FILM · 1999 · USA
The Green Mile
- Directed by
- Frank Darabont
- Runtime
- 189 min
- Studio
- Castle Rock Entertainment, Darkwoods Productions
75 archived facts 7 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.
75 Interesting Facts About The Green Mile
Interesting Facts (3)
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In reality, Michael Clarke Duncan was of a similar height to his co-star David Morse, and was a couple of inches shorter than James Cromwell. Amongst other things, creative camera angles were used to create the illusion that Duncan, as John Coffey, towered over the prison staff, even "Brutal" Howell and Warden Moores. For one scene where Paul, Coffey and Brutal were in the same shot, Michael Clark Duncan was standing on a plank, David Morse stood on the ground, and Tom Hanks was standing in a trench dug into the ground just for that purpose.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Michael Clarke Duncan was uncomfortable with having to grab Tom Hanks's crotch for the scene where John cures Paul's urinary infection. Hanks left the set and came back to do the scene; Duncan grabbed Hanks's crotch and was shocked to discover that he had put an empty water bottle in his pants. After that, Duncan felt more comfortable with the scene.
Production Story (14)
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Just as director Frank Darabont was getting started writing the screenplay, he found out that his cat had developed a tumor. With the cat dying but not being in any pain, he decided to not have it put down. Instead he cared for it at home while adapting "The Green Mile", referring to it as his "co-writer" or "co-pilot", as it spent a lot of time keeping him company at his desk. Darabont said, "It's the whole 'Green Mile' death row experience . . . The writing of it was very much that. I had this creature I really cared about walking that mile". The cat passed away two months later, just about the same time the script was finished.
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Stephen King's original novel The Green Mile was published in 100-page paperback installments between March and August of 1996. He had begun developing the story while writing Desperation and needed to finish that novel but still wanted to see where his death row story would go. Ralph Vicinanza, a friend of King's who sells foreign publication rights, had recently had a discussion with another friend in England about Charles Dickens, in which he learned that Dickens often published his novels in installments in newspapers and magazines, and it had been suggested that, in the U.S., King could try writing a book that way. Vicinanza was under the impression that no recent novels had been written this way. He was, in fact, mistaken; Tom Wolfe had published his first draft of The Bonfire of the Vanities in installments in Rolling Stone. The Green Mile, as it turned out, was not King's only story published in installments: his Dark Tower series spanned seven full-length books, published over the course of 22 years, from 1982 until 2004.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
The film flips the action of the first two installments of the novel. The first installment, "The Two Dead Girls," begins with John Coffey arriving on the Mile, but at this point Arlen Bitterbuck has already been executed and Eduard Delacroix already has his mouse. The second installment goes back to before John's arrival and tells of Bitterbuck's fate and the origins of the mouse. Furthermore, the movie omits a fifth death row inmate called Arthur Flanders, a real estate executive nicknamed "The President" who has been convicted of killing his father in an insurance fraud scheme. His sentence is eventually commuted to life imprisonment, but he is murdered 12 years later by an unknown inmate in the prison laundry. Another character left out of the movie is Brad Dolan, a malicious nursing home employee who harasses Paul Edgecombe, and reminds Paul of Percy Wetmore several times. Paul's friend Elaine later threatens Dolan to have him fired if he keeps bullying Paul, using her influence as grandmother of the Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
For better or worse, the fates of several characters are left open in the movie, omitting the bleak circumstances of their deaths described in the novel. Klaus Detterick (father of the two murdered girls) dies of a stroke shortly after John's execution, while Dean Stanton is fatally stabbed in the neck by an inmate, four months later. Warden Hal Moores dies of a stroke in 1941, followed two years later by his widow Melinda, who suffers a heart attack. Klaus' widow Marjorie gets killed during a car accident in 1951, while Paul's wife Jan dies in a bus accident in 1956 while they are on their way to their granddaughter's graduation; Paul sees the ghost of John Coffee watching him from an overpass. Brutus "Brutal" Howell has a fatal heart attack while eating a fish sandwich, 25 years after John's execution when he is in his fifties. Percy Wetmore never regains his sanity, and finally dies in a mental hospital in 1965. Harry Terwilliger succumbs to intestinal cancer in 1982. Mr. Jingles dies of old age in 1996, just after meeting Paul's friend Elaine, who dies from a heart attack three months after hearing Paul's story.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
As included in the novel, a scene with Arlen Bitterbuck saying goodbye to his daughter before his execution was also part of the movie at one point, with Jude Herrera cast as Bitterbuck's daughter. Although the scene was filmed and scored, it was edited out of the final cut due to pace and timing. An early version of it is included in the special edition DVD.
Behind the Scenes (33)
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In reality, Michael Clarke Duncan was of a similar height to his co-star David Morse, and was a couple of inches shorter than James Cromwell. Amongst other things, creative camera angles were used to create the illusion that Duncan, as John Coffey, towered over the prison staff, even "Brutal" Howell and Warden Moores. For one scene where Paul, Coffey and Brutal were in the same shot, Michael Clark Duncan was standing on a plank, David Morse stood on the ground, and Tom Hanks was standing in a trench dug into the ground just for that purpose.
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According to director Frank Darabont, Doug Hutchison (Percy) was given the squeakiest shoes he had ever heard. He thought this was the greatest bit of fate, and a "perfectly wonderful, annoying character trait" that he kept it in the movie. Viewers can hear sometimes how loud his shoes are.
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Rodney Barnes was Michael Clarke Duncan's stand-in. According to Barnes, he sneaked onto the set by hiding in the paddy wagon. He surprised Frank Darabont and asked for a job. Darabont was impressed with Barnes's effort and hired him. Barnes wanted to work on the film so that he could meet his favorite author, Stephen King.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Doug Hutchison (Percy) made a $20 bet with the extras during Del's execution that they couldn't recite his lines. Unknowingly, Tom Hanks wrote Hutchison's lines on big cue cards behind him. Hutchison caught on to the joke when the extras kept laughing. By the end of the day, he owed at least $60 to different people.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Michael Clarke Duncan was uncomfortable with having to grab Tom Hanks's crotch for the scene where John cures Paul's urinary infection. Hanks left the set and came back to do the scene; Duncan grabbed Hanks's crotch and was shocked to discover that he had put an empty water bottle in his pants. After that, Duncan felt more comfortable with the scene.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
According to both Michael Clarke Duncan and director Frank Darabont, Tom Hanks refused to use a stand-in for the "I'm tired, Boss" scene. He was directly off camera during Duncan's close-ups, giving what Darabont calls "an Oscar-winning performance," just so Duncan's performance would be that much better. Michael Clarke Duncan would later credit Hanks for his Oscar nomination for role of John Coffey.
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Characters & Cast (5)
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According to Stephen King's novel, Percy Wetmore is supposed to be 21 years old. During production, Doug Hutchison was 39. He told director Frank Darabont he was in his early to mid-30s. When he auditioned for The Salton Sea (2002), that film's director told him he was "too young," at which point Hutchison showed his driver's license to prove his age.
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In the novel, Harry Terwilliger is described as being a young bachelor, while Dean Stanton (Paul's 3rd in command) is the man with the family who is always polishing his glasses. In the film, it is the other way round - the physical appearance and the names have been switched (Harry wears glasses, etc). However, both in the movie and in the book, it is the character by the name of Dean who is attacked by Wild Bill.
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Easter Eggs & References (15)
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When William "Wild Bill" Wharton spits a chewed-up chocolate Moon Pie in Brutus "Brutal" Howell's face, he calls Brutus "little black Sambo." This is a reference to a popular children's storybook written by Helen Bannerman, "The Story of Little Black Sambo," first published in 1899 and later turned into various toys, games, animated cartoons, and even restaurants. The story is about a South Indian boy, Sambo, who has an encounter with four tigers. "Sambo" eventually became a derogatory term for Black people and is now considered a racial slur.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
When the prison guards drug Wharton before taking John out of the prison, two of the guards are playing cards. As Wharton takes the cup, an Ace of spades and an 8 of diamonds are clearly seen. Famously, Wild Bill Hickock was shot in the back while holding a poker hand of aces and eights. Later that evening, Wharton is shot.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
The plot unfolds in the form of Paul telling Elaine the story of the Green Mile. In the book, Paul writes his story down in the form of a novel. At the end of the film, as Paul leaves the cemetery after Elaine's burial, a tombstone can be seen behind him that reads "Greene", and two others, one in the foreground and one to the right of the screen, that read "Story".
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Before Del is executed, Paul offers to keep Mr. Jingles for him, but Del declines because Paul lives out in the woods and "Mr. Jingles, he be scared to live out in the big woods." But Paul does end up with Mr. Jingles, and keeps him in a shed "out in the big woods".
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Contains a major spoiler — show
In "Doctor Sleep", Stephen King's sequel to "The Shining", when Danny Torrance senses that someone is dying, he experiences it as insects and flies, in the same way that flies come out of John Coffey's mouth when he heals people. In "Doctor Sleep" Danny even speaks Percy's line "Dead man walking."
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Contains a major spoiler — show
The music played over the loudspeakers in the retirement home as Old Paul Edgecomb first walks out of his room is the same as the music the nurses played at medication time in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). The music used is Mantovani's "Charmaine".
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Upon meeting Wild Bill, Percy tells him he's "gonna ride the lightning" in reference to his impending execution via Old Sparky. Ironically, of the four prisoners in the film, Wild Bill is the only prisoner not to meet his end via the chair. Instead he's gunned down by Percy.
Deeper Meaning (4)
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Eduard Delacroix's botched execution scene echoes the real-life execution of the convicted murderer Jesse Tafero, whose guilt remains in question. On May 4, 1990, six-inch flames shot out of his head during his execution in the electric chair. State officials claimed that the botched execution was caused by the inappropriate use of a synthetic sponge rather than a natural one, which had been used in previous executions, an "inadvertent human error."
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Stephen King responded to criticism that saw the film as a racial allegory by saying the only reason he made John Coffey a black man was that, given the time, place and setting of the novel and the crime for which Coffey was convicted, it was the only way to leave no doubt that he would have been sentenced to death.
Career & Awards (1)
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
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