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Alcatraz: Escape From Reality

Exploring Cinematic Fascination with "The Rock"

Hollywood is ever blending the lines between fact and fiction; toying with our emotions and twisting reality to weave a more impressive and moving story. If you have ever wondered what the real story was behind the celluloid screen, then make your way to Alcatraz for an exhibit created to disentangle the real from the invented.

From film-noir gangsters to pyrotechnic-explosive prisoner escapes, the story of Alcatraz-as a harsh and desolate prison within sight of San Francisco's skyline-has long fascinated Hollywood. In movie after movie, it summed up the Alcatraz legend in a somber voiceover: "The rock. A little iron curtain world of lost souls sitting in the shadow of the Golden Gate." (Experiment Alcatraz, 1950).

This is the Alcatraz that the vast majority of the island's 1.4 million annual visitors expect to encounter, a lonely fortress haunted by disturbed and desperate men. They want to see where the Birdman of Alcatraz kept his birds, visit the underground tunnels featured in The Rock, or the brutal dungeon cell from Murder in the First.

For years, Alcatraz rangers fielded inquiries about "Ranger Vickie," the prison guard-turned-tour guide played by Phil Hartman in So I Married an Ax Murderer (1993). Vickie's character, like the tunnels and the birds, was the invention of a Hollywood scriptwriter, and like many of Hollywood's Alcatraz myths, has taken on a life of its own.

A new permanent exhibit, special tours, and interpretive products-developed by the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy in partnership with the National Park Service- will give visitors to Alcatraz Island the fascinating historic facts juxtaposed against the dramatic movie fiction.

Video Installation and Alcatraz Movie Poster Exhibit

Using documentary and traditional filmmaking techniques, the video installation, Alcatraz: Escape From Reality!, features a series of scenes revealing Hollywood's view of Alcatraz as movie fantasies. Adding to the visual drama of Hollywood's characterization of Alcatraz, reproductions of vintage movie posters will be mounted near the continuous-loop video display.

Hollywood knows how to spin a story and hold an audience. To provoke audiences to care about criminals and killers, Hollywood made the prison and guards look worse-and infamous inmates, better-than they were in real life. Showcasing interviews, documentary footage, short captions and/or running subtitles, the video installation explains the difference between the myth and reality. The video also includes new footage that shows the truth behind Hollywood's version of Alcatraz, spotlighting the real tunnels (the short military-era tunnel on the north end of the island) and the real utility corridor that foiled inmate Jim Quillen's hope for escape.

November Night Tours Highlight Hollywood & Alcatraz Island Stories

Throughout the month of November, special Alcatraz Night Tours will focus on the Hollywood & Alcatraz Island theme. The Alcatraz Night Tour operates Thursday through Monday evenings and includes roundtrip ferry transportation with live narration, a guided tour from Dock to Cellhouse, the Cellhouse audio tour, a keepsake souvenir brochure, and a variety of special presentations. To purchase tickets, call (415) 705-5555, or reserve online at www.parksconservancy.org .

Two new books take a definitive look at Hollywood's love affair with Alcatraz.

Alcatraz: The Ultimate Movie Guide by Robert Lieber separates Alcatraz fact from fiction, revealing the stories behind each film, the studios that made them, the stars, the directors, and the creative talent. The book is illustrated with images of original Hollywood movie posters.

In the book Lights, Camera, Alcatraz: Hollywood's View of an American Landmark, author Dashka Slater notes, "Hollywood's Alcatraz is a reflection of our own fears and obsessions, our ambivalent feelings about crime and punishment, and our urge to give evil a permanent address." Researching the differences between real life and reel life reveals that the truth is different than Hollywood's depiction, but equally compelling.

These new books are available for purchase online at www.parksconservancy.org  and in Park Stores. Proceeds from the sale of books and products support the Golden Gate National Parks.

Planning Your Visit to Alcatraz Island

In addition to a close-up look at the remnants of this former federal prison, visitors to Alcatraz can also learn about the Native American occupation of 1969 - 1971, early military fortifications and the West Coast's first and oldest operating lighthouse. The island also features gardens, tide pools, bird colonies, and spectacular bay views. To learn more about Alcatraz tours and how to reserve your tickets, visit www.parksconservancy.org .

Edited by Erika Wright

Image credits:
Mattos: Illustrator, John Mattos © 2005 Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Movie posters: From the collection of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy

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