Prison interiors were filmed at the Old Police Cells Museum in Brighton and the Police Cells at The Island in Bristol, UK. Exterior footage and some additional interior shots were filmed at the actual prison in Alcatraz, San Francisco, which is now a tourist attraction.
Several versions of the Battle of Alcatraz have been depicted on film. 'Brute Force' is a highly fictionalized account of an attempted prison break. It was unusual at the time for the level of violence it portrayed. 'Birdman of Alcatraz' briefly depicts a largely fictional version of the battle, which is portrayed as a full-scale riot instead of a discrete escape attempt. 'Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story' is a fact-based TV drama of the events, incorporated into a larger narrative of the history of Alcatraz, as seen through the eyes of its youngest inmate, Clarence Carnes. Six Against the Rock' (1987) is based on the semi-fictional book by Clark Howard.
Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy ordered Alcatraz closed on March 21, 1963. Operating the facility cost $10 per inmate per day, more than double the $3 per inmate per day at other federal prisons. Locals were also increasingly unhappy about the environmental effects of sewage from the 250 inmates and 60 Bureau of Prisons families on the island being released into San Francisco Bay.
The story of the film is based on the real-life Battle of Alcatraz, from May 2 to 4, 1946, the result of an unsuccessful escape attempt from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Two corrections officers and three inmates were killed; eleven corrections officers and one uninvolved inmate were also injured. Two of the surviving inmates were later executed for their roles in the failed escape. Clarence Carnes, one of the convicts involved (and the youngest prisoner in Alcatraz history), was released from prison in 1973. He breached his parole conditions, was sent back to prison, and died there in 1988.
Alcatraz was a maximum high-security federal prison located on Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco bay. It operated from 1934 to 1963, and had a reputation for being impossible to escape from. As a result, it housed some of the most notorious and high-profile prisoners, in particular ones who had a history of escape attempts.