The first conversation scene between Andy and Red in the prison yard, where Red throws the ball, took nine hours because director Frank Darabont insisted on doing many takes until he was satisfied. Morgan Freeman threw the ball for nine hours without complaining once. The next day he showed up to work with his left arm in a sling.
When Andy starts working as Brooks's assistant in the library and Brooks's crow Jake caws, Tim Robbins had to time his line 'Hey, Jake. Where's Brooks?' so that the crow wouldn't caw over it, because the bird couldn't be trained to caw on command. Robbins learned the bird's cawing pattern and timed his line perfectly, and writer/director Frank Darabont praised him for it.
For the sewer tunnel escape scene, the sewage water was a mixture of chocolate syrup and sawdust. Tim Robbins initially refused to enter the muddy water at the end of the pipe after a chemist tested the water and said it was toxic. To placate him, the water was chlorinated and partially disinfected. Robbins then decided the risk was acceptable.
While making this film, Frank Darabont watched GoodFellas (1990) every Sunday and drew inspiration from its use of voiceover and its way of showing the passage of time. Another source of inspiration was the prison film Birdman of Alcatraz (1962); while scouting locations, Darabont ran into that film's director, John Frankenheimer, who was scouting locations for his own prison film Against the Wall (1994). Darabont recalled that Frankenheimer took time away from his scouting to give him encouragement and advice.
This was the first time Morgan Freeman had done narration in a film, and by his own account it launched this side of his career and further increased his popularity. Unusually, the narration was recorded before shooting began and was played on set to set the rhythm of each scene. Freeman recorded the guide track in a recording studio in Iowa in just forty minutes. However, the track had a slight hiss, and sound engineers in Los Angeles couldn't fix it. As a result, it had to be re-recorded in a proper studio, which this time took three weeks.
The prison that played Shawshank, the Ohio State Reformatory, now serves as a museum. Because it was scheduled for demolition during filming, many set pieces remained intact in the prison, including the tunnel Andy crawls through and the Warden's office.
In the close-up of Andy's hands loading the revolver in the opening scenes, the hands actually belong to Frank Darabont. Later in the film, when Andy carves his name into the cell wall (seen twice in the film), Darabont's hands were again used for the insert shot. These close-ups were shot during post-production, because Darabont felt that only he could achieve exactly what he wanted in the close-ups.
The opera song Andy Dufresne plays over the speakers is 'Canzonetta sull'aria' from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro'. Initially Andy was supposed to turn the music off on the warden's orders; it was Tim Robbins's idea that Andy actually turn the record player up in the scene.
The prisoners are seen watching the film Gilda (1946). In the original story, the prisoners watched The Lost Weekend (1945). Because the rights to the latter belonged to a different studio, Darabont looked into which old films he could show without incurring cost. He was very pleased to find that one of the films available to him was Gilda, one of Rita Hayworth's biggest hits, who plays an important role in the story.
The rock wall where Red's 'treasure' is buried was built specifically for the film and stood for many years. It was built by hand by the art department a few months before filming began. This allowed clover to grow, making it look more weathered. In the end, the wall was sold piece by piece on eBay by the farmer who owned the farm it stood on. The tree at the end of the wall stood until it was split in two by a lightning strike in 2011. Some of its remains now stand propped up beside the pond on the grounds of the Ohio State Reformatory.
Andy and Red escape to Zihuatanejo, a Mexican paradise in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast. In 1966 it was still a small fishing village, just as Andy first describes it to Red, but it has since become a major tourist city. In the film, the US Virgin Islands stood in for Zihuatanejo.
While Mansfield locals were eager to be extras, most weren't available during the day because of their jobs, or were available for only a day, which made them useless for a prison film. So extras were found at a halfway house, some of them former prisoners in real life.
During his escape, Andy crawls through a drainage tunnel full of raw sewage. The mud was actually a mixture of chocolate syrup, sawdust and water, and twenty years later the pipes still smelled of cocoa.
The American Humane Society monitored the filming of the scenes involving Brooks's crow. In the scene where the crow is fed a maggot, the AHS objected on the grounds that it was cruelty to the maggot and stipulated that a maggot that had died of natural causes be used. One was found and the scene was shot. Years later, Frank Darabont admitted that he had killed the maggot himself.
The ambulance taking Boggs away had to be pushed because its engine had died.
As of July 23, 2016, the white oak seen near the end of the film was toppled by strong winds on Pleasant Valley Road near Malabar Farm in Ohio. The oak had survived a lightning strike that occurred on July 29, 2011.
Although the film is set in Maine, its success boosted the fortunes of the Ohio towns of Mansfield, Ashland and Upper Sandusky, which share thirteen locations. Tourism has increased every year since 'The Shawshank Redemption' held its premiere, and according to the Mansfield/Richland County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the film drew more than 18,000 visitors in 2013 and contributed an estimated 3 million dollars to the local economy.
Exterior shooting took place at the disused Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. The prison was in such bad condition that renovations were required before filming. However, most of the interiors were built and shot on a sound stage, because it was decided that constructing replicas would be cheaper than restoring the prison's interior. Another reason was that the two rows of cell blocks in Ohio were built facing away from each other rather than toward each other, as the producers preferred.
There was only a single night to shoot Andy's escape. Every take of Tim Robbins raising his arms wide in the rain after Andy escapes from prison was out of focus, except the last attempt, which is the one used in the film. Although it is perhaps the film's most iconic shot, cinematographer Roger Deakins considers it one of his least favourite shots and says he 'overlit' it. Director Frank Darabont, however, disagreed, saying that given the limited time they had for the shot, it is proof of Deakins's precision. Initially it was also planned for Andy to run across a field and board a train, but there was no more time to shoot it. Darabont's only regret was not being able to include a close-up of Andy's face as he emerges from the hole in his cell.
According to most of those involved in making the film, the production was difficult because of the combination of long working days, creative disagreements, the dark subject matter and the shooting location, the old Ohio State Reformatory. Most agree that it was a gloomy place, even after hearing stories of guard violence from former inmates used as extras. According to Morgan Freeman, the shoot was filled with 'extreme tension' and 'a very strange atmosphere', because there were constant differences between the actors, the producers and director Frank Darabont. In an interview with Vanity Fair, he said that most of the tension was between the actors and the director, because Darabont constantly insisted on retakes: 'The acting itself isn't hard. But having to do something over and over again for no discernible reason tends to sap your energy a bit.' Freeman pointed to a (later deleted) scene in which the guards retrace Andy's escape route: 'My character is listening and laughing, laughing out loud. I had to shoot that too many times.' Darabont stated that he sometimes clashed with cinematographer Roger Deakins because he wanted wide landscape shots, while Deakins wanted to use them sparingly to preserve their impact. Darabont admitted that the constant artistic compromises he had to make during principal photography were 'like being beaten with sticks' and 'made every day of shooting feel like a failure', but also acknowledged that his experience on the film taught him a great deal: 'A director really needs to have an internal barometer to gauge what any given actor needs.'
The prison's cell block was built on a set, with opaque plastic sheeting laid over the windows so that lamps could be used to simulate sunlight. While taking a break between shots, director Frank Darabont and Michael C. Poole, then an extra and now a film director, were going to get coffee when they noticed that a crew member had accidentally placed a lamp too close to the plastic window, starting a fire. They prevented the set from burning down.
The film's seven Academy Award nominations did not include a Production Design nomination for Terence Marsh, who won two Oscars for Art Direction with Doctor Zhivago (1965) and Oliver! (1968). According to director Frank Darabont, the prison set Marsh built in an abandoned manufacturing plant looked so realistic that everyone thought it was a real prison.
Shooting on location in Mansfield, Ohio, was difficult and stressful because of regular 15-18 hour working days, six days a week, through a humid summer; director Frank Darabont said 'it was lucky that Sundays were off'. Because the shooting schedule was so tight, a threat was made that anyone who delayed the production would be fined. Tim Robbins and William Sadler arrived late once but were never fined. Shooting in Mansfield lasted three months and finished ahead of schedule.
The closing scene, in which Red finds Andy, was shot at Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, and a replica of the boat Andy works on can be found at Salt River Marina on St. Croix.
In an interview, William Sadler said that the knife used in the scene where James Whitmore's character Brooks holds a knife to the throat of the character Heywood was so blunt that 'you couldn't even cut butter with it.' Before shooting another take of the scene, Sadler asked Whitmore to press the knife harder against his skin to make the scene look realistic. However, Whitmore, an experienced actor, refused to do so because he did not want to hurt Sadler.
On Andy's first night at Shawshank, there is an exterior shot of the prison. This shot is right next to the stream Andy runs through when he escapes nineteen years later.
The city of Mansfield, Ohio, held all-day open auditions for extras. So much interest was shown that no one was admitted after three in the afternoon.
This was DP Sir Roger Deakins's first Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. It would take 23 years and 12 nominations before he finally won the coveted statuette, with Blade Runner 2049 (2017).
The prison sits in the flight path of C-130 Hercules aircraft belonging to the Ohio Air National Guard's 179th Airlift Wing, which caused all manner of sound problems.
The tree where Red finds Andy's letter is not in Buxton, Maine. It is at Malabar Farm State Park in Ohio.
Camera angles were used to make Tim Robbins appear even taller than his 6'5" height, especially next to Brian Libby (Floyd), who is an inch shorter.
According to Morgan Freeman, the scene in which the inmates repair the prison roof was shot over "a very tough day" because the scene's camera moves had to match the tempo of Freeman's pre-recorded narration, which required multiple takes: "We were actually tarring that roof. And tar doesn't stay hot and fluid very long. It tends to dry and harden, so you're really working. You had to do it over and over again for different setups." Once they got a good take, they were "exhausted. [In the end] when we sat down and drank that beer, it was very welcome." The beer the inmates drink is Stroh's, a real Detroit brand that has existed since 1850.
According to Bob Gunton, the film was shot mostly in chronological order. A film is typically shot out of order according to practical needs such as the availability of actors and locations, but in this case the shooting schedule helped the actors' performances, since their real-life relationships developed alongside those of the characters. When he auditioned, Gunton, who had just finished Demolition Man (1993) and had shaved his head for it, wore a wig because he wanted to show his character's on-screen aging by gradually whitening his hair. He used the same wig while shooting his first scenes until his own hair grew back.
When the police come to arrest Norton, you can see the Ohio state seal on the door handle as it turns.
The Ink Spots' 1946 recording of "If I Didn't Care" plays over the opening credits and then is turned down to play under the opening courtroom dialogue.
For the scene in which the warden reaches into the safe, a small hole was cut behind the wall safe for camera access. Much later, when props from the film were sold off, a local safe collector bought it for his rec room.
The Trailways bus in the final scene is a 1960 GM PD-4104 delivered to Carolina Scenic Trailways. The late Jon Hobein, owner of Blue Ridge Trailways, found and restored it around 1990. It is now owned by Montgomery, Alabama-based Capital Trailways.
Although Shawshank Prison is supposedly in Maine, not a single character speaks with a New England accent.
When Tommy takes his GED exam in 1966, he uses a Scantron answer sheet with pencil dots for optical scanning. That technology was not introduced until 1972.
(At about 1 hour 36 minutes) Tommy is summoned outside to meet with Warden Norton to confirm Andy's innocence, which results in Norton having Tommy killed. The stock sound effect of the metal gate heard when the guard opens the door for Tommy has appeared in countless films, including The Rock (1996), Monsters, Inc. (2001), The Incredible Hulk (2008) and Drive (2011), and in video games such as Alone in the Dark (1992), Far Cry 3 (2012) and Grand Theft Auto V (2013). It was first recorded by Jerry Ross for Skywalker Sound on Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985).
Morgan Freeman described the script as "absolutely a delightful script" and said it was one of the best he had ever read. He immediately called his manager and said, "Whatever the role is, I want to be in this film." He was later very surprised to learn they wanted him for the role of Red: "I thought, 'Wow, I'm controlling the film!' That amazed me." The finished film is his favorite among his own.
Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Gene Hackman, Robert Redford and Robert Duvall were considered for the role of Red; in the novel, Red was a middle-aged white Irishman with graying red hair. However, none of these actors committed for various reasons. Redford may have been busy directing Quiz Show (1994), which would later compete with Shawshank at the box office and at the Oscars, with both nominated for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay (neither won). Castle Rock producer Liz Glotzer, ignoring the mention of race, suggested Morgan Freeman to Frank Darabont because of his authoritative bearing, manner and deep voice. Red's reply to Andy's question about his nickname, "Maybe it's because I'm Irish," was kept in the film as a joke.
To prepare for the role of Andy Dufresne, Tim Robbins spent some time in solitary confinement. He wanted to stay in the cell for three days, but the guards told him to try three hours first. Robbins later said three hours was more than enough to feel it, though he knew his experience was not the same because it was voluntary.
Clancy Brown said that to make his portrayal of Captain Hadley more realistic, he received offers from real guards to work with him. He turned them all down because Hadley is a bad character and he did not want to misrepresent real guards.
The youthful-looking photographs attached to Red's parole papers actually belong to Morgan Freeman's younger son, Alfonso Freeman. Alfonso also had a small role in the film as a prisoner who shouts "Fresh fish! Fresh fish today! We're reeling 'em in!" and mimes fishing. A year after The Shawshank Redemption, he appeared as a fingerprint technician in Seven (1995), another Morgan Freeman film.
Bob Gunton noted that Tim Robbins's height (1.96 m) narrowed the number of actors who could play Warden Norton, because Andy's escape plan depends on stealing and wearing Norton's suit. Gunton is 1.88 m tall.
Jon Favreau auditioned for the role of Fat Ass. He later told Empire Magazine that it was the worst audition he ever gave and that it motivated him to lose weight.
The role of Andy Dufresne was first offered to Tom Hanks, but he could not accept due to a scheduling conflict with Forrest Gump (1994). That film would go on to compete with The Shawshank Redemption at the Oscars in every category where Shawshank was nominated (Best Picture, Actor, Editing, Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Cinematography and Sound), winning the first four while Shawshank took home nothing. Hanks later agreed to star in Frank Darabont's next film, The Green Mile (1999), which was also a Stephen King adaptation set in a prison (and which won no Oscars despite four nominations).
Jeff Bridges, Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise, Matthew Broderick, Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp and Charlie Sheen were considered for the role of Andy Dufresne. Hanks declined due to his commitment to Forrest Gump (1994). Costner liked the script very much but was deep in shooting Waterworld (1995). Cruise got as far as a table read but was uneasy about Frank Darabont directing for the first time; he was willing to commit if Darabont's mentor Rob Reiner (who had directed Cruise in A Few Good Men (1992)) kept an eye on the production, but Reiner refused, saying it was Darabont's film and vision. Tim Robbins, who was suggested by Morgan Freeman, insisted that veteran cinematographer Roger Deakins (with whom he had worked on The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)) be hired as director of photography to offset Darabont's inexperience, and Darabont agreed. Robbins later hired Deakins when he directed Dead Man Walking (1995).
All the pictures in Andy's cell, apart from the large posters, were chosen by Tim Robbins.
In the scene where Brooks tells the other prisoners about Andy's first encounter with a guard, Brooks was originally meant to describe the encounter with profanity. James Whitmore suggested to Frank Darabont that he cut the swearing, pointing out that Brooks arrived at Shawshank in 1905 and would not speak that way in the outside world. Darabont agreed and removed the profanity from the scene.
James Whitmore was cast as Brooks because he was one of Frank Darabont's favorite character actors.
The role of Tommy Williams was considered for Brad Pitt, but Pitt starred that same year in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994). The role of Andy Dufresne was offered to that film's other lead, Tom Cruise, but no deal was reached.
The man sitting behind Gil Bellows (Tommy Williams) is Dennis Baker, the former warden of the Ohio State Reformatory, where the film was shot.
James Cromwell was considered for the role of Warden Sam Norton, but Bob Gunton was preferred. Years later, director Frank Darabont cast Cromwell as a guard in The Green Mile (1999), another Stephen King adaptation set in a prison.
Charlie Sheen liked the script so much that he called an executive he knew at Castle Rock and said, "I'll do this film for minimum wage." He even offered to do a 30-minute test shoot to show he could play Red, but Castle Rock refused and, according to Sheen, soon cast Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in the lead roles.
When Mark Rolston came in to audition, Frank Darabont said, "Oh my God, Drake from 'Aliens'!"
In the film, Andy (Tim Robbins) asks Red (Morgan Freeman) why he is called Red. Red replies, "Maybe it's because I'm Irish." This was a nod to Red being a red-haired Irishman in Stephen King's novel.
Sidney Poitier turned down the role of Red because he felt that portraying a prisoner would not set a good example.
In this film, Morgan Freeman uses his left hand heavily throughout the story. He is naturally left-handed, until a 2008 car accident affected his left arm and hand.
Contrary to their characters, Bob Gunton and Clancy Brown, who play the sadistic Warden Norton and Captain Hadley, got along very well with the other actors off set and were well liked.
After the film's release, Mark Rolston one day walked out of his manager's office and got into an elevator, holding a baby carrier with a sleeping baby in his arms. A woman in the elevator recognized Rolston as Bogs, panicked and began making a scene in the elevator. A worried Rolston had to calm her down so as not to wake and upset his child.
Darabont always tried to cast Brian Libby in his films, and he appears in this one as Floyd.
Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman later won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for films directed by Clint Eastwood: Robbins for Mystic River (2003) and Freeman for Million Dollar Baby (2004).
Clancy Brown, who plays Captain Hadley in this film, also played a character named Captain Hadley in The Guardian (2006).
William Sadler's first of three appearances in Frank Darabont's Stephen King adaptations. He later appeared in The Green Mile (1999) and The Mist (2007).
James Gandolfini auditioned for the role of Boggs but ultimately did not get the part. He later played a prison warden in The Last Castle (2001).
Steve Buscemi was considered for Boggs but, having recently played a dark character in Reservoir Dogs (1992), wanted to do a comedy at the time and decided to make Airheads (1994).
Morgan Freeman was the first to suggest Tim Robbins for the role of Andy Dufresne, and Frank Darabont cast Robbins after seeing his performance in Jacob's Ladder (1990). Darabont thought the "chemistry between Robbins and Freeman could be interesting because they are so different. Also Tim's mysterious quality... It's as if he carries a secret with him, and that sums up Andy's character." Robbins said the script was "the best script I've ever read" and was eager to work with Freeman because of fond memories of seeing him in The Electric Company (1971).
Andy Dufresne's wife is named Linda Collins-Dufresne. She is never identified in the film.
R. Lee Ermey was considered for the role of Captain Hadley but turned it down, believing it was an unrealistic portrayal of guards. He had the same concern while playing Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987).
In the Family Guy episode Cool Hand Peter (2011), Bob Gunton (Warden Norton) voices a corrupt prison warden who keeps the main characters imprisoned despite their innocence. Both characters share the same demeanor and physical traits.
Although Red jokingly tells Andy he is called "Red" because he is Irish, the audience is meant to understand that it comes from his surname being Redding; this is only seen on his parole papers and heard at his hearings. It is never explained in the film.
At a panel discussion in Mansfield, Ohio celebrating the film's 30th anniversary, director Frank Darabont stated that he had considered Brad Pitt for the role of Tommy Williams. He said Pitt was just beginning to be in demand and never responded to the director's calls; Canadian actor Gil Bellows ultimately took the role.
Two of the three women featured on Andy's posters over the years (Rita Hayworth and Raquel Welch) share the trait of being of Latin origin, both of whom were encouraged by Hollywood to change their names and invent biographies to conceal their true ethnic backgrounds. New York-born Hayworth, whose real name was Margarita Carmen Cansino, was the daughter of a Spanish man of Romani origin. Chicago-born Welch, whose real name was Jo Raquel Tejada, was the daughter of a Bolivian engineer.
Tom Wilson, known for the role of Biff in Back to the Future (1985), was considered for the role of Captain Hadley but turned it down because he did not want to play a villain again. Interestingly, Tim Robbins, who played Andy, had nearly been cast as Biff, but the producers preferred Wilson and Robbins was turned down.
Tom Hanks was offered the role of Andy Dufresne but declined due to his commitment to Forrest Gump (1994). Had he accepted, he would have played a major character named 'Andy' in films for three consecutive years, between Philadelphia (1993) (his character's name is Andy) and Toy Story (1995) (Andy the owner). Hanks later accepted the role of Paul Edgecomb in The Green Mile (1999) as a favor to Frank Darabont.
This is the second film in which James Whitmore (playing Brooks) portrays a character who is afraid of being in prison. The first was the episode On Thursday We Leave for Home (1963) from season 4 of The Twilight Zone.
Five characters in the film are taller than 1.83 m. Bob Gunton and Morgan Freeman are 1.88 m, Clancy Brown 1.91 m, Brian Libby 1.94 m, Tim Robbins 1.96 m.
When Andy is first assigned to the library, the first guard who comes to him for investment advice approaches him saying "I'm Dekins." Because the film's cinematographer was Sir Roger Deakins, many people thought the character was named after him. However, Frank Darabont had written the character Dekins into the script before hiring his crew; the character's name comes from the novella (the different spelling confirms this).
William H. Macy was considered for Norton but decided to make The Client (1994), which starred Susan Sarandon, who was then in a relationship with Tim Robbins that continued for a decade after the film. Macy later worked with Freeman on The Maiden Heist (2009).
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau were considered for the role of Brooks but both turned it down to star in Grumpy Old Men (1993). Matthau initially did not want to make the other film and nearly agreed to play Brooks, but Lemmon and his son persuaded him to make the other film. It became one of the biggest box office successes years later. Matthau and James Whitmore, who ultimately played Brooks, share the same birthday (October 1); Matthau was exactly one year older than Whitmore.
Morgan Freeman's son Alfonso Freeman (who played Fresh Fish Con), appeared in a short film titled The SharkTank Redemption (2000), about a man and his partner trying to sell the rights to their prison film script to Hollywood.
Stephen King and Frank Darabont disagreed over who played Floyd; King thought he resembled Neville Brand, while Darabont thought he resembled Lee Marvin.
Robert Duvall was considered for Norton but was persuaded to take other projects.
Edward Herrmann was considered for the role of Warden Norton but turned it down to make Richie Rich (1994).
Clancy Brown (Captain Hadley) and Mark Rolston (Boggs Diamond) both voiced Lex Luthor in Superman cartoons.
John Horton [the 1946 judge] played another judge in Thinner (1996), also a Stephen King adaptation.
Lloyd Bridges and Leslie Nielsen were considered for Brooks because both were serious dramatic actors early in their careers. However, after the release of Airplane! (1980), both revived their careers as comedy actors, and Frank Darabont felt a comedy actor was wrong for the role. Bridges was the father of Jeff Bridges, who was at one point considered for the role of Andy Dufresne.
In 2005, eleven years after the film's release, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman appeared together in War of the Worlds (2005) alongside Tom Cruise (who had originally been considered for Andy Dufresne). Freeman again served as the film's narrator, but Robbins and Freeman had no scene together.
Matthew Broderick, John Cusack, Vincent D'Onofrio, Robert Downey Jr. and Chris O'Donnell were considered for the role of Tommy Williams.
This is Clancy Brown's second appearance in a Stephen King adaptation film. He also appeared in Pet Sematary II (1992).
Clancy Brown plays a villainous inmate with authority in Bad Boys (1983), and in this film he plays a villainous guard with authority. In Legacy (2015) he plays a good inmate.
Four of the seven film and television projects featuring actor Brian Libby are all works directed by Frank Darabont.
Morgan Freeman says his surname several times in this film, but it is pronounced as two words: "I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a 'free man' can feel. A 'free man' at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border." "We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like 'free men.' Hell, we could have been tarring the roof of one of our own houses. We were the lords of all creation."
Andy Dufresne's prison identification number is 37927.
Clancy Brown also plays a prison guard in The Hurricane (1999).
David Proval, who plays Snooze in a smaller role in this film, also played Richie Aprile, a villainous rival of Tony Soprano, in season 2 of The Sopranos (1999).
Three years after the release of this film, Jeffrey DeMunn, the prosecutor who helps convict Dufresne at the beginning of the film, and William Sadler appeared together in RocketMan (1997). DeMunn and Sadler appeared together in The Green Mile (1999); DeMunn played the guard Harry Terwilliger and Sadler played Klaus Detterick.
Mark Rolston (Bogs Diamond, the leader of the Sisters) later played an inmate again in Canamar (2003) (#2.17).
Bull Durham's (1988) leads Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins appeared alongside Morgan Freeman. Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), and Robbins in this film.
Six main cast members appeared in superhero stories: Tim Robbins and Clancy Brown in Green Lantern (2011); Morgan Freeman in the Dark Knight trilogy; Bob Gunton and Clancy Brown in Daredevil (2015); William Sadler in Iron Man 3 (2013); Clancy Brown in Thor: Ragnarok (2017); Mark Rolston in Young Justice (2010).
Although they have no scenes together, Morgan Freeman and Bob Gunton had previously appeared together in Glory (1989).
William Sadler (Heywood) and Jeffrey DeMunn (the 1946 prosecutor) appeared in The Green Mile (1999).
Mark Rolston and Brian Libby, who play Bogs Diamond and Floyd, also appeared in Eraser (1996), to whose screenplay Frank Darabont contributed uncredited.
There are two actors in the film who grew up in Buffalo, NY: William Sadler and James Whitmore.
Morgan Freeman and Ned Bellamy later appeared together in The Contract (2006).
Stephen King never cashed the $5,000 check paid to him for the film's rights. A few years after the film was released, he had the check framed and sent it back to Frank Darabont with a note written on it: "In case you need bail money. Love, Steve."
Despite its failure at the box office, Warner Bros. sent 320,000 VHS rental copies to video stores in the US. A spokesperson acknowledged that this figure was "disproportionate" to the film's theatrical performance, but stated that the decision was based on the period when the film was being talked about for Oscars even though it won no awards. The film became the most rented video of 1995 and one of the highest-grossing video rental titles of all time.
Frank Darabont wanted to end the film like the novel's open-ended conclusion: with Red traveling on the bus to Mexico in the hope of (hopefully) reuniting with Andy. Darabont wanted to avoid a "commercial, sentimental" ending in which the two characters reunite. However, Castle Rock producer Liz Glotzer insisted that the pair should come together to please audiences, and the idea was in fact hers. Castle Rock agreed to finance the shooting of the scene but left the final decision to Darabont. In the first version shot, Andy and Red repeated their dialogue from their first meeting, but Darabont cut most of it, and instead of a tearful reunion, the film observes the event from a distance. This was Darabont's concession to Castle Rock's request. Both Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins felt that this scene gave the film the necessary closure, and Darabont came to the same conclusion after seeing that test audiences loved the scene.
Stephen King considers this film one of his favorite adaptations based on his own works.
Despite receiving excellent reviews and some of the best test-screening scores of all time, the film was a major box-office disappointment when it was released. Its initial gross of 18 million dollars (including an opening weekend of under 1 million dollars) did not even cover its 25 million dollar production budget. Even after the Oscar nominations added another 10 million dollars and brought its worldwide total to 73.3 million dollars, the film was still considered a box-office failure. Among the reasons cited for its poor box-office performance were competition from the more popular Pulp Fiction (1994) and Forrest Gump (1994), declining interest in prison films compared with action films, and the lack of female characters. Morgan Freeman also cited the film's "difficult" title, which nobody could pronounce or remember, as another major reason for its commercial failure, because in the 1990s (when there was almost no internet) word of mouth played a far greater role in a film's success than in later years.
Although it is regarded as one of the best films of all time, it failed to win a single Oscar despite being nominated in seven categories (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay). The film lost Actor, Editing and Adapted Screenplay to Forrest Gump; Cinematography to Legends of the Fall; Sound to Speed; and Score to The Lion King. It was also largely ignored at the Golden Globes, receiving nominations only for Best Actor and Best Screenplay and winning neither. In 2015, however, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, deeming it "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." Director Frank Darabont commented, "I can think of no greater honor than The Shawshank Redemption being recognized as part of our nation's cinematic heritage."
A dedication to Allen Greene appears at the end of the film. Greene was Frank Darabont's agent and also a close friend. He died of AIDS complications shortly before the film was completed.
The full title of Stephen King's story, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption," was not used because of a perception in Hollywood that the film would actually be a biography about Rita Hayworth. Frank Darabont even received offers from the agents of many actors and supermodels for the lead role.
Castle Rock producer Liz Glotzer was, in her own words, someone with a "prison obsession," and she was so impressed by Frank Darabont's screenplay that she threatened to quit if the company did not make the film. Company co-founder Rob Reiner was also so taken with the script that he offered Darabont 2.5-3 million dollars for the rights to the screenplay so that he could direct the film himself. Reiner was considering Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise for the roles of Red and Andy respectively, and Castle Rock was even prepared to finance any film Darabont wanted to develop if he let Reiner direct. Darabont, who was in financial difficulty at the time, seriously considered the offer but ultimately decided that directing his own film was "the chance to do something really great." He even gave up his salary in order to direct, and risked Castle Rock agreeing to the deal and then firing him for incompetence. Reiner fully supported Darabont's decision and mentored him on the project.
Stephen King said that his original story was an accumulation of all the memories of prison films he had watched as a child that had stayed with him.
Stephen King sold the rights to his story "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" for only 5,000 dollars because of his friendship with Frank Darabont. They had become friends when Darabont adapted King's short story "The Woman in the Room" (King's policy is that any aspiring filmmaker may adapt his short stories for 1 dollar), and King had been very impressed. They remained pen pals and did not actually meet until Darabont optioned "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption." Although King gave his approval for the adaptation, he told Darabont that he "really didn't understand how he was going to make a film out of this," because the novella was more about personal thoughts, but Darabont replied, "To me it was very clear."
The first film to receive 2 million votes on IMDb.
Raquel Welch, whose poster in One Million Years B.C. (1966) plays an important role in the film, was a big fan of this film.
Frank Darabont decided that the scenes cut from the film would not be included in the DVD release because he is ashamed of them and does not want them to be seen publicly.
After the film gained popularity, it was alleged that Ted Turner, who bought Castle Rock in 1993, sold the film's television rights to his own channel TNT at a price far below normal. Because it was so cheap to broadcast, the film aired extremely frequently on TNT, which contributed to the growth of its fan base. Director Frank Darabont, however, claims that Turner had the right to broadcast their films as much as he wanted as part of the deal to finance their films because he owned Castle Rock. Castle Rock producer Liz Glotzer believed that, since licensing fees are generally based on box-office gross, The Shawshank Redemption was a bargain for TNT because it had grossed only 28 million dollars, whereas they could charge a premium for advertising time.
There were many scenes cut from the film, mostly for pacing reasons: 1. A sequence in which the prisoners find Jake (Brooks's pet crow) dead in a field after Brooks leaves, hold a funeral for him and bury him. This cut leads to a subtle thematic shift; in the script both Brooks and Jake represent the dangers of institutionalization, while on screen Jake becomes a harbinger of Andy's successful escape at the film's climax. 2. Tommy's young wife visiting him and their conversation showing more vividly why Tommy decided to change his life and approached Andy to get his GED. 3. After Andy's escape, an unlucky guard is sent to see where the tunnel leads and vomits when he sees the broken sewage pipe and the unbearable smell of shit. Red hears it from his cell and bursts into laughter. He is sent to two weeks in solitary confinement and keeps laughing there, so that he himself learns what Andy meant (after the loudspeaker incident) by "easy time" in "the hole." 4. More scenes about Red adjusting to the 1960s after being paroled; for example, his comment about 1967's 'Summer of Love' that there is "not a bra to be seen." Red also has a panic attack in the supermarket and runs into a toilet stall, which calms him because it reminds him of his cell. Thus his choice to find the tree and the rock wall becomes more meaningful because it contrasts with Brooks's choice. Finally, a scene was written in which Red dreams and Andy is pulled into the Rita Hayworth poster. He finds himself alone and insignificant on the Pacific coast and says, "I'm scared, there's no place like home." Frank Darabont thought it contained some of his best writing, but unfortunately the scene could not be shot because there was no time left in the shooting schedule.
Tim Robbins has told how often strangers tell him how much they love this film: "I swear, all over the world - everywhere - wherever I go, there are people who say, 'This film changed my life.'" When he appeared on NPR's "It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders" in April 2018, he said, "I'm proud of this film, really proud of it... I've talked about this with Morgan. It's quite special... it's different from other films that people talk to you about. It has a deep meaning for people. And it's more than just loving the film. It's deeper than that. People have told me it changed the way they think, pulled them out of depression, helped them understand a deeper truth about themselves. That's a pretty cool thing to be part of, and when people tell you almost every day 'you're in my favorite film,' that's a pretty cool thing you can check off the to-do list... you know, I don't have to do that in my life anymore." Morgan Freeman agreed: "Everywhere you go, people say 'The Shawshank Redemption - the best film I've ever seen.' It just rolls off their tongues." In an article published in The Wall Street Journal in May 2015, linguist Ben Zimmer reported that the term "bucket list" was actually invented by Justin Zackham, the screenwriter of Freeman's other film The Bucket List (2007).
Stephen King's only criticism of the film was that Andy's tunnel was too round. According to Frank Darabont, King compared the tunnel to Wile E. Coyote's tunnel.
The film is generally faithful to Stephen King's story. Here are some differences: * In the story, it is stated that Andy smuggled five hundred dollars into prison in his anus; how exactly he paid Red the ten dollars for the rock hammer is not clear in the film. * In the story, after the first hammer wears out, Andy orders a second rock hammer from Red. This does not happen in the film. * In the story, the prison is run by more than one warden. In the film, these are combined into the character of Norton. For example, in the story, the warden who agrees to mail Andy's letters and the warden who ultimately treats him very harshly are not the same person. * In the story, in addition to Red being a white Irishman, the details of his crime, which the film does not specify, are also given. * In the film, Hadley and the guards beat Boggs as a favor to Andy for all the financial tips. In the story, Andy pays the bullies the money he smuggled into prison to make them do it. * Tommy's story is somewhat different. He tells Andy that his former cellmate boasted of pinning the double murder he committed on a lawyer instead of a banker, and Andy clings to the idea that the two professions were often confused at the time. * Tommy is not killed in the story; he is transferred to a better prison in exchange for not testifying on Andy's behalf. * The ending perhaps received the most important changes. Red's account of Andy's time in prison is different. In the story, Andy spends 26 years in prison before his final escape. In the film, he spends 19 years, and in Red's narration, "...Andy did this (digging through the wall in his cell) in less than 20 years." * Also, Red's telling of Andy Dufresne's story is a memoir Red writes at Shawshank after Andy's escape, and, surprisingly, when he is paroled he leaves the prison with the manuscript and ends with the confidence that he will go to Mexico and find Andy. In the film, there is no indication that Red has written his account down on paper. * When Red is released from Shawshank Prison, he finds a package Andy left in a hayfield. In the film, he goes directly to him; in the story, his search for the right hayfield is a fairly important part of the plot. * The final scene, in which Andy sands a boat on the beach and reunites with Red, is not in the story; the story ends as Red heads south to meet Andy. Whether they find each other again is left uncertain.
In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked the film as the 72nd Greatest Film of All Time. It was the film's first appearance on the list.
One of the film's most important scenes, in which Dufresne barricades himself in the warden's office and plays opera over the prison loudspeakers, is not in Stephen King's original story.
It ranked 4th on Empire magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Films of All Time (September 2008).
According to Bob Gunton (Warden Norton), the film is so popular in terms of TV broadcasts and downloads that, despite being only third in the cast, he earned nearly $100,000 in residuals in a single year.
The Shawshank Redemption first opened in limited release in North America on September 23, 1994, in only 33 theaters. On October 14, 1994, the date Pulp Fiction (1994) was released, it went into wide release in about 910 additional theaters. Both films were nominated for 7 Academy Awards each, both gained cult status in later years, and both are in the top 10 of IMDb's top 250 films. (As of July 2017)
Among the changes Frank Darabont made to Stephen King's story is having a single warden (Warden Norton) serve as the main antagonist in the film, when there were actually three wardens. In addition, the role of Brooks, a minor character in the book whose poignant story is told in just one paragraph, was greatly expanded.
Initially, Frank Darabont planned to make his directorial debut with a horror film in the style of Child's Play (1988), but he was not very enthusiastic about that possibility. Instead, he decided to adapt Stephen King's unusual short story. The resulting screenplay quickly became a focus of attention in Hollywood and drew interest from stars such as Nicolas Cage and Tom Cruise.
Frank Darabont wrote the screenplay on spec to escape the dead end of writing horror sequels such as The Fly II (1989) and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987).
After acquiring the adaptation rights to Stephen King's novel, Frank Darabont said that although he had some clear ideas for turning it into a film, he was not yet ready to sit down at his word processor. Over the following five years, he co-wrote The Blob (1988) and The Fly II (1989) before deciding to write his own screenplay, which he wrote in eight weeks.
The original story appears in Stephen King's collection of novellas 'Different Seasons', which also includes 'Apt Pupil' (filmed as Apt Pupil (1998)), 'The Body' (filmed as Stand by Me (1986)) and 'The Breathing Method'. In fact, the success of Stand by Me (1986) allowed Rob Reiner to found his own production company, Castle Rock, which was instrumental in the production of The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Despite being optioned by Blumhouse Productions in 2012, 'The Breathing Method' is the only work that has not been adapted into a film as of 2024. The 'Apt Pupil' story briefly mentions that Andy Dufresne handled the finances of its main villain, Kurt Dussander, between 1945 and 1947.
Frank Darabont began to take an interest in opera while writing the screenplay. When he felt "stuck" during the writing process, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" lifted his spirits. This later gave him the inspiration to use that piece of music in the film and created the moment when Andy plays it over the loudspeakers for the other inmates; that scene was not in Stephen King's source novel.
It has held the number 1 spot on IMDb's Top 250 list since August 2008, taking that position over from The Dark Knight (2008).
Goodfellas (1990) inspired the film's style. Frank Darabont says his main sources of inspiration were its use of voice-over narration and its editing techniques.
The film aired on US channels for 151 hours in 2013 alone - six days and seven hours.
It received more Oscar nominations than any other Stephen King film.
There is now a Shawshank Trail for tourists, and local businesses have joined in on the trend. In that part of Ohio, you can buy yourself some Reformatory "Red" Wine or Shawshank Bundt Cakes, and the local Two Cousins Pizza sells Redemption pie.
It was voted the Number 1 Must-See Film of all time by Capital FM listeners in London.
The film was released in Taiwan as "1995: Fantastic" (it was released in Taiwan in 1995). Many viewers thought it would be an action film.
It is one of only five films to have held the number 1 spot on IMDb's Top 250 list; the other four are The Godfather (1972), Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Dark Knight (2008).
The film is included in Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.
It was the first Stephen King film to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. The second would be The Green Mile (1999).
It is the only film nominated for Best Picture at that year's Academy Awards that was not nominated in any Best Picture category at the Golden Globes.
The film's various international titles: * Danish - "En Verden Udenfor" ("A World Outside"). * Finnish - "Rita Hayworth - Avain pakoon" ("Rita Hayworth - The Key to Escape"). * French - "Les Evadés" ("The Escapees"). * French Canadian - "À l'ombre de Shawshank" ("In the Shadow of Shawshank"). * German - "Die Verurteilten" ("The Convicted"). * Greek - "Teleutea Exodos - Rita Hayworth" ("Final Exit - Rita Hayworth"). * Hungarian - "A remény rabjai" ("Prisoners of Hope"). * Israel - "Homot Shel Tikva" ("Walls of Hope"). * Italian - "Le ali della libertà" ("The Wings of Freedom"). * Latin America - "Sueños de libertad" ("Dreams of Freedom"). * Mexico - "Sueños de Fuga" ("Dreams of Escape"). * Norwegian - "Frihetens Regn" ("The Rain of Freedom"). * Portuguese - "Os Condenados de Shawshank" ("The Convicts of Shawshank"). * Romanian - "Închisoarea îngerilor" ("The Prison of Angels"). * Russian - "Pobeg iz Shoushenka" ("Escape from Shawshank"). * Spanish - "Cadena Perpetua" ("Life Imprisonment"). * Swedish - "Nyckeln Till Frihet" ("The Key to Freedom"). * Turkish - "Esaretin Bedeli" ("The Price of Captivity").
With its mostly excellent reviews and strong positive test screenings, the film was expected to do well. But on opening night, director Frank Darabont and Castle Rock producer Liz Glotzer went to several theaters to gauge audience reactions and found the Cinerama Dome in LA (a theater with more than 900 seats) nearly empty. Glotzer attributed this to LA critic Kenneth Turan, who wrote one of the film's few bad reviews and, objecting to its "sentimentality," likened the film to "a giant marshmallow." In desperation, the filmmakers cornered two girls and sold them tickets with the promise that Castle Rock would refund their money on Monday if they didn't like the film. Glotzer said, "That was our big opening night."
The film has been shown on video nights at various decommissioned prisons around the world to give audiences an added sense of realism.
Stephen King's story shares several plot points with a nine-page short story by Lev Tolstoy titled "God Sees the Truth, But Waits." Both concern men sent to prison for murders they did not commit.
It was included in the American Film Institute's 2005 list of 250 films nominated for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.
It is among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," compiled by Steven Schneider.
There have been complaints that the film portrays prison more beautifully than Hollywood films have since the 1930s.
Of the 55 actors credited in the film, only four are women, and only two of them have meaningful dialogue. The other women are uncredited extras.
The $370,000 Andy steals from the Warden in 1966 may not seem like a huge sum for nearly 20 years of imprisonment, but adjusted for inflation to 2026, Andy stole an amount equivalent to $3,770,951.
Red says Andy escaped in 1966. That was the same year as the landmark Miranda v. Arizona case in the US Supreme Court, in which it was ruled that a defendant must be informed of their rights upon arrest. This is why, at the end of the film, when they arrest Captain Hadley (Clancy Brown), the officer reads him his Miranda rights from a piece of paper.
Although it is never stated directly in the film, the reason Brooks is in prison is the claim that he killed his wife and daughter after a losing streak at poker.
Tim Robbins once described the film as a unique, non-sexual love story between two men.
When the warden rummages through Andy's Bible after his escape, he finds the hollowed-out space where Andy's rock hammer was hidden in the Book of Exodus, which tells the story of the Hebrew slaves fleeing Egypt. The word Exodus literally means 'to flee or depart'.
In the film, when Andy asks 'Why are you in Shawshank?', Red answers 'Murder'. The novel explains this in detail; Red has been sentenced to three consecutive life terms for killing his wife, his neighbor's wife and his neighbor's son. Red had cut the brakes on his car to kill his wife and collect on an insurance policy; he had not planned for two other people to join his wife on that ill-fated journey. The film, however, shows Red leaving prison after only one successful parole hearing instead of three, because the details of his crime are left vague.
Red describes Andy's dream as 'shitty pipe dreams'. To live that dream, Andy crawls through a pipe full of sewage during his escape.
In many of the later scenes, Andy has very pronounced dark circles under his eyes that grow more intense as he ages. Although this could be attributed to the stress of the warden's cruel treatment, it actually stems from the sleepless nights he spends chipping through his cell wall with a hammer.
There are only four female actors in the film, and none of them is named: Andy's wife, Brooks's landlady, the customer at the grocery store who complains about Brooks's service, and the woman at the bank who helps Andy after his escape. Only three of them have speaking roles in the film (the landlady remains silent), and their total dialogue amounts to just 23 words; Andy's wife's 'dialogue' consists of the 'Oh God' she repeats four times during the lovemaking scene.
The last word spoken in the film is 'hope', one of its main themes.
There are many similarities to Alexandre Dumas's novel 'The Count of Monte Cristo' (which is also mentioned in the film). Dumas's novel is about a man wrongly imprisoned for a crime, who makes a daring escape after digging a tunnel for years. After escaping, he obtains a hidden treasure he learned of in prison and carries out a plan to take revenge on those who imprisoned him.
Despite handling cigarette packs and frequently being seen with cigarettes (he gives packs to Heywood, Brooks Hatlen and Laundry Leonard), Red is never seen smoking in the film.
The fictional Shawshank prison is one of the key elements of Stephen King's writing, much of which is set in Maine. Although it appears only in this story, many other books and short stories mention characters sentenced to serve time at Shawshank. The prison also appears in other Stephen King adaptations such as 'Dolores Claiborne' (1995); Dolores (Kathy Bates) shouts at her husband that he will serve time at Shawshank for touching their daughter inappropriately. And in 'It: Welcome to Derry' (2025), the father of one of the main characters is sent to Shawshank for a murder he did not commit.
The character Andy Dufresne makes a cameo in 'Apt Pupil', another Stephen King novel. Andy managed the investments of the hidden Nazi Dussander.
In 2007, two inmates escaped from Union County Jail in New Jersey using techniques similar to those in this film. Their escape led to the suicide of guard Rudolph Zurick. When the escapees were caught, they denied responsibility for Zurick's death.
Many critics have identified numerous allegorical themes in the film; the general view is that Andy Dufresne is a latter-day Jesus Christ. Frank Darabont rejects such claims, but states that he is pleased so many people read so much meaning into his film.
In Red's three appearances before the parole board, he is told 'Sit', 'Sit down' and finally 'Please sit down', respectively.
Buxton, Maine, where Andy says he proposed to his wife and where he buries the 'treasure' for Red under the tree, is a real small town (population 7,452 according to the 2000 census) about fifteen miles west of Portland; Andy was a banker there.
In the book, Red's life sentence is for killing his wife, his neighbor and his neighbor's child. In an attempted fraud, he took out a large insurance policy on his wife and then disabled the brakes on his car; unfortunately, the resulting accident killed not only her but also the two other people who had been taken along in the car.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the $35,000 Captain Hadley inherited from his brother in the spring of 1949 had the purchasing power of about $387,000 as of May 2021; in other words, Andy Dufresne was able to help 'the toughest guard on duty at Shawshank State Penitentiary' keep nearly $400,000 tax-free.
The Royal River appears in many of Stephen King's novels; in 'The Body' it is the river the children cross when they are attacked by leeches, and in 'Salem's Lot' and 'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption' it is the river where Andy throws his gun.
Red says he does not know what the women in 'The Marriage of Figaro' are singing about. In fact, they are writing a letter to each other's husband inviting him to a tryst with the other, in order to expose his infidelity.
In the original novel, Andy's cell has four different pin-up posters: Jayne Mansfield, Linda Ronstadt, Hazel Court and Rita Hayworth. In the film there are only three: Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch.
When Brooks leaves the prison, the camera's point of view is from the outside looking in; but when Red passes through the same gates, he is seen from the inside looking out. This may suggest that Brooks's fate on the outside is, sadly, unknown and that he awaits it with anxiety, while Red is seen looking toward the future with a prospect before him. This could be a nod to the line 'Get busy living, or get busy dying', which is of great importance to the character development in the film.
Shawshank prison, in both the book and the film, is based on Thomaston prison, an old prison located in Thomaston, Maine. It was closed in 2004 due to its small size and dilapidated structure.
While Andy and Red talk in the library about how the warden launders his money, Andy mentions the 'second cousin of Harvey the Rabbit'. This is a reference to the play 'Harvey', published in 1944, about a 6'3'' invisible rabbit visible only to its main character, Elwood P. Dowd.
Throughout the film, the harmonica is used as a symbol of hope. Andy associates music with hope, while Red says the prison has no room for hope and that he stopped playing the harmonica after entering prison. Andy later gives him a new harmonica, an attempt to renew his hope. At the end of the film, when Red violates his parole and decides to find Andy's tree, a harmonica enters the film's score at the moment the tree appears clearly on screen.
In the scene where Andy's cell is searched, attentive viewers will begin to suspect the importance of Andy's Bible and the Rita Hayworth poster. Note especially the shot in which Andy looks at the camera with an expression of extreme unease and the Hayworth poster is prominently framed on the left side of the screen. Then there is the part where Warden Norton takes the Bible Andy is clutching anxiously, examines its exterior and hands it back to Andy, saying 'Salvation lies within'. We later learn that the warden was literally an inch away from discovering the rock hammer.
The Italian opera that plays when Andy turns on the music concerns two women setting a trap to catch a man in his infidelity, just as Andy catches his wife cheating at the beginning of the film.
Warden Norton whistles Martin Luther's signature hymn 'Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott', or 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God'.
Both Andy and Red are serving time at Shawshank for murder, and the story tells of both finding redemption in their own ways. Red, who is guilty, sincerely repents of his crimes and ultimately convinces the parole board that he deserves a second chance in life; Andy, who is innocent, blames himself for indirectly causing his wife's death by pushing her into the arms of a man condemned to die, but proves through the good deeds he performs behind bars that he is truly a good man and escapes Shawshank when he decides he deserves a second chance in life.
The Rita Hayworth film the prisoners watch is 'Gilda' (1946).
In the original novel, Red is paid for his smuggling activities not only with cigarettes but also with real money that the prisoners (including Andy) smuggle into Shawshank in their rectums, that is, in their prison wallets.
Andy Dufresne bought the rock hammer from Red in 1947 for 10 dollars. Adjusted for 2024 inflation, this cost would be 138 dollars. Captain Hadley inherited 35,000 dollars from his brother in 1949. Adjusted for inflation, the inheritance would be 455,000 dollars in 2024. Before crossing the border, Andy Dufresne withdrew 370,000 dollars of Warden Norton's money in 1966. Adjusted for inflation, that would be 3,535,000 dollars in 2024.
In French, Dufresne means 'ash' or 'ash tree'. In folklore and symbolism, the ash tree typically represents healing, while also being a sign of death and rebirth; all of which apply to Andy, his sentence and his ultimate escape from Shawshank.
The headline in Norton's newspaper after Andy's escape reads: 'CORRUPTION, MURDER AT SHAWSHANK Prosecutor Has Ledger; Indictments Expected.'
In many of Stephen King's novels, his characters often smoke Chesterfield cigarettes. This was the first brand he smoked. His World War II veteran uncle had rejected them as 'barracks cigarettes'.
The candy tin in which Andy buried the money and a letter bears the image of the ocean liner RMS Queen Mary. It was issued in the 1950s by a British company called Benson's as part of a series.
After the warden and his guards ransack Andy's cell, the warden nearly walks off with Andy's Bible. Handing it back to Andy, he says, 'I'd hate to deprive you of this. Salvation lies within.' Yet he does not know that the rock hammer that will lead to Andy's salvation (his escape) is literally inside the Bible. It is presumed that the warden, when he finds the Bible in his safe, realizes that he helped Andy escape, along with the hollow in its pages where the hammer was hidden for years.
Red's cell number is 237. In 'The Shining' (1980), also adapted from a Stephen King book, the dead woman stays in room 237 of the Overlook Hotel (in the book it is room 217).
In the library scene, Andy tells Heywood he will love 'The Count of Monte Cristo' because it is about a prison escape. And just like the novel's hero Edmond Dantes, Andy escapes from prison through a secret tunnel and takes revenge on those who wronged him - although Warden Norton was not responsible for Andy being sent to prison by mistake, he deliberately kept him there after learning of his innocence.
There is a picture of Albert Einstein on the wall of Andy Dufresne's cell. Tim Robbins, who plays Andy Dufresne, also appeared in the fictional film about Einstein, 'I.Q.' (1994).
Death toll: six. Andy's wife and her lover; the new inmate nicknamed 'Fat Ass', Brooks, Tommy and Warden Norton. If the worm eaten by Jake is included, it becomes seven. The first three deaths take place off screen, but the physical abuse that leads to Fat Ass's death is shown.
At the trial at the beginning of the film, Andy tells a story about his wife wanting to reside briefly in Reno, NV for an easy divorce; this function had brought Reno great fame and popularity from the 1930s to the '50s. Coincidentally, one of the many celebrities who divorced in Reno was Rita Hayworth, the object of Andy's first admiration and the subject of the poster concealing his first escape.
Heywood and Floyd are the names of two Shawshank inmates. Heywood Floyd is a NASA administrator in the books written by Sir Arthur C. Clarke, including '2001: A Space Odyssey' and '2010: Odyssey Two'.
The phrase 'Get busy living or get busy dying' inspired the title of Fall Out Boy's song 'Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows)' from their 2005 album 'From Under the Cork Tree'.
Bob Gunton explained that when Warden Norton decides to commit suicide, he looks at the photograph of his wife on his desk.
When Boggs returns to his cell after spending time in the swear cell, he finds the guard in his cell; a book titled 'Calamity Range' is visible on the shelf. Written by Paul Evan Lehman in 1939, 'Calamity Range' is described as a work of fiction set in the western United States about finding revenge and a vendetta.
The green grass outside the walls of Shawshank prison represents hope.
Andy's escape is by no means a revelation. Since the sewage pipe is 3 to 5 football fields long before it empties into the creek, Andy could not have known that the pipe might narrow or that there might be bars or a net at the exit. In a narrowing pipe Andy could have become stuck, and the bars would symbolically have kept him in prison.
Symbolic references can be found in many areas of the film. For example, Red's full name is Ellis Redding. Ellis derives from the Welsh word 'elus' and means 'kind, benevolent'; Redding, as a Germanic surname, means 'counsel, advice' (Ellis Redding = 'benevolent adviser'). Andy Dufresne carries the symbolism of being a savior for many of the inmates in the prison. Andy's name (Andrew) means 'brave, strong, courageous' and his initials are A. D. (anno Domini, 'in the year of our Lord'). Andy's main enemy is the Warden, symbolized as the devil (Lucifer means 'light-bringer'). When asked in the Bible for his favorite passage, he says, 'I am the light of the world...'
If Andy had been lying in the cell just one to the left of the one he was in, he would have had nowhere to dig a tunnel and therefore would not have had an incredible story to tell.
When Tommy Williams is disappointed by his high school equivalency exam, he throws it into the trash can like a basketball and says it is worth two points. Coincidentally, a grade of C is worth two grade points. Ironically, Tommy exceeds his own expectations and receives his high school diploma with a C+ average.
In his narration, Red mentions the 'two Italian ladies' duetting from Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro'. In fact, although the opera was written in Italian, the singers or their characters are not Italian. The two characters are Spanish (the opera is set on the estate of a nobleman near Seville) and the singers are the Austrian Gundula Janowitz and the Swiss Edith Mathis.
The envelope that arrives at the Portland Daily Bugle has 67 cents' worth of postage stamps: three 5-cent 'Crusade Against Cancer' stamps issued on April 1, 1965, and four 13-cent 'Prominent Americans: John F. Kennedy' commemorative stamps issued on May 29, 1967.
When the Warden finally opens the Bible and reveals where the rock hammer was hidden, the chapter heading on the left is Exodus.
Toward the end of the film, while Red is describing Andy's escape, he says that Andy crawled 500 yards, a little less than half a mile, to freedom. 500 yards is a little more than a quarter of a mile.
On the wall above the large posters, 'MOTHER' is carved. Tim Robbins played Larry 'Mother' Tucker in 'Fraternity Vacation' (1985).
In Shawshank Redemption, while Warden Norton leaves Andy Dufresne in his office to polish his shoes, he whistles the hymn 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God'. This hymn is a powerful Protestant anthem written by Martin Luther, and its use carries deep irony. Norton, who often uses religion as a weapon to justify his control and corruption, whistles it at a moment of defeat, unaware that Andy has completely gotten the better of him. The choice of melody underscores the film's themes of justice, hypocrisy and spiritual resilience.
The halfway house where Brooks, and eventually Red, stays is called Brewer. Brewer is a town in Maine, next to Bangor, where the story's author Stephen King lived.