Escape from Alcatraz (film) Alcatraz" marks the fifth and final collaboration between Siegel and Eastwood, following "Coogan's Bluff" (1968), "Two Mules for Sister Sara" (1970), "The Beguiled" (1971) and "Dirty Harry" (1971). On January 18, 1960, Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood) arrives at the maximum security prison Alcatraz. Soon after arriving, he is sent in to meet the warden (Patrick McGoohan), who curtly informs him that no inmate has ever successfully escaped from Alcatraz. Among the inmates, Morris makes acquaintances with the eccentric Litmus, (Frank Ronzio) who is fond of desserts, English (Paul Benjamin), a black inmate serving two life sentences for killing two white
Escape from Alcatraz (film) called it "one of the finest prison films ever made." Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, writing, "For almost all of its length, 'Escape from Alcatraz' is a taut and toughly wrought portrait of life in a prison. It is also a masterful piece of storytelling, in which the characters say little and the camera explains the action." Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" awarded 3 stars out of 4, calling it "very entertaining and well made. The principal problem is a too-quick ending that catches us by surprise." Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times"