Question: Why was Frank told to button his collar? And if it is a rule why did prisoners only button their top button when moving around the prison or meal times?
Answer: It is mostly a plot device that shows the growing antagonism between Morris and the warden. The warden develops a personal grudge against Morris and singles him out by particularly nitpicking and harassing him about any small infraction. It is meant to evoke sympathy for the fictionalized version of Frank Morris who, in real life, was an intelligent but dangerous criminal. Warden Dollison was a fictional character. Olin Blackwell was the actual Alcatraz warden at the time.
Question: The warden tells Frank Morris he is not permitted to have newspapers, or magazines carrying news. Why not?
Answer: In part, to break inmates. Alcatraz was notoriously tough on inmates, psychologically (although they did relax some of the strict rules by the 50s). In general, inmates had very little contact with the outside world, and many even had little contact with other inmates. In the film, the warden tells Frank the only news inmates get is what the warden tells them is the news.
Question: When Frank is delivering books to inmates' cells, he reaches D block, but a guard stops him, and tells him they are not allowed in those cells. Were books really disallowed in D block cells?
Answer: Those were the solitary confinement cells, with no light and no luxuries of any kind. So yes, they did not allow inmates on that block to have books.
This is inaccurate as a light in each cell was turned on at 6:30 every morning in solitary confinement at Alcatraz.
Question: Why was Wolf such a bully to Frank Morris?
Answer: This is a fictional account of a real-life event and the people depicted in it. Frank Morris was a vicious and dangerous criminal who, played by movie-hero Clint Eastwood, is made into a sympathetic figure. The Wolf character, who was probably not real or highly fictionalized, is contrived solely to create conflict in the plot by making him Morris' enemy. It also shows the constant danger and abuse from other prisoners.
Answer: If I'm not wrong it was an actual rule in the prison and in the movie it shows how strict the prison is.