Clint Eastwood’s prison action thriller “Escape from Alcatraz” featured for the Second Annual Fred Ward Memorial Tribute screening on the silver screen at the historic Cliftex Theatre in Clifton Dec. 26

By E. BRETT VOSS

Bosque Film Society Co-Founder & Board President

“If you disobey the rules of society, they send you to prison; if you disobey the rules of the prison, they send you to Alcatraz.”

In one of his most critically-acclaimed and remember roles, the late Bosque County actor Fred Ward will be honored by the Bosque Film Society by presenting a FREE-TO-THE-PUBLIC screening of the 1979 prison action thriller “ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ” starring Clint Eastwood for the Second Annual Fred Ward Memorial Tribute at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 26 at The Cliftex Theatre with introductory presentation by Bosque Film Society charter board member and historian Bryan Davis.

When Ward passed away earlier in 2022 at the age of 79, tributes poured in from throughout the entertainment industry after he worked with the biggest names in Hollywood and appeared in box office hits and award-winning films for more than three decades. But for several local residents, Ward’s passing became a more personal loss. Though not widely known, Ward attended and graduated from Valley Mills High School during the 1950s when he called Bosque County home.

Directed and co-produced by Don Siegel starring Eastwood and Ward, alongside Patrick McGoohan, Jack Thibeau and Larry Hankin with Danny Glover appearing in his film debut, Escape From Alcatraz tells the story of the 1962 prisoner escape from the maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island, adapted from the 1963 non-fiction book by J. Campbell Bruce,

As the most secure prison of its time, most believed that no one can ever escape from it until three daring men make a possibly successful attempt at escaping from one of the most infamous prisons in the world. Bank robber Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood) masterminded this elaborately detailed, and, as far as anyone knows, ultimately successful, escape along with two brothers (Fred Ward and Jack Thibeau).

As bank robber John Anglin, Ward’s character dominates the screen alongside Eastwood, who was arguably the most famous actor alive at the time. A film that’s quiet at times, with many scenes demanding minimal dialogue, Ward’s look was perfect. His eyes and facial expressions spoke volumes when words couldn’t. The camera clings to him.

Well received by critics, Escape From Alcatraz remains considered by many as one of the best films of 1979. Frank Rich of Time described the film as “cool, cinematic grace,” while Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic called it “crystalline cinema.” Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it “a first-rate action movie,” noting that “Mr. Eastwood fulfills the demands of the role and of the film as probably no other actor could. Is it acting? I don’t know, but he’s the towering figure in its landscape.” Variety called it “one of the finest prison films ever made.”

Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, writing, “For almost all of its length, Escape from Alcatraz is a taut and toughly wrought portrait of life in a prison. It is also a masterful piece of storytelling, in which the characters say little and the camera explains the action.”

In 2001, the American Film Institute nominated this film for AFI’s 100 Years…100 Thrills. Quentin Tarantino called it “both fascinating and exhilarating… cinematically speaking, it’s Siegel’s most expressive film. ” Interestingly, Escape from Alcatraz 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).

Escape From Alcatraz admission will be free to the public courtesy of the licensing sponsorship by Bryan Davis and Rick Lundberg, and seating will be limited on a first-come, first serve basis as The Cliftex Theatre seats a capacity of 150 moviegoers.

“No one has ever escaped from Alcatraz, and no one ever will.”