Book
Hayes wrote a book on his experiences, Midnight Express, which was later adapted into the 1978 film Midnight Express starring Brad Davis as Hayes. The film was directed by Alan Parker, with a screenplay by Oliver Stone. The movie differs from Hayes' account in his book. Among the differences is a scene in which Hayes kills the prison guard Hamid "the bear", the main antagonist of the story. In fact, the prison guard was killed in 1973 by a recently released prisoner, whose family Hamid insulted while beating the prisoner, years before Hayes' actual escape.
For legal reasons, neither the film nor the book had been completely accurate. In 2010, in an episode of National Geographic Channel's "Locked Up Abroad", titled "The Real Midnight Express", Hayes tells his version of the full story about being sent to the infamous Turkish Sagmalcilar prison, eventually escaping from the Marmara Sea prison on İmralı island.
Read more about this topic: Billy Hayes (writer)
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