busy with his own film projects, he agreed to appear in the film partly to help Siegel secure the directing job at Paramount.
- #024
According to Don Siegel's biography, the crew had some problems with the members of the Parks and Recreation commission, mostly women, who ran Alcatraz. They argued that tourists arrived every half hour, making it impossible to shoot. According to Siegel, however, only Clint Eastwood's appeal to women made shooting possible. The crew eventually realized that the presence of tourists was a genuine problem for filming, since they talked loudly because of Eastwood's presence during the shoot. Eastwood promised the tourists that he would speak with them and sign autographs after filming.
Characters & Cast (1)
- #025
The film Frank (Clint Eastwood) watches with the other inmates is Hell Is for Heroes (1962), also directed by Don Siegel and starring Steve McQueen.
Deeper Meaning (1)
- #026
Cast and crew stated that the production of this film was especially harsh and unpleasant because of the physical environment and shooting restrictions. The weather was often rainy, windy and severe; cast and crew had to endure bitter cold without any source of heat. In addition, Alcatraz's role as a nationally designated historic site and major tourist attraction required film workers to take care not to damage the location.
Life & Family (1)
- #027
In 2018 a CBS News employee obtained a copy of a letter allegedly from a terminally ill John Anglin, asking the SFPD for a deal in which he would turn himself in if they would help him access medical care at the end of his life. The 2013 letter claimed that his brother Clarence had died in 2008 and Morris in 2005. The letter was given to the FBI to verify its authenticity and was kept from the press for five years while the claim was investigated. Apparently the SFPD did not respond to the letter, possibly out of fear that it would turn out to be a hoax. However, in 2015, while investigating the escape story for a documentary, the History Channel came across a color photograph taken in Brazil in 1975 of two men the broadcaster claimed were the Anglin brothers. The FBI investigation into the escape was finally closed in 1979, and the FBI investigation into the 2013 letter was inconclusive. The Anglin family always maintained that they were never contacted after the escape, but said that the Anglin brothers' mother had received anonymous roses on her birthday for several years, which she took as a sign that at least one of her sons had made it. Still, this is entirely speculation.
Related pages
- Home Alone — Escape from Alcatraz comes up in the facts on that page
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
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