CARBINE WILLIAMS (1952) / BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ (1962) Con-pelling biopics

David Marshall “Marsh” Williams and Robert Stroud were true-life convicted murders, both well portrayed on film – Williams by Jimmy Stewart in CARBINE WILLIAMS, and Stroud by Burt Lancaster in BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ. Behind bars, each man found an interest that led to advancing knowledge. Williams invented the short-stroke piston and the floating chamber principles that eventually revolutionized small arms manufacture, while Stroud wrote two books about canaries and their diseases. Both biopics won accolades - plus my recommendation for required viewing. Excellent performances by Karl Malden and Telly Savalas in BIRDMAN; and by Wendell Corey in CARBINE WILLIAMS (who later co-starred with Stewart in REAR WINDOW). Watch Lancaster closely when he’s handling the birds. In earlier years, he had been a juggler, and it’s obvious by the delicacy of his hands. (Trivia notes: When it comes to the truth, BIRDMAN wings it. Stroud's avian interest took flight while he was serving a 30-year stretch in Leavenworth. In Alcatraz, where he was transferred in 1942, he was never allowed to keep birds, and he died there without parole. Williams’ life on the screen got a better shot. His inventiveness with guns in prison got a contract after release to modify the .30 caliber Browning rifle to fire .22-caliber smokeless ammunition. The use of his own short-stroke piston in the US Army M-1 Carbine manufactured by the Winchester Arms Company and others brought his greatest fame and nickname. General Douglas MacArthur called this light rapid-fire carbine, "One of the strongest contributing factors in our victory in the Pacific.")