Did they Escape from Alcatraz... ?

[higashimori]

 " Tale of 3 Inmates Who Vanished From Alcatraz Maintains Intrigue 50 Years Later "

 By ROBERT D. McFADDEN

 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/us/anniversary-of-a-mystery-at-alcatraz.html

 

Fifty years ago, on the night of June 11, 1962, the three convicts were locked down as usual. Guards walking the tier outside their cells saw them at 9:30 and checked on them periodically all night, looking in at the sleeping faces, hearing nothing strange. But by morning, the inmates had vanished, Houdini-like.

 

It seemed wildly improbable. “The Rock” where Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly and other infamous criminals were held was thought to be escape-proof. In its 29 years as a federal prison, from 1934 to 1963, no one is known to have made it out alive. Forty-one inmates tried. Of those, 26 were recaptured, 7 were shot dead, 3 drowned and 2 besides Mr. Morris and the Anglin brothers were never found.

Had they survived, the three men — all bank robbers serving long terms — would be in their 80s now. And while their names are all but forgotten, their breakout has been a subject of fascination to many Americans, analyzed in countless articles, four television documentaries, a 1963 book by J. Campbell Bruce, “Escape from Alcatraz,” and a 1979 movie of the same name starring Clint Eastwood as Mr. Morris.

 

[El Cigarillo]

HEY Pardners!

I would like to recommend a new book about the escape.

ESCAPING ALCATRAZ
by Michael Esslinger

Essilnger is THE man when it comes to all things Alcatraz.
This is the definitive account of the famous escape.

There is an entire chapter devoted to the motion picture. Much of the material therein is taken directly from my interview with screen writer Richard Tuggle in CINEMA RETRO. I am honored!
(see 'COLLECTIBLES' thread for more info).

Bruce Marshall