Release Date

05 Nov, 1980

Runtime

03:16: (HH:MM)

Synopsis

At 18, Carnes is the youngest man to be sent to The Rock, yet he vows he'll create the ultimate escape plan -- or die trying!

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.

Original Title

Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story

Photos

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Actors

Michael Beck

Art Carney

Alex Karras

Telly Savalas

Will Sampson

Ronny Cox

Richard Lynch

Robert Davi

John Amos

James MacArthur

Ed Lauter

Joe Pantoliano

Louis Giambalvo

Jeffrey Tambor

Paul Mantee

Charles Aidman

Jack Rader

Walter Mathews

Spencer Milligan

Sidney Clute

Redmond Gleeson

Crew

Paul Krasny

Clarence Carnes

Don DeNevi

Ernest Tidyman

James H. Brown

Pierre Cossette

Ernest Tidyman

Jerrold Immel

Robert B. Hauser

Les Green

Donald R. Rode

William L. Campbell

Charles Graffeo

Michael Lynn