Escape from Alcatraz (film)

Escape from Alcatraz
Theatrical release poster by Bill Gold
Directed byDon Siegel
Screenplay byRichard Tuggle
Based onEscape from Alcatraz
by J. Campbell Bruce
Produced byDon Siegel
Starring
CinematographyBruce Surtees
Edited byFerris Webster
Music byJerry Fielding
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • June 22, 1979 (1979-06-22)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8 million
Box office$43 million (domestic collection)

Escape from Alcatraz is a 1979 American biographical prison drama film directed and produced by Don Siegel. The screenplay, written by Richard Tuggle, is based on the 1963 non-fiction book of the same name by J. Campbell Bruce, which recounts the 1962 prisoner escape from the maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island. The film stars Clint Eastwood as escape ringleader Frank Morris, alongside Patrick McGoohan, Fred Ward, Jack Thibeau, and Larry Hankin with Danny Glover appearing in his film debut.

The film 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).

Released by Paramount Pictures on June 22, 1979, Escape from Alcatraz received critical acclaim and was a financial success, one of the highest-grossing films of 1979.