Alcatraz: Separating Fact From Science Fiction

I saw a TV commercial for the Fox drama Alcatraz and my first thought? Geez…yet another movie or television show about Alcatraz? To date, there are at least four or five major films that I’ve counted and more than a few documentaries about the former federal penitentiary–do we need one more? Having visited the infamous prison during my trip to San Francisco a couple of years back, I was curious to see what new angle the producers would use to tell the Alcatraz story.

As it turns out, this newest iteration of Alcatraz-lore starring Sam Neill is completely based in fantasy.

Here’s how the New York Times describes the television show’s premise:

“The orderly closing of the prison on Alcatraz in 1963 was faked. Its inmates were not redistributed to other prisons; they disappeared, along with the guards — more than 300 people, we’re told. And now the convicts are returning, somehow having not aged and apparently on a mission orchestrated by unknown string-pullers.”

Riiiiight.

J.J. Abrams, the man behind shows that hover at the intersection of reality and science fiction like Lost and Fringe, has his stamp on this one too. And although I have no problem with fantasy (I am a die-hard Trekkie, after all), I think it’s important for viewers to know the true history of Alcatraz before embarking on this mind-bending, fact-twisting journey with Abrams and crew.

 

Want to know the truth about Alcatraz before you check out the fantasy? Here are a few random facts:

• Alcatraz Island, located about one and a half miles offshore north of San Francisco, served as the location of the federal penitentiary for only 29 years, from 1934 to 1963. It became part of the National Park Service in 1972 and is among the most popular of San Francisco’s attractions, receiving over one million visitors each year.

• The official record states that “no one ever succeeded in escaping from Alcatraz” but that “five prisoners [were] listed as ‘missing and presumed drowned.’” A few other prisoners escaped the prison grounds but surrendered after being faced with the daunting task of conquering the inhospitable waters of San Francisco Bay.

• Al Capone, the notorious Prohibition-era gangster from Chicago, was incarcerated at Alcatraz for almost five years from 1934 to 1939. Lesser-known fact? During Capone’s incarceration, he’d begun to suffer the effects of neurosyphilis dementia due to the syphilis he’d contracted in his youth.

• Alcatraz was closed in 1963 because it was deemed too expensive to operate, requiring three times the per capita operating expenses of other federal prisons.

• On November 20, 1969, a group of Native American protesters landed on Alcatraz, claiming it as “Indian land” in an attempt to persuade the United States government to reevaluate its poor treatment of native peoples. The occupation lasted for 18 months and is historically regarded as the catalyst for Native American activism in the 1970s and beyond.

How can you tour Alcatraz?

• If you’re interested seeing the famous former penitentiary for yourself, why not put San Francisco on your list of places to travel to this year? You can see “The Rock” in person and get your Alcatraz facts straight from the source. The only way you can actually set foot on Alcatraz is by booking a departure with Alcatraz Cruises, the official government concessioner; other cruises merely circle the island. I opted to do the Alcatraz Night Tour and found it to be spooky as all hell–by the time it was over, I wanted my mommy. It was, however, a powerful and sobering experience.

Want to know more about the real Alcatraz before visiting? Visit the National Park Service  websites.

Have any of the iconic or historic locations you’ve visited gotten the Hollywood treatment? Was the result fairly accurate or just way off base?