“Inside the rock called Alcatraz they tried to chain a volcano they called 'The Bird Man'!”
After killing a prison guard, convict Robert Stroud faces life imprisonment in solitary confinement. Driven nearly mad by loneliness and despair, Stroud's life gains new meaning when he happens upon a helpless baby sparrow in the exercise yard and nurses it back to health. Despite having only a third grade education, Stroud goes on to become a renowned ornithologist and achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind bars than most people find in the outside world.
John Frankenheimer
Stuart Millar
Guy Trosper
Guy Trosper
Burnett Guffey
Elmer Bernstein
Burt Lancaster
Robert Stroud
Karl Malden
Harvey Shoemaker
Thelma Ritter
Elizabeth Stroud
Neville Brand
Bull Ransom
Betty Field
Stella Johnson
Telly Savalas
Feto Gomez
Edmond O'Brien
Tom Gaddis
Hugh Marlowe
Roy Comstock
Whit Bissell
Dr. Ellis
Crahan Denton
Kramer
James Westerfield
Jess Younger
Robert Bailey
Reporter on Dock (uncredited)
... and 38 more
CinemaSerf
It's barely the start of the twentieth century when Stroud (Burt Lancaster) starts his long career in jail. He is already guilty of murder before he loses the plot with a malevolent guard and adds to his crimes. Sentenced to swing, it's only the direct intervention by his mother with the President h...
Learning To Fly
Clip • YouTube
Stroud Rescues A Bird
Clip • YouTube
Stroud Goes To Alcatraz
Clip • YouTube
Official Trailer
Trailer • YouTube
Masters of Cinema Trailer
Trailer • YouTube
Norma Productions
United Artists