In 1962, these three men carved holes in their cells and broke out of Alcatraz, the most feared prison at the time. How the hell did they manage to make their own puppets to fool the guards into thinking they were sleeping in their beds when they were actually climbing the pipes behind the prison walls?
Frank Morris and the brothers John and Clarence Anglin - disappear forever after entering the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay in a homemade raft. Did they die shortly after, or did they manage to step ashore to freedom? In this video, we tell the story of The Legendary Prison Break that Destroyed Alcatraz.

ALCATRAZ
Just 2 km from the San Francisco coast is the island of Alcatraz. In the 19th century, a maritime lighthouse was built on it. Then a military facility. Then a military prison. And then - Alcatraz Federal Prison. It operated as such from August 11, 1934 until March 1, 1963.
They call it "The Rock." It was created to be the most high-security prison in the country, where the most hardened criminals, such as Machine Gun Kelly and Al Capone, could be punished. At the time, the authorities in major US cities were finding it extremely difficult to deal with the mafia and organised crime, so the government needed a symbol to signal to the public that justice would prevail.
The prison is surrounded by high fences and the number of guards is almost as high as the number of prisoners. Steel bars were the last word in technology at the time.
In order to reinforce the image of "a place from which there is no escape", some myths are deliberately created:
- For example, that each of the guards was a perfect marksman, when in fact some had no guns at all.
- The water in the bay was so cold that even if you reached it, you would freeze to death in just a few minutes... or become the sharks' lunch.. which there aren't any around Alcatraz.
The water in San Francisco Bay is very cold indeed, but it has now been proven that the distance between Alcatraz and the nearest land is swimmable by man.
The prison bosses probably knew this because the prisoners at Alcatraz were showered with warm water so they could not acclimate to the cold ocean waters in case it occurred to them to try to escape.

MAIN CHARACTERS
In 29 years at Alcatraz, 14 escape attempts have been made by 36 inmates, all of whom have been captured, shot or drowned. Not including the three heroes of this video: Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin. There is actually one other person involved in the conspiracy, but he doesn't succeed breaking out - Alan West.
Frank Morris was born on September 1, 1926 in Washington. He was orphaned at the fragile age of 11. He was placed in several foster homes and orphanages and eventually ended up in a reform school. At 13, he was already a hardened criminal. His first conviction was for shoplifting, then for drug possession, armed robbery, and car theft.
He serves time in Florida and Georgia prisons. He escaped from a Louisiana prison where he was serving a 10-year sentence for bank robbery. He was caught a year later in a burglary and sent to Alcatraz on January 20, 1960. In prison, he was tested and his IQ was 133, placing him in the top two percent of smartest Americans.
Allen West was born on March 25, 1929 in New York City. He has been arrested more than 20 times for various crimes. In 1955, he was arrested for stealing a car and after attempting to escape from Florida State Prison, he was transferred to Alcatraz in 1957. He was then 28 years old.
Brothers Clarence and John Anglin were born into a family with 13 children. As children, John and Clarence were inseparable. They became skilled swimmers and surprised their siblings by going swimming in the freezing waters of Lake Michigan while chunks of ice still floated on the surface. Even as teenagers they began robbing gas stations and liquor stores, but were very strict and consistent about only entering to rob their establishments after they were already closed because they said they didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt.
They only used a gun in one bank robbery in Alabama, and even then it wasn't a real gun, but a fake one. They didn't arrive in Alcatraz at the same time. John was transferred in October 1960 after attempting to escape from an Atlanta prison. And his brother Clarence in January of the following year.

ACQUAINTANCE
The Anglin brothers were friends with Frank Morris years before they entered Alcatraz - they met in the Atlanta jail. And Frank Morris and Allen West met inside Alcatraz, when Morris entering 3 years after West.

THE PLAN TO ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ
The group's great luck was that when the brothers arrived, they were placed right next to Morris and West, who were already in adjoining cells. This sets off the grand conspiracy. Anyone would ask how the management allowed four hardened criminals, who knew each other from before and had experience with prison breaks, to be placed next to each other?