Pop Culture Flashback: Alcatraz Opens it Gates (August 11)

One of the U.S.’ most successful prisons was United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz located on Alcatraz Island near San Francisco, California. Today, it is one of the state’s most popular tourist attractions.

1934 – The First Prisoners Come to Alcatraz

It was on this day in 1934 that the first 137 civilian prisoners were sent to the federal prison on Alcatraz Island. Now serving as a tourist attraction near San Francisco, Alcatraz was designed to hold the worst of the worst bank robbers, murderers and other offenders including Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud (aka the Birdman) and George “Machine Gun” Kelly.

The staff at Alcatraz were highly trained in security but they lack rehabilitation skills. During its 29 years of operation, 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts, but no prisoner successfully made it off the island. With that said, there are five people listed as “missing and presumed drowned” but no one knows for sure.

Although highly effective, Alcatraz closed its jail cells on March 21, 1963, because it had become too expensive to keep going. It had also been severely deteriorated. The prison reopened as a public museum on June 18, 1973. Today, the museum sees about 1.4-1.6 million visitors each year.

OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY:

2021 – Goofy Game Show: ‘Family Game Fight’

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell as hosts of the "Family Game Fight" game show. — Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell hosted *Family Game Fight. (Elizabeth Morris/NBC)*

Following in the steps of Ellen’s Game of Games, the game show Family Game Fight! starred real-life married couple, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard who not only hosted the show, but participated in it as well. Here, two families of four competed against each other with the help of the hosts in a battle to win $100,000.

Not only was Family Game Fight similar to Ellen DeGeneres’ show, but it was also executively produced by her as well. The games that were featured on the series included “Air Heads” (where contestants were blasted in the face with air due to a wrong answer), “Between the Sheets” (where the hosts would lie down in a bed wearing blindfolds and had to find hidden objects under their sheets and then describe them to each other) and “Brain Freeze” (where wrong answer led to all team members getting ice water pour down their backs).

2016: The Rebirth of ‘Pete’s Dragon’

Oakes Fegley rides a green furry dragon in "Pete's Dragon" — Oakes Fegley in Pete’s Dragon. *(Walt Disney Pictures)*

Disney’s live action movie with an animated dragon is a beloved movie of many. However, the original 1977 Pete’s Dragon pales in comparison to more successful musical movies like Mary Poppins. Critics gave the film mixed reviews. So, it was surprising to learn that the studio decided to remake of the film.

As it turns out, the 2016 remake looks nothing like the original tale. The first movie was set during the early 1900’s while the second one was set in modern times. The first movie’s story took place in Maine, the second was set in the Pacific Northwest. The 1977’s dragon was a 2D cartoon while the 2016 version was 3D and furry. Finally, the older movie was a musical and remake was not.

The new Dragon starred Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford and newcomer Oakes Fegley as Pete. Despite its good reviews and improved script, Pete’s Dragon failed to make much of an impact in theaters.

OSCAR WINNER

1937 – Émile Zola’s Biopic

The Life of Emile Zola — *The Life of Émile Zola (Warner Bros. via Wikimedia Commons)*

Directed by William Dieterie, The Life of Émile Zola is a biographical movie about French author Émile Zola. The movie starred Paul Muni as Zola telling the story of his career as an author, his friendship with the painter Paul Cézanne, his achievement writing the novel, Nana and his involvement in the Dreyfus affair. The movie also starred Gloria Holden, Gale Sondergaard, Joseph Schildkraut and Vladimir Sokoloff.

The Life of Émile Zola was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won three Oscars. It was the second biographical movie to win an Oscar for Best Picture. It also won for Best Supporting Actor (Schildkraut) and Best Screenplay.