BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ (1962)

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.