One of the great mysteries of our time is the fate of the
three escapees who defied the odds and successfully broke out of the supposedly
‘escape proof’ Alcatraz federal prison in 1962. The famous 1979 Clint Eastwood film Escape From Alcatraz strongly implied that they were successful. However, since they
disappeared without a trace, some people believe that they most certainly must
have drowned. One person who is sure they made it is true crime reporter Don
DeNevi. His 1992 book “Riddle of the Rock†persuasively makes the case that the
Anglin brothers, at a minimum, returned to their roots in the Florida/Georgia
section of the southern United States and lived out their lives as free men.
Now, Canadian film producer and writer Graham Clegg wants to
turn this story into a feature film. Clegg, a screenwriter for Canadian televison, has optioned Denevi’s book – recently reissued by Bristal Park
Books as “Escape from Alcatraz†– with the intent of turning it into “a
sprawling mystery†for Hollywood.
Clegg certainly seems to have all the right credentials to
make this film a reality. He told me that he visited the prison at age eight at
the same time a television mini -series starring Telly Savalas, was being
filmed on the island. In 1995 he visited Alcatraz again at the same time former
inmate Jim Quillen was present for a book signing of his memoirs. Clegg had a
private conversation with the former inmate who served ten years on The Rock
and was so moved by his story that he told himself “I have to make a sequel!â€
Of course, it would not be an official sequel to the
Eastwood film, which boasted a screenplay by Richard Tuggle. However, Clegg is
an ardent admirer of the film and hopes
to capture some of the feel of that classic prison drama. To that end, he is
currently shopping a treatment around to get financing for his dream project.
He told me he has amassed 1,500 classified documents from the FBI and has 250
pages of notes accompanying his story treatment.
In the meantime I highly recommend seeking out a new
documentary about Alcatraz, The Black
Rock directed by activist/indie filmmaker Kevin Epps. Epps , who hails from
San Francisco, screened the film early this year to great critical acclaim. It
tells the largely unknown and illuminating story of the black prisoners at
Alcatraz who suffered from much the same discrimination and segregation as they
did in the society at large. The 50 minute documentary will be available to the
general public October 1 via the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, web site. To order, visit www.blackalcatraz.com
(Bruce Marshall interviews Escape From Alcatraz screenwriter Richard Tuggle in Cinema Retro issue #15)