Anyone know what Doc was in prison for ? He seemed quite gentle and hardly what you'd call a hardened criminal
sharethe movie doesnt tell anything about Doc's background neither does any critical review. Just because he is an inmate should he act violently? Every inmate may seem and sound gentle I guess but if you find out why he is in for please make ur post here.
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Yeah it also surprised me that somebody like him was in jail, but like someone else said, just because someone is in prison doesn't mean they automatically have to be violent or anything like that at all times. Keep in mind that this was a prison movie, and in most of them, they tend to make the inmates the "good guys" as they are the "heros" on a mission to beat the harsh prison systems, while the guards and wardens are the "evil ones" trying to stop their "heroic quest" to escape. It's not like it's uncommon or anything to make the audience think of the prisoners as the people you root for in such movies as this, as clearly Escape From Alcatraz kind of makes you want to think the escapees did succeed in their mission. Getting back on the subject, look at the Son Of Sam Killer David Berkowitz for example, as he's still considered a psychopath by many, yet has become a Christian, and now worships, and has faith in God, and now appears to have turned his life around for the better (as far fetched as that still seems these days). Despite that, he's still in reality a cold blooded, who'll forever live and die in a prison cell as long he's alive for all the pain and suffering he caused when he and his gang (Berkowitz wasn't the only person involved in the Son Of Sam killings according to Unsolved Mysteries) went on their murderious rampages, and enjoyed every second of it.
Ever seen Shawshank Redemption? Remember how mellowed Morgan Freeman's character became after years in jail? Doc was in Alcatraz a long time (planted chrisantimums 15 years ago) and just could have been broken.
shareMaybe he stole some paintings. Prisoners in Alcatraz were not all violent. Some were thieves, etc.
shareHe was arrested for tearing off one of those labels on a bed mattress that reads: "Do not remove under penalty of law."
shareHe originally painted a portrait of a local politician in his community, the politician saw it, didn't like it and had his ass thrown in jail. During his long and drawn out trial, he painted several portraits of the jury members. They got pissed and convicted him. While awaiting sentenceing, he painted a portrait of the judge in his trial, the judge got pissed and sent him away for life.
Some people just don't learn.
lol
shareHe was arrested for tearing off one of those labels on a bed mattress that reads: "Do not remove under penalty of law."
Some people just can't paint worth a damn
shareMost convicts were generally sent to Alcatraz for distruptive behaviour and/or escape attempts at other federal prisons.
Doc, has supposedly been on Alcatraz for fifteen years. I would presume that he'd perhaps just mellowed with age and realized that rebellious behaviour really didn't get him anywhere.
Now, in the film, he seems to clearly be well behaved and not much of a disruptive influence. I would have presumed that he would have been transferred to another prison by that time. That was the purpose of Alcatraz. It was to provide a behaviour adjustment. Generally, cons would learn to behave and then could get transferred to other prisons in the federal system.
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Look at "The Birdman From Alcatraz". He was a vicious scumbag who sometimes appeared "adjusted" and innocuous, but he was still a hard core criminal. I think that was kind of the deal with "Doc".
sharenot everyone in prison are murderers and rapist, and even the killers can still be painters, or intelligent. Many serial killers are actually quite smart, just crazy as a loon
shareHe was tried and convicted of swallowing gum in 1949.
share...which didn't leave his digestive system until 1956!
shareI'm not saying Doc automatically deserved to be paroled.
But, Alcatraz's main purpose was to hold the convicts who were disruptive at other prisons and/or escape risks.
Some of the very difficult and/or infamous convicts who were sent to Alcatraz did get transferred off again to other prisons, not released once they had adjusted their behaviour. Machine Gun Kelly, for example, conducted himself as a model prisoner and was eventually transferred to Leavenworth. Willie Radkay was another rebel who learned to behave and was allowed to transfer to another facility with a more relaxed operating system. Clarence Carnes, who was the sole-surviving convict from the 1946 "Battle of Alcatraz", realized he was the only one to blame for his incarceration and decided he had to grow up. He got transferred to Leavenworth in 1962.
If Doc had been a non-disruptive prisoner who seemed to do his work in the industries, didn't cause trouble or be into plotting escapes, he would likely have been transferred to Atlanta, Leavenworth, McNeil Island or one of the smaller federal facilities.
Forging Old Masters perhaps?
shareGetting naked in front of his in-laws. (Thanks, Woody.)
shareMaybe he was just mentally unstable and they decided to keep him around.
"The day you're born, you're already dead."
If he was known to be mentally unstable he would have been sent to the Medical Centre for Federal Prisoners at Springfield, Missouri.
Convicts who were mentally ill were a danger to both guards and other inmates.
Doc, prior to his painting priviledged being revoked, seemed to be a mild-mannered, non-disruptive convict. If he'd kept up his good behaviour for an extended period of time, he'd have been transferred.
His name might be a clue to his background, maybe he was once a doctor, though this was probably just a nickname given to him by the inmates and the guards. I reckon though that whatever Doc's crime was, he was serving a life sentence. Notice how he says that painting is all he has, possibly suggesting that there's no hope he'll ever get out, and as he later cuts off his fingers, he knows he's never going to have a use for them again, as he'll be in prison for the rest of his life and unable to paint anyway. If he knew he would eventually be released, I don't think he'd have cut off his fingers, because he could have painted once he was released.
shareLitmus and Doc both having been on Alcatraz for some fifteen years was clearly creative license by the screenwriters.
The average stay there was about five to seven years. It took, on average, that long for a convict to decide they were going to behave and proved they could be transferred back to a less restrictive prison.
The four convicts who had the longest stays on Alcatraz were Robert Stroud (seventeen years), Clarence Carnes (eighteen years), Whitey Franklin (twenty years) and Alvin Karpis (twenty-five years).
Stroud was doing life in solitary and was a constant disruptive influence. It was felt Alcatraz's strict regime could at least limit his contact with the outside world. Carnes and Franklin were each involved in escape attempts where guards were killed. Each was considered an escape risk for a long time afterwards. And Karpis simply had to live down his name and reputation as Public Enemy #1.
Toronto: Excellent post and ,BTW, great job playing Dr Diego Soto!
I've been going through your package sergeant. Do you mind my looking over your package?
He returned his library books very late.
share