Abstract
In bringing to the screen the life of murderer Robert Stroud in Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), filmmakers encountered official obstruction from the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, James V. Bennett. Campaigning for the release of Stroud, Burt Lancaster retaliated by exposing Bennett’s efforts to censor the film as evidence of a personal vendetta against the prisoner. However, new archival research demonstrates how the bureau had collaborated with Hollywood’s own censorship body, the Production Code Administration, for many years—and that Birdman was in fact the culmination of a decades-long struggle to control all films about Alcatraz.
Highlights
In bringing to the screen the life of murderer Robert Stroud in Birdman of Alcatraz (United Artists, 1962), filmmakers encountered official obstruction from the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, James V
New archival research demonstrates how the Bureau had collaborated with Hollywood’s own censorship body, the Production Code Administration, for many years - and that Birdman was the culmination of a decadeslong struggle to control all films about Alcatraz
As the seasoned Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Bennett responded by joking that he would “give up” his position as one of the most respected office-holders in Washington D.C. and “move immediately to Hollywood” if studios were so foolish with their money as to pay the $50,000 that the prisoner wanted for the rights.[1]
Summary
In bringing to the screen the life of murderer Robert Stroud in Birdman of Alcatraz (United Artists, 1962), filmmakers encountered official obstruction from the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, James V.
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