Guest Blogger - Jim Van Buskirk: Starring "The Rock": Alcatraz in Hollywood Movies

The San Francisco History Center is pleased to present author Jim Van Buskirk speaking about Alcatraz in Hollywood Films - Starring "The Rock" on Thursday, March 2, 2017 at 6:00pm in the Koret Auditorium at the Main Library. A returning guest blogger, Mr. Van Buskirk has written a guest blog post for "What's On the 6th Floor" about doing research for his presentation.

Starring "The Rock": Alcatraz in Hollywood Movies
by Jim Van Buskirk

The idea for the upcoming program "Starring 'The Rock'" began after watching Point Blank. I'd long remembered the 1967 neo-noir's use of San Francisco locations and wasn't disappointed. Imbedded as a special feature on the library's DVD copy I discovered a short documentary about John Boorman's film as the first to actually shoot on the island after the penitentiary closed in 1963. This would make a good centerpiece in a program about Alcatraz in Hollywood movies, I thought. When I learned that the event could be tied to the upcoming exhibit The Alcatraz Florilegium: Artwork from the Gardens of Alcatraz, I was off and running. Little did I know I'd uncover cartoons, comedies, and even a gay porn flick.

Police boat searching for escaped convicts from Alcatraz, 1943 

My first resource was Alcatraz: The Ultimate Movie Book by Robert Lieber. When I tracked him down at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, Rob made arrangements for me and my partner, Allen, to take the staff boat to the island where we met with National Park Service Ranger John Cantwell. Ranger John was a font of first-hand information and despite the rainy day squired us around areas not usually accessible to visitors while regaling us with fascinating stories. He lent me a VHS copy of Train to Alcatraz (1948) one of several films depicting convicts being transported to the escape-proof prison. When Ranger John pointed out locations used for the 1987 television movie Six Against the Rock, I was surprised that it wasn't on my carefully compiled list and ordered one as soon as we got home. After watching the suspense-filled reenactment of an attempted 1946 escape, I donated it to the San Francisco History Center.

Solitary confinement cell on Alcatraz, 1974

One unexpected title was suggested by Allen. In 1976 his late friend Artie Bressan had shot an experimental porn film on Alcatraz called Forbidden Letters. Intriguing, but how would I track down a copy? I asked around with no success until someone suggested searching the Frameline Film Festival Collection located at San Francisco Public Library. Worth a shot I thought and there it was. Not only that, it had been selected by film historian Jenni Olson as one of the few from this collection to be reformatted to DVD. Hormel LGBTQIA Center Processing Archivist Tim Wilson, always knowledgeable and helpful, immediately responded to my request by locating the DVD and reserving the San Francisco History Center's viewing station. The next Saturday afternoon Allen and I sat in the glass booth watching this forty-year old film. We assumed that Alcatraz locations would be used as merely establishing shots, and were shocked, to see explicit sex scenes obviously filmed in the cells. The experience was meaningful to Allen, who heard his friend reading the film's closing credits, an homage to Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons, while I selected a two-minute family friendly segment for inclusion in the program.

Alcatraz Prison cell blocks, 1954

I was able to view many/most films on my list from the SFPL's collection, and suggested a few available titles for acquisition. To support my research a friend generously ordered copies of several titles which will eventually be donated to the San Francisco History Center's collection. I ultimately counted 37 films, or television shows, with sequences referencing Alcatraz. Some are comical, like Electric Dreams, Skidoo and So I Married an Axe Murderer. Some are for kids: All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 and Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. Unable to locate a Nash Bridges episode, I did watch two from Streets of San Francisco.

I captured 28 sequences, with the expert assistance of Rich Bartlebaugh in the SFPL's Media Services. The clips span seventy-five years, from Alcatraz Island (1937) to Alcatraz, the 2012 television series. Some are...well you'll see when you come to the program at the Koret Auditorium at 6:00 on Thursday, March 2, 2017. See you there!