Word: alcatraz
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...more recent times. Long Island was a huge tuberculosis hospital, its 1200 beds once full. The market for its service has decreased, but parts of the hospital complex still are in use. Deer Island is famous for another institution--The Deer Island House of Correction. It's not exactly Alcatraz, but there could be worse locations from any viewpoint. Bird Island? Well, it's not there anymore. In its place is Logan Airport...
Richard Tuggle, a first-tune screen writer, has based his script on the real-life exploits of Frank Morris, a convict who fled Alcatraz with two buddies in 1962 and was never heard from again...
Tuggle's approach to his tale is refresh ingly hardheaded; he does not bother with psychological attitudinizing, superfluous subplots or forced comic relief. Once he has introduced us to his characters, as well as to Alcatraz's labyrinthal layout and elaborate security procedures, he unveils his puzzle: How do a few unarmed, heavily guarded cons break out of a maximum-security fortress surrounded by the treacherous waters of San Francisco Bay? The answer to this question proves to be as ingenious, precise and exciting as one might wish. There are no fudged details or deus ex machina plot...
...cuddly Italian (Frank Ronzio) with a pet mouse. Next to these lovable guys, an average Boy Scout troop would seem like a bunch of Bowery bums. The warden (Patrick McGoohan), of course, is a sadistic horror. He speaks in malevolent epigrams ("Some are never destined to leave Alcatraz - alive") and carries on what appears to be a kinky relationship with his pocket nail clipper...
...Alcatraz's cool, cinematic grace meshes ideally with the strengths of its star. Not a man to sell himself to the audience, Eastwood relies on a small as sortment of steely glances and sardonic smiles. Thanks to his ever craggier face, the gestures pay off better than usual, and so do the occasional throwaway laugh lines. At a time when Hollywood entertainments are more overblown than ever, Eastwood proves that less really can be more...