Solid, if softened, bio-pic of Robert Stroud, a violent two-time killer whose death sentence was commuted to life in prison. Brilliant and psychotic, his life’s work literally fell into his lap (well, into his prison courtyard) when a fledgling sparrow was shaken off the bough and landed at his feet. In the face of myriad prison obstacles, his spontaneous rescue sparked decades of study & discovery on avian habits & medical treatments, even a kind of fame as his work began to slowly reach bird fanciers thanks to the strength of the two women in his life, a stubborn mother and a worshipful widow. But in making dramatic sense of the story, scripter Guy Trosper & director John Frankenheimer (taking over when Charles Crichton ankled), flatten out what must have been a far stranger tale into something more digestible, trope-dependent and middlebrow, a prestige piece worthy of award consideration. Indeed, it is award worthy, particularly Burnett Guffey’s Oscar nom’d b&w lensing, Elmer Bernstein’s score (kissing-cousin to his Oscar nom’d score that year for TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD) and Burt Lancaster’s Oscar-nom’d restrained magnetism. But only Thelma Ritter, as his mother, particularly in a final scene of abnegation, touches on something unknowable. Otherwise, it’s what happens when a film needs Robert Bresson and gets John Frankenheimer.*
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *Specifically, Bresson’s A MAN ESCAPED/’56. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2013/09/un-condamne-mort-sest-echappe-man.html
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Considering the attention to detail, that’s a pretty phony looking soundstage prison courtyard, especially that cityscape backdrop.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see Hugh Marlowe & Whit Bissell in the same film, even sharing frame in one scene. You’ll never confuse these guys again.
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