Table of Contents
Cellblock Alert! Spoilers Ahead! xi
Our Shawshank Redemption xii
I Stephen King, Different Seasons, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" 1
Stephen King, Frank Darabont, and "Rita Hayworth" 3
Fifteen Differences Between King's Novella and Darabont's Film 14
Stephen King Talking Shawshank 20
II The Shawshank Production: Making of the Movie 24
The Cast 25
The Prison That Would Be King's Shawshank 37
The Filming Sites 51
Scene One 60
Cabin Fever: Linda Dufresne and Glenn Quentin's Love Affair 69
On the Set with Morgan Freeman 76
James Whitmore: The Old Pro as the Old Con 81
The Shoot 88
Starting the Shoot 88
Making Mansfield Home 92
Shooting in the Prison Yard 95
First Night in Shawshank 98
The Animals of Shawshank 99
Making a Winter Scene in Summertime 103
Interactions with the Actors 103
Roles for the Real Warden and Guards 110
The Day the Ambulance Needed First Aid 111
Breaking Out of Prison 113
Warden Norton's Deleted Scene 114
Wrapping Up the Shoot 114
Extras, Extras! Read All About 'Em! 122
Twenty-Five Scenes Never Filmed 135
The Canine Redemption 140
III Postproduction, Release, Reviews, Discovery 144
Postproduction 145
On the Cutting Room Floor: Twenty-Five Dropped Scenes 151
The Title Fight: To Keep Rita or Keep Her Out 157
Release and Box Office 159
The Reviews 165
Awards Season 172
Hope Never Dies: America Discovers Shawshank 174
IV The Shawshank Interpretation, Afterlife, and Legacy 178
Redemption 179
Hope 182
Friendship 185
Symbolism in the Film: Discovering Twelve Disciples on the Roof 188
The Shawshank Attraction: The Film's Growing Appeal 195
The Shawshank Trail: Pilgrimages to the Film Locations 199
The Shawshank Fans 215
The Road to Zihuatanejo 226
Appendix I The King of Shawshank: A Portrait of the Writer in 1994 229
Appendix II Frank Darabont: Adapting King and Remembering Shawshank 240
Appendix III Cast and Credits for The Shawshank Redemption 243
Acknowledgments 252
Bibliography 256
Index 258
About the Author 263