# Questions about "Escape from Alcatraz" WARNING! spoilers galore, no boxes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2004, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665 "2004-03-11T08:03:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/1 "2004-03-11T08:03:15Z")
Probably hard to spoil a movie called “Escape from Alcatraz” (starring Clint Eastwood), but please don’t read my questions if you haven’t seen it and don’t want to know what happens. In no particular order: 1. Is it actually possible to weld a spoon to nail clippers using a bunch of matches bundled together, as Morris does in one scene? He is shown filing off part of a dime, so I would assume he was doing some sort of silver-soldering, using the dime filings as the solder. But silver-soldering doesn’t work unless you get the object red-hot. Would that be enough heat to do it? 2. On the night they escape, Butts is still in his cell when the others go into the utility corridor. They call to Butts, who says he’ll meet them “up top”. Then Butts is shown, still in his cell, looking very distraught, but it doesn’t seem clear why. Does he chicken out and not have enough nerve to go through with it at first? Is the guard watching and thus preventing him from making his escape? A guard is shown looking in on Butts, but only later after Butts has already initially failed to get out of his cell. There is a suggestion that the phony vent grill he made is stuck in the hole (earlier, Morris had told him to use contact cement to keep it from falling out), but again, it’s only shown _after_ Butts’ initial failure to escape, and he easily circumvents this problem by smashing it with his foot. So what’s the real reason that Butts doesn’t get out of his cell in time? 3. When they are discussing the escape plan, Morris says they will go to Angel Island, because he believes the guards will look for them in San Francisco. But in the final scene, the warden and guards are shown searching Angel Island. Was Morris supposed to be wrong? He was portrayed as being highly intelligent; it seems unlikely that he would end up being wrong at the end of the movie with no explanation. If they _had_ gone to Angel Island, why didn’t the guards find them? I realize that it’s a true story, and that in reality they were never found, so then why have the premise that they would escape to Angel Island at all? 4. Why do you suppose the warden didn’t like the portrait of himself? It seemed like a pretty good likeness, and not unflattering. Was it just the idea of a prisoner painting him that bothered him? 5. What was the purpose of the headphones that a prisoner is shown wearing in one scene? Were the prisoners provided with piped-in music at Alcatraz? I have visited Alcatraz and noticed the headphone jacks in every cell, and wondered the same thing, then later noticed it in the movie. Apologies if any of these questions are incredibly stupid - please be gentle with me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/2 "2017-05-20T09:48:38Z")
1. Are prisoners required to sleep with their head near the bars? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/3 "2017-05-20T14:52:25Z")
Mythbusters recreated & tested the raft made from raincoats and the homemade paddles. They worked reasonably well. I think they recreated the paper mache heads too. They had studied a tidal model of the bay and understood how it would effect their trip. Morris and the others didn’t have this detailed information. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/4 "2017-05-20T15:12:12Z")
The headphones were for listening to the radio. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/7190/6965956991_9e65d9d7fd_b.jpg "San Francisco - Alcatraz: Cellhouse - Cell headphones") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/6965956991) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/5 "2017-05-20T15:22:31Z")
Wow. It’s been years since I saw that movie. I need to see it again, because I can’t answer any of those questions. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/6 "2017-05-20T15:27:31Z")
I saw it when it came out…1979?..and I can’t remember any of the character names, or anything of the plot. But I have a PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY of the portrait of the Warden (Patrick McGoohan). It was wearing one of that actor’s more over-the-top expressions, with extremely arched eyebrows? I think it was an inside joke about McGoohan occasionally hamming it up, which is why his character didn’t care for it. [https://www.google.com/search?q=warden+portrait+escape+for+alcatraz&rlz=1C9BKJA\_enUS620US620&hl=en-US&prmd=simvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjU2ojd5P7TAhVMOyYKHT6yB14Q\_AUICigC&biw=1024&bih=653#imgrc=W-cWORPJbcgy3M:](https://www.google.com/search?q=warden+portrait+escape+for+alcatraz&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS620US620&hl=en-US&prmd=simvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjU2ojd5P7TAhVMOyYKHT6yB14Q_AUICigC&biw=1024&bih=653#imgrc=W-cWORPJbcgy3M:) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/7 "2017-05-20T15:40:21Z")
Casting Number Six as the Warden had to be a inside joke. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/8 "2017-05-20T16:57:56Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Casting Number Six as the Warden had to be a inside joke. 😃 This does not make any sense at all and is not even funny. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/9 "2017-05-20T16:58:52Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Casting Number Six as the Warden had to be a inside joke. 😃 Well, the OP does want… _In-For-Ma-Shunnn_. > [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > This does not make any sense at all and is not even funny. Are you completely unfamiliar with _The Prisoner_? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/10 "2017-05-20T17:38:55Z")
The Simpsons did a riff on The Prisoner. Homer steals Number Six’s raft. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4RV3RXMNGVs/hqdefault.jpg "The Prisoner - Simpsons Parody") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RV3RXMNGVs) Back to the Op’s questions. There’s conflicting opinions if the movie’s welding scene would work. One critical omission in the movie is making flux. Borax from the prison laundry will work. > **[Borax for flux? What is really the best?](https://orchid.ganoksin.com/t/borax-for-flux-what-is-really-the-best/36976)** > > I have been hearing from a few people that they use straight borax for flux. I ran out of my flux mid project and decided to give it a try and it worked pretty good. I have used several different fluxes before, from handy flux, superior flux,... [http://www.creative-science.org.uk/hollywood7.html](http://www.creative-science.org.uk/hollywood7.html) > **['Escape From Alcatraz' - Clint Eastwood Film - You CAN solder with matches -...](http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive2.cgi/noframes/read/5892)** > > Alternative News and Views, Reported by Agents Around the World, 24 hours a day > [@](#): > > There are several posts online debunking the welding or soldering of the spoon to the clippers, or whatever that utensil is, in Clint Eastwood’s excellent film, ‘Escape From Alcatraz’. However, it is possible to solder low-melt filler metals such as lead and tin with fairly little heat and SMALL AMOUNTS OF SILVER OR SILVER FLAKES added to the lead or tin create a solder commonly known as ‘silver-bearing solder’ which is not exactly a silver solder, but is still a low-melt solder generally used for jobs like repairing and/or assembling gutters, repairing and bonding other basic metal things. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/11 "2017-05-20T17:58:58Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Casting Number Six as the Warden had to be a inside joke. 😃 “The Prisoner” broke Patrick McGoohan. Before, he was John Drake, action hero. Then they got him in The Village and worked him over. After that, he was the villain in Braveheart, the villain in Silver Streak, and the villain in Escape from Alcatraz, where, like a good alumni from The Village, he even keeps other people imprisoned. A fine tribute to the methods and practices of The Village! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/12 "2017-05-20T18:04:42Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I saw it when it came out…1979?..and I can’t remember any of the character names, or anything of the plot. This was Clint Eastwood’s second time filming at Alcatraz. The end of _The Enforcer_ was set there, which was released three years earlier. I always thought there was a potential trivia question there, but I never figured out a way to word it. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/13 "2017-05-20T18:13:01Z")
“…it is possible to solder low-melt filler metals such as lead and tin with fairly little heat and SMALL AMOUNTS OF SILVER OR SILVER FLAKES added to the lead or tin create a solder commonly known as ‘silver-bearing solder’…” While I agree that low temperature silver-bearing solder is indeed composed of these elements, I don’t think you can start with molten regular solder and just add the silver, it isn’t hot enough to melt in. After you have the solder made (at a higher temperature), it remelts at intermediate temperatures. And in the movie, there is clearly no lead solder involved. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/14 "2017-05-21T15:45:23Z")
_13 years_ he’s been waiting for these answers! Not one reply in all that time, now, BOOM! How is this possible? ---
**Author:** ![newme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e0b2c6/32.png) [@newme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newme)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/15 "2017-05-21T16:24:46Z")
I have melted small quantities of copper and silver using nothing more than a candle and a crude blowpipe. Here is a pro at work: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3w_0UOd4FZI/hqdefault.jpg "Gold Jewelry making skill of India") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w_0UOd4FZI) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/16 "2017-05-21T20:40:24Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > 1. Why do you suppose the warden didn’t like the portrait of himself? It seemed like a pretty good likeness, and not unflattering. Was it just the idea of a prisoner painting him that bothered him? > 😉 Good question. I wondered the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/17 "2017-05-21T20:50:50Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Good question. I wondered the same thing. See Post #6 (hee hee hee) Discuss. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/18 "2017-05-21T21:54:27Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Good question. I wondered the same thing. I actually just watched this not long ago, and I gotta say, that painting was made to look intentionally… … well, this isn’t 1979, and attitudes have changed, but… …Damn! That looked Gay! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/19 "2017-05-23T13:00:41Z")
1. I think Butts absolutely chickened out. Remember, he’s not a murderer & lifer like Morris & the Anglin brothers. He’s a small time car thief who got sent to Alcatraz for stealing a prison guards car. The only reason he wanted to escape was because his mother was dying. So when it came down to it, he was initially too scared to go through with it. And when he did try to join the others, it was too late and he couldn’t reach the window(?) they were escaping through. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665/20 "2017-05-23T13:30:39Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Casting Number Six as the Warden had to be a inside joke. 😃 > [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > This does not make any sense at all and is not even funny. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Well, the OP does want… _In-For-Ma-Shunnn_. > Are you completely unfamiliar with _The Prisoner_? Did I miss something? Actors play different roles and it is public knowledge, not an inside joke. Not only that, it isn’t even funny. Ironic, maybe. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-escape-from-alcatraz-warning-spoilers-galore-no-boxes/233665.md?page=2)