Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story
Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story
| 05 November 1980 (USA)
Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story Trailers

Filmed on location at Alcatraz Island, this two-part "whole story" actually concentrates on a handful of the denizens behind the cold grey walls of "The Rock". Michael Beck plays the real-life Clarence Carnes, an Oklahoma Choctaw Indian said to be the youngest man ever incarcerated in the notorious maximum security prison. Serving a 99-year sentence for a gas station holdup and murder, Carnes makes periodic attempts to escape, the final attempt being the most violent. Many of the subordinate characters are fictional (as are most of the details concerning Carnes' escape efforts); the one exception is Robert Stroud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz", here portrayed by Art Carney as a gentle, kindly philosopher. Telly Savalas, a costar of the Burt Lancaster vehicle Birdman of Alcatraz, also guest starred in the 1980 film. Originally titled Alcatraz and Clarence Carnes, this made-for-TV movie wavers between gritty realism and "I'm bustin' outta here!" artifice.

Reviews
MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise
Twilightfa Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.
Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Tim This movie as well as some of the well meaning comments about it have to make one wonder.Most prison movies focus on the prisoners and more often than not make them the heroes. Of course guards are shown as being brutal. If more people knew who was being kept in prisons, they would send thank you notes weekly to correctional officers for keeping the bad guys and gals locked up and society safer.Of course we have to forget the fact that the people in prison are there for raping kids, killing old folks, committing fraud and taking the life savings of someone, thieves who take a family's hard earned possessions, and on and on.No, we forget that and have actors in this movie talking about escape as being part of a noble goal to shut down an inhumane prison.I thought the acting was rather poor, the direction phony, and the piggybacking on to a real event with a totally unproven conclusion false.
baconbit I've seen this recently and you gotta love any movie that has both Joe Pantoliano and Jeffrey Tambor, however briefly. I'm not sure how accurate it all is, but it is fairly entertaining. The first time I came across it was really late at night and though I only planned on watching a few minutes, I soon found myself still awake at 4:00 in the morning. This just shows that made for TV movies often outshine their theater counterparts. Especially in the 80s with The Day After, and all the mini-series that often now are shown as long movies.Not sure how they could release this in widescreen format, despite the letterbox snobs who wish for it. It was a made for TV movie. And therefore most likely never filmed in widescreen aspect. So what would they do on a letterbox? Black out the sides of the TV as well?
Brandon Chance This is a very entertaining film, with great direction. Very interesting action and characters. When you consider that this is a tv movie, it makes it even more amazing. It's hard to believe that a 20 year old made for TV movie can be so much better than most of the stuff hollywood is putting out these days. Definately watch (and record)this if it comes on tv. And whoever owns the rights to this, release it on DVD letterboxed, ss-dl.
jsngallery This is my favorite Alcatraz movie of all time and I've seen them all! Too bad it is only made for TV and you can't buy it in stores. This is the real deal. Nice and long and involved. This movie tells the whole story of Alcatraz. Luckily I have a copy on VHS.
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