10 Real Life Happy Endings That Became Disturbing Movies
9. Escape From Alcatraz (1979)
Don Siegel’s compelling, brutal thriller sees career criminals Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood) and John and Clarence Anglin (Fred Ward and Jack Thibeau) engineer an escape from the supposedly inescapable island prison of Alcatraz. Morris is the antihero, charismatic and iconoclastic, while the draconian Warden and his thuggish guards are the antagonists.
The film has a downbeat ending: the last we see of the escapees, they’re clinging to the sides of their makeshift raft as they desperately swim from the island in pitch darkness. The next day, pieces of the raft along with personal items belonging to them are recovered, and the Warden is insistent that the men clearly drowned - although the final teaser, coupled with the audience’s understanding of Morris’ abilities, leaves it open as to whether the three made it to nearby Angel Island or not.
Based on the story of the 1962 escape of the real life Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin, Escape From Alcatraz was released six months before the official FBI investigation into the escape was closed: that investigation would determine that the three men had indeed drowned in the attempt.
However, both the film and the investigation ignored the many, many sightings of Morris and the Anglins over the years, as well the fact that Rachael Van Miller Anglin had received anonymous flowers every Mother’s Day until her passing in 1973. On the day of her funeral, two unusually tall women in heavy makeup were reported to have been in attendance…