Birdman of Alcatraz Page #2

- Time's up.

You just don't know how to quit,

do you, Ma?

Did you think Mother was gonna

let them hurt my Robbie?

Carrying a petition for clemency,

Elizabeth Stroud doggedly haunted

the offices of Washington officials,

in an effort to gain an audience

with the president of the United States.

Finally, she managed to see

Senator Ham Lewis.

He reminded her

of the president's grave illness.

Grasping at straws,

she pleaded with the senator

to make an appointment for her

with the president's wife.

Reluctantly, he agreed.

Tell me, Mrs Stroud, why do you think

the president should intervene?

Mrs Wilson, the president is known

as the symbol of compassion

throughout the whole world.

I'm sure that deep in his heart

he doesn't believe in the brutality

of an eye for an eye.

I've never seen your husband,

but I've seen pictures of him.

He has the face of a man

who has known great suffering.

I think he'd understand what it means

to have the pack yapping at his heels.

Mrs Wilson, they've turned on

your husband in his fight for peace.

- They've broken his heart.

- Mrs Stroud, please.

There's only one man left in the world

who can lend a helping hand to my son,

and that's the president.

Take the petition to him.

I assure you, I give you my solemn oath,

my son is a person of worth.

Save him.

Stroud! Listen!

Hey, do you hear that, you cons?

President Wilson commuted Stroud to life!

Well, I'll be damned. She pulled it off.

Been expecting you, Harvey.

I have a telegram here from Washington.

You probably know about it.

I've heard.

I think you will live to regret

that this wire ever came.

How come?

Because you're going to spend

the rest of your life in deep-lock.

- Who says so?

- The attorney general.

Remember the judge's sentence?

"And kept in solitary confinement

until you are hanged by the neck."

But that ain't what the judge meant.

That's what the attorney general

says he meant.

Look around you, Stroud.

This is going to be your home

for as long as you live.

Ain't much more

you can do to me, is there?

A few things.

Consider this. You will not be permitted

to associate with the other prisoners,

not even to exercise with them.

You'll eat all your meals alone

for the rest of your life.

Visiting and corresponding privileges

will be limited to your immediate family.

And there'll be no work. Nothing to do

but count the hours and days and years.

They're tearin' down my gallows.

- To my great regret.

- Yeah.

It must have galled you

to give that order, Harv.

I think I got you figured out, Shoemaker.

First day here you as much as asked me

to get down on my knees and whimper.

I wouldn't do it then and I won't do it now.

I won't lick your hand

and that's what eats you, keeper.

You keep this in mind.

A man ain't whipped until he quits.

And I'll never give you that pleasure.

Now get outta here.

I'll never forget you as long as I live.

No matter what happens to me,

no matter where I am,

if I ever get a chance

to punish you further, I'll do it.

Drop in from time to time.

See how long I stick around.

I don't have to drop in on you.

I'll always know where you are.

Being in solitary

is like being on rails.

A man pushes your food

through the door.

You eat alone.

Once a week you get a shower.

You walk in the bullpen.

Once a month an inmate comes

and cuts your hair.

You read.

You pace your cell.

Once a week you get clean laundry.

You pace your cell.

The routine's always the same.

The only way you can break it

is to go on sick call.

You sit and listen to your heartbeat,

and you hear your life ticking away.

The thing that swells in your head

until you lose your mind

is you know absolutely for sure

what's coming next.

Here's that Argosy magazine

you wanted, Shorty.

Thanks, Bull.

Do you want anything to read, Stroud?

I want something from you, I'll ask for it.

Stroud! Get in outta the rain, you nut!

You're all gut, you little runt.

Hey, Stroud, what ya doin'

up there on the ceiling?

- Collecting beetles and cockroaches.

- I see.

Beetles and cockroaches.

Poor old Stroud. He's goin' bugs.

Gettin' pretty big now, huh?

About time for you to fly.

OK, kid, hop to it.

Well, go ahead, fly.

Well, come on, Runty, fly.

What's the matter?

A little chicken-hearted?

All right, come on, you little punk. Fly!

What are you gonna do when it's time to

go south for the winter? Walk to Mexico?

Hm.

All right, kid. Now give it a try.

Come on. Come on.

Come on, Runt. Come on, fly.

Here. Come on.

Come here. Come on.

Come on!

- What's the matter with you, anyway?

- He'll never get off the ground.

That bird's yellow to the core.

You gonna be a quitter? Hm?

Now you fly, you little punk, or I'll throw

you out on your ear, you hear me?

Fly!

Fly!

Yellow, huh?

Cold?

About six months

after Stroud picked up the sparrow,

the biggest piece of news

a penitentiary can get

went through Leavenworth

like a forest fire.

A new warden had been appointed.

West.

Rather.

Sacourivitch.

Hollister.

Stroud.

Warden, can I have a minute of your time?

I mean you, Warden Younger.

I'd like you to watch something.

OK, Runty.

That's it.

Come on, come on. Open it, open it.

Open it.

Open up. Go ahead.

Open it.

Go ahead. That's it.

That's it.

I've never seen anything

like that in my life.

Where did you get that bird?

Found him in the exercise yard, sir.

Just put your finger on his feet.

- What kind of a bird is that?

- A sparrow.

It must have taken great patience

to train him. I admire that.

Then I can keep him, sir?

I don't see why not. Do you?

You're the warden now, Jess.

It's up to you.

I think it'll be permitted.

Don't take advantage, Stroud.

I wouldn't think of it, sir.

- There is one thing.

- Yes?

- I need some birdseed.

- Birdseed?

Yes.

I doubt if we've got any in the warehouse.

I took the liberty of ordering some.

It's at the post office.

I need your permission

to have it released.

I like your nerve. You'll get your order.

Thank you.

Trained sparrows in solitary!

Pretty cute act you put on there.

Just amusing myself.

Still ignoring prison regulations,

aren't you?

I hear you're going to Washington to plan

a new Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Yes, I am.

Every pen run by the book, huh?

If you mean uniformity, you're right.

- Drop me a postcard, Harv.

- I plan to keep in touch.

- You did middlin', Runty. Middlin'.

- Middling?

He just saved your carcass, that's all.

Got the heart of an eagle.

When Younger allowed Stroud to keep

the sparrow, he opened the barn door.

Other inmates had relatives

send them canaries,

and the solitary block rang with song.

Then one prisoner became bored with his

two canaries, and gave them to Stroud.

That was a day penal authorities

will never forget.

What are you gawking at?

Looking at that bottle.

- Are you thirsty?

- Yeah.

- I want the bottle.

- What for?

I got a use for it.

What use?

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