Escape From Alcatraz Essay

The movie “Escape from Alcatraz” is based upon true events and tells the story of one of the most famous prison escapes in history. It features the 1962 escape of Alcatraz lead by Frank Morris and his accomplishes. The movie portrays the process of the escape from start to end, based upon the book “Escape from Alcatraz”, a 1963 nonfiction book written by J. Campbell Bruce. The movie follows closely to the story, however it also differs in many ways. Some of these include physical descriptions, character names, missing characters, and events that were changed.
The movie version of the story focuses on Frank Morris, starting with his arrival at Alcatraz and all the way to after his escape. Frank is portrayed as the mastermind of the escape and receives help from three other prisoners, John Anglin, Clarence Anglin, and Charley Butts. Together they
Frank Morris played by Clint Eastwood, matched the physical description and characteristics. Frank had a superior intelligence and was believed to be the leader behind the escapee. Frank also had the help of other inmates and each served their own purpose. He had little to no family and had attempted to escape other prisons before. Some other characters that were accurate are John Anglin and Clarence Anglin. They were both accomplices in the escape and crucial to their success.
Most of the characters were authentic and represented their real life counterparts, however some were not. Some character that were not accurate to the real life people was Charley Butts, English, and Chester Dalton otherwise called “Doc”. The character of Charley Butts is based on prisoner Allen West and had a different name used. In the movie Frank stole a fan to be used as a drill, while in the true story Allen was granted permission to fix a broken vacuum. The vacuum had two motors and was able to get the vacuum working with only one motor and kept the other