On B List of Movie Reviews
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Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
Rate:
10
Viewed:
6/05, 7/20
6/05:
Playing the role brilliantly well in Birdman of Alcatraz, Burt Lancaster achieves a remarkable transformation by
becoming Robert Stroud, a world-famous ornithologist while locked up in federal prisons most of his life.
John Frankenheimer's direction is masterful, making the story absorbing. Hence, the film length ceases to matter. It's
easy to generate thoughts of what Robert Stroud could've done differently.
All in all, although mostly fictional, it's hard to deny the power of Burt Lancaster's performance in Birdman of Alcatraz.
7/20:
If I'm forced to think quickly of a masterful performance by Burt Lancaster, it's as Robert Stroud for Birdman of Alacatraz.
It's right up there with From Here to Eternity,
Elmer Gantry, and The Swimmer. But
boy...he's touching for 143 consecutive minutes in Birdman of Alacatraz. There's a lot to like:
the direction, the black-and-white cinematography, the screenplay, and the supporting cast. It only takes thirty
minutes to be hooked, and after that, the movie is impossible to stop.
Ironically, Robert Stroud was allowed to have birds in Leavenworth but was denied the privilege at Alcatraz. A lot of what the
famous prisoner did for the field of ornithology is factually true, but he was also an "extremely difficult and demented inmate who,
though highly intelligent, was a vicious killer and a violent psychopath."
All in all, because of From Here to Eternity, Birdman of Alcatraz,
Elmer Gantry, and The Swimmer,
among others, I'm sometimes compelled to say Burt Lancaster was a better actor than Marlon Brando.