Burt Lancaster was forced by United Artists to make four films for $150,000 a picture in the 1960s: The Young Savages, Birdman of Alcatraz, The Train and The Hallelujah Trail rather than his normal fee of $750,000, because of cost overruns at his production company, Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, for which he was personally responsible.
Karl Malden (Leavenworth warden Harvey Shoemaker) introduces a new warden to the institution. He identifies one of the prisoners as "Sekulovich", Malden's own real name.
Robert Stroud died the day before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; therefore news of his death was not well publicized.
Robert Stroud is shown ending the Battle of Alcatraz of 1946 by throwing the guns seized by the inmates out to the authorities and ensuring them that they can re-enter the premises without risk. In fact the guns were still in the possession of two of the would-be escapees when their bodies were found in a corridor.
Robert Stroud really should be known as the "Birdman of Leavenworth," since it was there that he kept his birds and did his research. He was not actually allowed any birds during his time at Alcatraz.
Robert Stroud was actually imprisoned in cell #42 located in the D Block. According to Frank Heaney, a former prison guard (1948-51), Stroud was anything but the sympathetic character as portrayed by Burt Lancaster. He was an extremely difficult and demented inmate who, though highly intelligent, was a vicious killer and a psychopath.
Robert Stroud's wife and business partner, whom he married while in jail, was actually called Della Mae Jones.
According to the biography of Robert Stroud on the Court TV website, he killed the prison guard because he was denied a visit from his brother, not his mother as portrayed in the film.
At one point, the real Robert Stroud had over 400 birds in his cell.
Cecil Corwin, the guard in D Block, is renamed Hapling. Burns is shown shooting Hapling dead the moment he enters D Block. In fact Corwin was shot while held hostage with other guards by a third party, convict Joseph Paul Cretzer (aka "Dutch"). Corwin survived, though another guard, William Miller from C Block, died of his injuries.
Due to this popular movie, the real Robert Stroud became one of the most famous inmates of the federal prison at Alcatraz, second only to mob boss 'Al Capone (I)'.
The film implies that the Battle of Alcatraz was a result of deep frustrations with the prison system that finally exploded with two convicts releasing others with the sole purpose of causing a riot. In fact it was the result of a far more discreet escape attempt which turned into a battle when the convicts were unable to get out of the building as planned. Only six convicts were involved.
The film presents Robert Stroud involved in a lifetime war of nerves with Warden Harvey Shoemaker. Shoemaker is in fact a combination of two separate men: T.W. Morgan was warden of Leavenworth at the time that Stroud's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1920; and James A. Johnston was warden of Alcatraz during the attempted escape of 1946.
The masterminds of the Battle of Alcatraz are named Logue and Burns in the film. In real life their names were Marvin Hubbard and Bernard Paul Coy.
The real Alcatraz is seen only from exterior views from the boat, or is shown from the shore dockside. All the rest of the views of Alcatraz in the movie were produced on sets located in Los Angeles.