Film Premiere draws Huge Crowd

by Rachael Conrad

Dale Cox introduces the new documentary "Alcatraz: Escape
to the Wiregrass" on Monday night in Columbia, Alabama.

A crowd that one leader described as "the largest that we've ever had" turned out for the Columbia Historical Society's premiere of the new film, "Alcatraz: Escape to the Wiregrass."

Extra seating was brought into the cafeteria at Houston County High School as the crowd continued to grow. Historian and author Dale Cox who executive produced the new documentary, said that he picked Columbia, Alabama, because of the community's connection to the Anglin brothers. Clarence and John Anglin were two of the three inmates involved in the 1962 "escape from Alcatraz."

"The Anglins were serving ten years in federal prison for robbing the Bank of Columbia when they escaped from Alcatraz," he said. "That bank building still stands, and the Columbia Historical Society is working to preserve it as a museum."

Extra seating was needed to accommodate the crowd.

The documentary runs just under one-hour and explores the connections of the Anglin brothers and the third escapee, Frank Lee Morris, to the Wiregrass area both before and after the Alcatraz escape. It features specific crimes and sightings in Houston and Pike Counties, Alabama, and Jackson County, Florida, that many believe are connected to the escapees.

Featured interviews include eyewitnesses to bank robberies in Alabama and Florida and a family member of the Anglin brothers who describes what it is like to be investigated by federal authorities.

The film drew laughter at times and gasps at others. Audience members raved about it afterward, telling Cox that they were surprised by how much new information it gave them about the escape and its local connections.

Additional screenings are coming. Watch for more information soon on when and where you can see the film.

If your college, school, museum, or organization would like to host a screening, please contact us by clicking here.

Alcatraz documentary premieres tonight in Columbia, Alabama

"Escape to the Wiregrass" to be unveiled!

by Rachael Conrad

The film premieres tonight (Monday, 10/21, 6:30 p.m.) at the
Houston County High School Cafeteria in Columbia, Alabama.

A former dean of Troy University and former Jackson County Sheriff John P. McDaniel are among those who appear in a new documentary set to premiere tonight in Columbia, Alabama!

"Alcatraz: Escape to the Wiregrass" is a feature-length film that explores the links between the Wiregrass area of Southeast Alabama, Southwest Georgia, and Northwest Florida and the 1962 "Escape from Alcatraz." The documentary is funded by Two Egg TV and made possible through the research of historian and author Dale Cox, who produced the film. It unveils new information about the fates of inmates Frank Lee Morris, Clarence Anglin, and John Anglin. The trio paddled their makeshift raft away from Alcatraz prison on June 11, 1962.

Dr. Adair Gilbert, formerly of Chipola College and Troy
University, in a scene from the new documentary.

Among those featured in the program is Dr. Adair Gilbert, Ph.D. As a child, she witnessed the Anglin brothers robbery of the Bank of Columbia, Alabama. Dr. Gilbert later served as Director of Business and Technology at Chipola College and Dean of the School of Business at Troy University. In the documentary, she remembers what she saw from a drugstore across the street where she was enjoying a soda when the infamous robbery took place. 

Columbia historian David Hunter, retired business leaders, and others tell their stories in the documentary - many of them for the first time.

Another recognizable face in the film is that of John P. “Johnny Mac” McDaniel, the retired sheriff of Jackson County, Florida. He unexpectedly became involved in the Alcatraz case many years after the 1962 escape and tells his story on camera for the first time! 

Tourism expert Heather Lopez and historian Dale Cox peer
into the Bank of Columbia building, scene of the 1958
Anglin brothers robbery, during a visit to Columbia, Alabama.

The film breaks new ground in its exploration of possible links between crimes in Marianna, Florida, and Brundidge, Alabama, to the Alcatraz escapees. Both crimes took place AFTER the Alcatraz escape. Jackson County eyewitness Robert Earl Standland remembers a 1963 bank robber in Marianna and historian Dale Cox discusses the Brundidge incident.

Although he now lives near the beloved community of Two Egg, Florida, Cox was born in the same town as the Anglin brothers. He unexpectedly stumbled into a new investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service in the 1980s and shares inside information from the case for the first time. He has researched the Alcatraz escape and what became of the three escapees for thirty years and now tells the whole story of what he has found. Especially compelling are his memories of contacts on several occasions with a man who may have been one of the escapees.

The documentary features locations in Jackson County, Florida; Seminole and Early Counties, Georgia; Houston and Pike Counties, Alabama – not to mention San Francisco, California; Kansas City, Missouri; Brazil, and the Bahamas!

 

“Alcatraz: Escape to the Wiregrass” premiers TONIGHT (Monday, 10/21/2019) at the Houston County High School Cafeteria in Columbia, Alabama. This exclusive, one-time showing takes place at 6:30 p.m. Central/7:30 p.m. Eastern and is appropriate for all ages. Future plans for additional showings will be announced soon.

Two Egg TV is a free, streaming history and travel channel. You can watch on YouTube at www.youtube.com/twoeggtv, online at www.twoeggflorida.com, and on television by adding the Two Egg TV channel to your Roku-enabled smart tv or Roku device.