The Shawshank Redemption

Em: 00:01:50

Hi, everyone.

I'm Em, and welcome to verbal diorama, episode 352, the Shawshank Redemption. This is the podcast that's all about the history and legacy of movies you know, and movies you don't. That's one big damn conspiracy.

And everyone's in on it. Including her. Welcome to Verbal Diorama.

Whether you're a brand new listener, whether you're a regular returning listener, thank you so much for being here.

Em: 00:02:46

Thank you so much for choosing to listen to this podcast. I'm so happy to have you here for the history and legacy of the Shawshank Redemption.

And as always, if you are a regular returning listener, thank you so much for continuing to listen and support this podcast, however long you've been listening and supporting this podcast. But this podcast has been going for over seven years now and 352 episodes, which still kind of blows my mind a little bit. But thank you so much.

For your support. It genuinely means so much and you thank and if you are a brand new listener to this podcast, you've got a lot of podcasts to catch up with.

So if you enjoy this episode, make sure you go back into the back catalog. There's plenty of the history and legacy of other movies on this podcast.

Obviously, the last few weeks on this podcast have been a little bit different.

We've kind of gone through all of the different genres, from the movie adaptation of the stage version of Hamilton through to the 350th episode on Star wars, then going to cult favourite Empire Records. And really the story of the Shawshank Redemption kind of emulates Empire Records in a way. A movie that didn't do so well at the box office.

Although, let's be honest, the Shawshank Redemption didn't quite bomb as spectacularly as Empire Records did. But both of those movies have gained a reputation and a following.

, a position it's held since: 2008

So there must be a really interesting story behind the Shawshank Redemption, right? So let's go into it. Here's the trailer for the Shawshank Redemption.

Em: 00:06:47

te his pleas of innocence, in: 1949

After overhearing the captain of the guards complaining about taxation to Dufresne offers to help him with his financial affairs. Over time, he starts building trust with the guards and warden and eventually starts helping the warden launder money.

Let's run through the cast of this movie.

We have Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne, Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd Red Redding, Bob Gunton as Samuel Norton, William Sadler as Haywood, Clancy Brown as Byron Hadley, Gil Bellows as Tommy Williams, and James Whitmore as Brooks Hatlin.

The Shawshank Redemption was written and directed by Frank Darabont and based on Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King and in 352 episodes.

I've never done an adaptation of a Stephen King novel, which for regular listeners won't come as a huge surprise because King is known for his horror stories. I I'm not a huge fan of horror.

However, there are some Stephen King adaptations that have been on the big list, which is the podcast list basically for some time, including another Frank Darabont directed adaptation, the Mist, which is actually one of my favourites, even though it's kind of scary and also it destroys me. But there's a lot of Stephen King adaptations I haven't seen just because I'm honestly too scared to Carrie, the Shining, Misery.

I can't bring myself to watch any of them. I've seen it, which terrified me and Pet Sematary. They were simultaneously traumatizing.

I've seen more of his non horror stuff like Stand By Me, the Running man, the Green Mile, and I've seen the TV adaptation of under the Dome and eventually I saw the Shawshank Redemption, but it took a while. I'm not gonna lie, it was a conversation with a work colleague I don't even remember when.

And the conversation went something along the lines of him to me, you've never seen the Shawshank Redemption. And that being the biggest crime I could possibly be accused of, ironically, considering the Shawshank Redemption set in a prison.

But I did remedy it pretty quickly. And I did love the Shawshank Redemption when I saw it. And I did get the hype. And it is one of those movies that sticks with you.

Kind of like the Mist in many ways, because that movie will never leave my mind. And Stephen King's works have been adapted a lot.

Starting in: 1976

He didn't like the casting of Jack Nicholson or the character of Jack Torrance and criticized the characterization of Wendy Torrance, stating that wasn't the character he wrote. Not to mention the treatment of Shelley Duvall on the set, which is kind of notorious at this point.

He also criticized Kubrick as a director, but despite his dissatisfaction with the Shining, he didn't let that stop other filmmakers from adapting his other works.

Instead, he maintained a policy of granting students or aspiring directors who wanted to bolster their CV or resume, if you're American, the rights to adapt his short stories for $1. These movies were known as Dollar Babies.

Stephen King retained all of the rights and granted permission to the filmmaker to make a non commercial adaptation.

In: 1983

cademy award consideration in: 1983

first screenwriting credit in: 1987

Hope Springs Eternal, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, Summer of Corruption, Apt Pupil, Fall From Innocence, the Body and A Winter's Tale, the Breathing Method. Three out of the four novellas were turned into Hollywood movies, one of which was the Shawshank Redemption.

The others were: 1998

While King didn't really understand how you could make a movie out of it, Darabont has always said that to him it was obvious. Still, it took Darabont five years to write the script while he focused on paid jobs writing scripts for the Blob and the Fly too.

He wanted to honour the source material and mimicked the novella's narrative thrust in his screenplay and even lifted some dialogue verbatim. Other plot points were entirely his invention. In King's story, a minor character, Brooks, dies uneventfully in an old folks home.

The movie dedicates a poignant montage to the now more pivotal Brooks inability to make it on the outside and his subsequent heart wrenching suicide by hanging. Tommy, a young con who can clear Andy's name, trades his silence for a transfer to a minimum security prison.

In Stephen King's version, the movie script has the warden murder Tommy in a botched escape. Darabont condensed King's several wardens into the corrupt Warden Norton.

Among his inspirations, Darabont listed the works of director Frank Capra, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It's a Wonderful Life. Darabont likened the Shawshank Redemption to a tall tale, more than a prison movie.

He also cited Goodfellas as an inspiration on the use of dialogue to illustrate the passage of time in the script and the prison drama Birdman of Alcatraz directed by John Frankenheimer. Eventual star Tim Robbins would say of the script that it was the best script I've ever read ever.

Morgan Freeman repeated a variation of that accolade, if not the best script, certainly among the top.

s,: 1992

Long time Castle Rock entertainment producer Liz Glotzer had a vested interest in prison stories and immediately loved Darabont's script, taking it to Castle Rock co founder Rob Reiner, who also liked it. He liked it so much, in fact, that he offered Darabont A rumoured $3 million for the script as long as Reiner could direct the movie himself.

lso coming off the success of: 1992

To sweeten the deal, Castle Rock said it would finance any other movie he wanted to direct if he ceded to Reiner. And it was a difficult decision for Frank Garabont. He was only 33. He'd grown up poor. He'd experience struggling to pay rent.

$3 Million would set him up for life.

He was tormented by the offer, but ultimately turned the money down, saying, you can continue to defer your dreams in exchange for money and, you know, die without ever having done the thing you set out to do. Still, the decision to direct the film himself was nerve wracking.

Contractually, Castle Rock could fire him at any moment and just bring in Rob Reiner.

So instead, Darabont took a $75,000 screenwriting and directing salary plus a percentage of the net profits, and Castle Rock gave him a $25 million production budget to make the Shawshank Redemption. But overall, he needn't worry because Rob Reiner was one of the best in Hollywood.

He was a gent to the end, and he agreed to be Darabont's mentor, his number one choice. Tom Cruise reportedly attended a table read of the script, but never ultimately signed onto the movie due to Darabont's inexperience.

Darabont's wish list for casting the two lead roles was extensive, including some of his favourite actors, Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall, Clint Eastwood and Paul Newman. But they were either unavailable or were not approached.

Tom Hanks and Kevin Costner were both offered the role of Andy Dufresne and both passed Hanks due to his starring role in Forrest Gump, and Costner because he had the lead in Waterworld. Reportedly. Johnny Depp, Nicholas Cage and Charlie Sheen were also considered for the role.

to shine when he was cast in: 1988

When he won Best Actor at the: 1992

This was before the Morgan Freeman Narrates Everything trope, and he's genuinely such a fantastic casting choice.

role in another prison drama,: 1980

Freeman got the script and basically said he was up for any role they wanted to give him, and he was surprised they offered him Red as he basically controlled the movie.

arabont seeing Robbins in the: 1990

Tim Robbins grew up in New York City and saw friends get arrested and end up in jail for non violent crimes or drug possession. And as a pot smoker, he didn't feel that far removed from those people. He didn't fall into the system, but many of his friends did.

He saw the Shawshank Redemption script as an opportunity to tell the story of human beings that aren't necessarily bad people, but simply caught up in a system they struggled to escape from. Even after release, Robbins insisted Darabont also hire cinematographer Roger Deakins, with whom he'd worked on the Hudsucker Proxy.

Deakins would get his first of 16 Oscar nominations for his work on the Shawshank Redemption. The cast was rounded out by Bob Gunton, then primarily a stage and TV actor, as the sanctimonious Warden Norton.

He got the role while he was working on Demolition Man, Clancy Brown as the sadistic Captain Hadley and veteran character actor James Whitmore as beloved elderly convict Brooks Hatlin. James Gandolfini passed on playing Boggs, the prison rapist, for a role in True Romance.

A young Brad Pitt, originally cast in the role of Tommy, dropped out of the Shawshank Redemption after his brief appearance in Thelma and Louise initiated his rise to a leading man. The role of Tommy was recast to Gil Bellows. Each actor took their preparation for the role differently.

Morgan Freeman declined to research the role of a prison inmate, stating that, quote, acting the part of someone who's incarcerated doesn't require any specific knowledge of incarceration because men don't change once you're in that situation. You just tow whatever line you have to tow.

Tim Robbins observed caged animals at a zoo, spent an afternoon in solitary confinement, spoke with prisoners and guards, and had his arms and legs shackled for a few hours.

Clancy Brown was given the opportunity to speak with former guards by the production's liaison officer, but declined, believing it would not be a good thing to say that his brutal character was in any way inspired by Ohio State correctional officers.

The full title of Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption wasn't used, and there was a misconception in Hollywood at the time that the film was actually going to be a biopic of Rita Hayworth.

When word got out that Darabont was adapting King's novella, several agents of prominent actresses and models got in touch with him to procure their client an audition. And indeed, the distinct lack of female characters does make sense for a story set in a male prison.

When looking for filming locations, the scouting process took five months across the United States and Canada to find the perfect location.

During this time, Frank Darabont happened to run into Birdman of Alcatraz director John Frankenheimer, who was visiting locations for his own prison set movie, against the Wall. Frankenheimer took time out from his scouting to provide Darabont with encouragement and advice.

It was producer Nicky Marvin who finally found the former Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, which had been closed three years earlier for overcrowding and inhumane living conditions. And this prison was going to serve as the fictional Shawshank State Penitentiary in Maine.

years from: 1886

opened during construction in: 1896

Work days were 15 to 18 hours, six days a week over three humid months inside the former penitentiary and on nearby constructed sets, which included the huge cell block.

Some of the interior shots were also filmed at Ohio State, including the admittance room, the warden's office, the cafeteria, solitary confinement, even the room that Brooks and Red rent after they're released from prison. The scenes of the prison cell Blocks were filmed on a purpose built soundstage inside the nearby Westinghouse Electric factory.

Elmo Blatch's admission of guilt for the crimes for which Andy was convicted was filmed in one of the actual prison's more confined cells. But filming was often intense and bleak. Frank Darabont required multiple takes of scenes, even if there were no discernible differences between them.

The scene where Andy first approaches Red to procure a rockhammer took nine hours to film and featured Freeman throwing and catching a baseball with another inmate.

ll after his incarceration in: 1949

, also shown in a clip of her: 1946

iconic role in Billy Wilder's: 1955

final poster, raquel Welch in: 1966

s, meaning that he escaped in: 1966

That would be the equivalent of $3.8 million today.

Unlike most movies, scenes for the Shawshank Redemption were shot in almost chronological order, which aided the actors performances, but it didn't necessarily help anyone else. It meant the relationships formed on screen also evolved off screen.

The scene in which Andy tells Red about his dreams of going to Mexico was one of the last filmed. The scene in Mexico was actually St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands.

And they filmed at Sandy Point National Wildlife Reserve, which is actually a protected area for leatherback sea turtles. But just as you imagine a film set in a prison being claustrophobic and stressful, filming was also those things.

Frank Darabont also struggled to work with cinematographer Roger Deakins.

And this was because Darabont favoured more scenic shots, while Deakins felt that not showing the outside of the prison added that sense of claustrophobia and it meant that when a wide scenic shop was used it had more impact. Deakins was ever the perfectionist. He wasn't even satisfied with the lighting in Andy's escape sequence.

The scene was intended to be much longer and more dramatic, detailing Andy's escape across a field and onto a train. But with only a single night available to film the sequence, it was shortened to show Andy standing triumphant as the rain pours around him.

Deakins would say he over lit the scene and that it's his least favorite in the movie, which is remarkable when this has become the defining shot part of the movie. Tim Robbins didn't wade through a sewer pipe with actual excrement. It was a mixture of water, chocolate syrup and sawdust.

But the stream into which he emerges was actually certified as toxic because it was farm runoff, even though it was dammed and chlorinated to partially decontaminate it. Honestly, just thinking of how filthy that water would have been is enough for me to stop recording this podcast right now and take a shower.

But there's undoubtedly another star of this movie that's not Tim Robbins or Morgan Freeman. And that is the Shawshank Tree, which was a white oak near Malabar State Farm in Monroe Township, Richland County, Ohio.

It was at least 30 meters tall and approximately 180 to 200 years old. It appears at the end of the movie where Red follows clues left by Andy to its location.

Red finds a box buried at the base of a stone wall in the shade of the oak, which contains a letter from Andy and cash to buy a bus ticket to join him in Mexico.

as split by Lightning in July: 2011

So you can no longer visit the Shawshank Tree, but you can visit the Ohio State Reformatory, which is currently in the process of being fully restored, funded by donations and tour fees.

In: 1995

They also offer evening ghost tours, private ghost hunts for more experienced ghost hunters, ghost walks for children 13 years and up, ghost hunt classes for children 13 years and up, and special ghost hunt events hosted by famous ghost hunters, celebrities or historians. And kind of a lovely coda to this movie is that Stephen King never did cash the five thousand dollar rights check he received from Frank Darabont.

He actually later framed it and returned it to Darabont accompanied by a note which read in case you ever need bail money, Love Steve. And this is as good a time as any to segue into the obligatory Keanu reference of this episode.

his movie, what with it being: 1994

nown prison related film from: 2010

And in the movie he plays a man wrongfully sent to jail for armed robbery after befriending a charismatic lifer played by James Khan, he decides that if he's done the time, he might as well do the crime and on his release stages a robbery of the same bank that he was originally wrongfully sent to jail for.

I've not seen the movie because I've not seen all of his movies, but that is the easiest way to link Keanu Reeves to the Shawshank Redemption because his character was also wrongfully sent to jail.

Let's move on to the music because Thomas Newman, a member of the prolific Newman family of composers, created such a powerful score for the Shawshank Redemption that not only did it get him the first of his 12 Academy Award nominations, it's been recycled in dozens of award caliber movie trailers over the years ever since.

And one of the things that surprises me most about researching this movie and looking into the legacy of this movie is the success of this movie really did come out of nowhere for so many people working on it. And this is despite the fact that test screenings for the Shawshank Redemption weren't just good, they were outstanding.

And it's very rare for test screenings to be consistently great.

Just ask Empire Records to avoid any confusion, they decided to omit Stephen King's name from any marketing material because he was still only mostly known as a horror writer and the studio wanted to attract a a prestigious audience and not just fans of Carrie and the Shining.

rd September: 1994

Expectations were high and following a Hollywood tradition of visiting different cinemas on opening night to see the audiences view their film live, Frank Darabont and Liz Glotzer went to the Cinerama Dome on Sunset Boulevard to watch a screening of the Shawshank Redemption, but no one was there.

Glotzer would claim that the pair actually went outside and sold two tickets outside the theatre with the promise that if the buyers didn't like the film, they could ask Castle Rock for a refund. The lack of attendance at that particular venue was blamed by Glotzer to a bad LA Times review for the movie.

th of October: 1994

There were suggestions the title was to blame. What even is a Shawshank? And how could it be redeemed? Even Morgan Freeman thought the title was incomprehensible at best and forgettable at worst.

ers could remember the title,: 1994

Both films became instantly quoted, parodied and ultimately hugely successful at the box office, leaving Shawshank failing to connect with audiences and vanishing from cinemas with little fanfare. And then, slowly but surely, its fortunes began to change.

In early: 1995

On its $25 million budget, the Shawshank Redemption grossed $28.3 million domestically and $45 million internationally, for a total worldwide gross of $73.3 million in total from all of its releases, and it has had multiple RE releases over the years.

It has an 89% rating on rotten Tomatoes, with a consensus of steeped in old fashioned storytelling and given evergreen humanity by Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. The Shawshank Redemption chronicles the hardship of incarceration patiently enough to come by its uplift honestly.

since: 2008

d the film as the best of the: 1990

y Award for Best picture in a: 2013

When the BFI analysed the demographic breakdown of the YouGov poll, it noted that the Shawshank Redemption was not the top ranked film in any group, but was the only film to appear in the top 15 of every age group, suggesting it's watched and enjoyed by every age group now.

Ultimately, the film was snubbed on Oscar night, losing four of its awards best Film, Best Actor, Best Film Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay to Forrest Gump. It lost original score to the Lion King, sound to Speed and cinematography to Legends of the Fall.

It received two Golden Globe Award nominations, best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture for Morgan Freeman and Best Screenplay for Darabont, losing to Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction, respectively. But as I said, the tide was starting to turn for the Shawshank Redemption, and in what was seen as a risky move at the time, Warner Bros.

Shipped 320,000 VHS copies of the film, an absurdly high number for a box office disappointment and just hoped for the best. Their gamble paid off and the movie finally found the audience it was waiting for.

came the most rented video of: 1995

While the VHS market was crucial in rehabilitating its commercial image, it wasn't until cable television pioneer Ted Turner completely changed its fortunes.

He already owned MGM's pre: 1948

With production and distribution now under one roof, TNT was able to leapfrog the networks who normally got first dibs on new movies and acquired the rights to the Shawshank Redemption as well as in perpetuity repeats. Turner essentially sold the rights to himself for much lower than you'd normally pay, and TNT could still charge a premium for commercial time.

In: 1996

Shawshank Redemption in June: 1997

In a: 2014

Jeff Baker, then executive vice president and general manager of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, said that the home video sales had earned about $80 million, while finances for licensing the film for television are unknown.

In: 2014

And in: 2015

phen King's canon, debuted in: 2018

Liz Glotzer was also involved in this series as an executive producer, and its season two featured Tim Robbins in a role as the dying head of a crime family. The character Reginald Pop Merrill appeared in King's novella the Sun Dog and is mentioned in Needful Things.

. It was cancelled by Hulu in: 2020

irst appeared in dead zone in: 1979

Many of his works were set in Castle Rock, including Cujo, the Body and Needful Things.

Claiborne, under the Dome and: 112263

Castle Rock Entertainment was named by Rob Reiner after the fictional main town from King Stories after he directed Stand By Me, based on the Body, which is set in Castle Rock.

And while you may think that the Shawshank Redemption might just be a really good movie that makes you think about incarceration and prison life, it's actually gone on to help former inmates.

In: 2006

Since the programme's inception, the PRISM project has a 77% employment rate for re entry programme and an 89% decrease in disciplinary incidents for participants who have completed the program, as well as a 10.6% recidivism rate for participants. So Tim Robbins, who starred as Andy Dufresne in the Shawshank Redemption, has also basically cut reoffending rates for Californian ex offenders.

If you've reached this far in the episode and you've never seen the Shawshank Redemption, I think you know what you need to do, and that's because it's a movie that a podcast episode simply can't do justice.

I can tell you that everyone thought it was a fantastic screenplay and that it was tough to film and it didn't do so well on its initial run and it became one of the most beloved movies of all time.

But to fully appreciate why, you need to see it, because critical reviews, podcast episodes and interviews with the cast can only go so far to tell the story of why it's so publicly adored. The cast love it, famous people love it. Stephen King loves it, saying it's one of the best adaptations of his work. Nelson Mandela loved it.

Steven Spielberg loves it. Frank Darabont loves it, loves it. While there are undoubtedly people who don't, they are definitely in the minority.

And I think that's fundamentally because it's not just a story about being in a prison. It's not just a story about offenders or murderers or corruption or the judicial system or the penal system. It's ultimately about hope.

About how in a place like Shawshank, hope is a dangerous thing, as Red himself says, because justice doesn't always prevail. We find out Andy is an innocent man, but any hope he has of getting a fair retrial is quashed by that corruption.

We know Red has served a long sentence and claims to be remorseful and rehabilitated. But any hope he has of parole is rejected time and time again. And then there's Brooks.

A man who didn't hope at all, who just wanted to live out his remaining days in the only place he knew and the only place he was admired and respected, and instead lost his hope.

On the outside, his death is a stark reminder of how prisoners are rehabilitated into society and why so many reoffend not because they want to, but because a life inside makes more sense to them than a life outside. Being released into a society that demonises you is not the choice anyone would hope for.

Freedom doesn't necessarily mean free, but you can either sit by and let life pass you, or you can choose to get busy living rather than let hope be a dangerous thing and drive you insane. Let hope be a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies. But it's also a story about love.

The love between two men who see the world differently but who become friends anyway. Finally getting parole, Red can become one of two things.

He can end up like Brooks, devoid of all hope, or he can follow through on his promise to Andy to find the box buried near the tree. To get busy living or get busy dying. Their reunion on a Mexican beach will never not be one of the all time great endings because it's so deserved.

By that point, these men have been through so much together. One escapee, one parole breaker, both free. And I mean actually free.

Whether you believe it's an analogy for heaven or paradise, or simply a safe space for two friends to finally be free and be happy together, it doesn't matter. What matters is the story services both characters effectively enough for you to be on their sides.

Tim Robbins would say of the film, quote, I believe part of the reason the movie is so important to people is that in a way it works as a whole for whatever your life is, that no matter what your prison is, whether it's a job that you hate, a bad relationship that you're slogging through, whether your warden is a terrible boss or a wife or a husband.

It holds out the possibility that there is freedom inside you and that at some point in life there is a warm spot on a beach and that we can all get there. But sometimes it takes a while. Unquote. Warden Norton believed in two things, discipline and the Bible.

I believe in love and hope and this movie has both of those things. Thank you for listening.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on the Shawshank Redemption and thank you for your continued support of this podcast and the next episode.

I've actually mentioned it in this episode a couple of times because a few weeks after the Shawshank Redemption barely made a dent on the US box office, a little movie by a little known director came out and blew up cinema screens. This episode is my first time doing a Stephen King adaptation. The next episode is my first Quentin Tarantino movie.

The director all podcast dude bros talk about and while I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of his work, I fully appreciate the cultural juggernaut that is Pulp Fiction, how it revolutionized independent cinema, resurrected John Travolta's career, made stars out of Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, and Tarantino himself, and influenced pop culture for decades to come. So join me next episode for the history and legacy of Pulp Fiction.

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Em: 00:52:09

Bye.