The Shawshank Redemption is the only movie that can simultaneously make you feel confined and free. It is, without a doubt, the best movie ever made.
Even though I can’t remember how many times I’ve seen it, I could watch it again and again without ever growing tired of it.
In addition to Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, every supporting cast member is excellent, the acting is faultless, and the story is excellent. It is the pinnacle of filmmaking.
However, human mistake can still happen to masterpieces.
I wasn’t sure at first, but a friend recently recommended that I revisit The Shawshank Redemption. I pondered whether it would still be intact because I hadn’t seen it in almost 15 years. However, I can assure you that it does. I was immediately captivated by the opening sequence and was reminded that this is one of the best films ever produced.
However, despite its famous fame, The Shawshank Redemption has its share of oddities, gaffes, and even a glaring plot hole that may leave you baffled.
Let’s examine a few obscure errors and behind-the-scenes blunders that managed to make it past this flawless film’s final edit.
A flawless performance
To begin, we must share a trivia fact that never ceases to astound lovers of The Shawshank Redemption. Naturally, the focus is on the renowned Morgan Freeman.
In the scene where Red (Morgan Freeman) is tossing a baseball with ease in the prison yard during Andy’s (Tim Robbins) first conversation with Red, Freeman did more than merely play the character.
Freeman threw that baseball the entire nine hours while the shot was being filmed without voicing any complaints. What commitment! However, reality set in the following day, and Freeman showed up on set with his left arm in a sling. That’s the kind of gritty backstage action that gives this film its lasting impact.
Freeman’s own favorite
One of Morgan Freeman’s most recognizable roles and his particular favorite is that of Red, the sage and compassionate prisoner he portrays in The Shawshank Redemption.
It’s interesting to note that before Freeman’s remarkable performance, the part nearly went to such iconic performers as Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Gene Hackman, Robert Redford, or Robert Duvall.
What gives Red its name?
Red is portrayed as a red-haired Irishman in Stephen King’s novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which is very different from how we see him in the movie.
When Freeman initially started reading Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, he stopped at the first page after learning that Red was written by an Irishman, he acknowledged in a 2014 interview with Yahoo Entertainment. He thought, “I can’t play an Irishman,” and put the book down.
Despite Freeman’s reluctance at first, director Frank Darabont convinced him to play Red since he had always seen him in the part.
When Andy asked Red about his moniker, he said, “Maybe it’s because I’m Irish.” The directors liked this inside joke so much that they included it in the finished edit.
Changing shirts
It’s not just Morgan Freeman’s remarkable dedication to throwing that baseball during Andy and Red’s initial conversation that’s noteworthy.
Here’s a cute little blooper to watch out for the next time you see it: an extra who appears to have had a wardrobe dilemma is hanging out in the background during their big opening sequence.
The extra wore one prison shirt throughout the filming of Red’s lines, but they mysteriously changed into a different one for Andy’s lines! Fans of Shawshank will find this minor continuity lapse to be a humorous Easter egg.
A chessboard error
The inmate genius and master of creative accounting, Andy Dufresne, has an attention to detail that rivals that of a jeweler. He has everything under control, from helping guards save money on taxes to keeping the warden’s books balanced. However, what about his chessboard setup? To put it mildly, even geniuses have bad days.
The chessboard in Andy Dufresne’s cell is arranged backwards, which is difficult for the astute observer to overlook. The square at the bottom right is black, even though it should always be white.
The black and white kings and queens have switched positions and are now relaxing on the incorrectly colored squares, making the royal lineup completely incorrect. Since placement is crucial to the game, it’s a classic chess error that no serious player would ever make.
However, it’s possible that Andy is thinking about more important topics than the laws of chess. After all, it doesn’t matter if your chessboard deviates from convention while you’re planning your getaway from Shawshank.
Tim Robbins clarifies a well-known plot problem.
When the guards and inmates learn that And has accomplished the unthinkable—he has escaped—it is one of the most memorable scenes in The Shawshank Redemption.
However, one perplexing aspect has left admirers scratching their brains for years.
After crawling through the tube, how did Andy get the poster back over it? When the warden threw a rock at the poster, some people saw that it was plainly affixed in ALL four corners.
It’s a riddle that has perplexed audiences, generated innumerable discussions, and even prompted Morgan Freeman to pose the query at a cast reunion at the TCM Film Festival.
Was it magic from the film? A cunning ploy? Or have fans been missing an explanation all along?
“After entering that tunnel, how did Andy put that poster back in place?” According to Geek Vibes Nation, Freeman questioned his co-star.
“It’s simple. “So simple,” Tim Robbins remarked, elucidating the enigma with hand gestures. Instead of pinning the poster at the bottom, he simulated doing it at the top. Here [at the top of the poster], it is pinned. [raising the poster’s bottom] Pull up here. Go beneath. Enter.
Would Andy’s escape actually go unnoticed?
Do supporters, however, actually accept that explanation? Not exactly.
Tim Robbins’ justification for the poster’s continued use may not be entirely accurate, according to IMDb. As indicated, if the poster was just fastened at the top, it would respond to variations in tunnel pressure after the wall was breached.
Either the poster would flap, or it would probably dimple if the bottom was still attached. In any case, the noise produced by the movement may readily draw the guards’ attention. This begs the legitimate question: how could Shawshank’s calm, vigilant surroundings have overlooked such a crucial detail?
Andy broke the sewer pipe, but how?
One particular aspect jumps out while discussing Andy’s ingenious escape strategy from Shawshank. He crawled through the sewage pipes after breaking them open with a simple rock. The problem is that iron has historically been used to make sewage pipes.
It would take extraordinary strength for a rock as basic as the one Andy used to even dent, much less shatter through the pipes. In addition, his hand probably would have been hurt by the force needed to strike the pipes.
Later, Tim Robbins remarked, “It wasn’t actually human waste; it was cow dung,” in reference to the scene where Andy crawls through the sewer tunnels to escape. It was quite poisonous!
An ideal conclusion 30 seconds less
As you are already aware, I think The Shawshank Redemption is a 10/10 movie, and it almost seems sacrilegious to recommend making any changes. However, I believe the movie could have ended around thirty seconds earlier if someone had actually placed a gun to my head and forced me to modify one item.
We know that Red finally met Andy someplace, or at least made it to Mexico and Zihuatanejo. Since he narrates the entire movie, including all of the specifics of Andy’s escape and life after breaking out, he couldn’t have known all of that unless he had located Andy and heard the entire tale.
However, the beach scene detracts from the overall impact of the movie and seems a bit too literal. I don’t think it would have hurt to have a little more flexibility.
Fun fact: in order to get that gorgeous blue Caribbean sea for the shot, the final Zihuatanejo beach scene was actually filmed in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, rather than Mexico.
Did Andy Dufresne actually exist?
The Shawshank Redemption has several amusing similarities to a real-life prison escape, despite not being based on a genuine tale.
Many people claim that Andy Dufresne looks a lot like Frank Freshwaters, who was also imprisoned for manslaughter in 1957. Like Andy, Frank made friends with the inmates, gained their trust, and naturally planned his great escape.
The amazing part is that, under strange circumstances, Frank was able to achieve his own Shawshank-style breakthrough. Nobody quite knows how he survived, but he disappeared for decades while posing as a truck driver in Florida. Authorities didn’t find him until 56 years later, when they discovered him living in a modest trailer on Florida Senator Thad Altman’s parents’ farm. Frank, who kept to himself, fished, and repelled intruders like a pro, was apparently the “caretaker” of the wetlands.
Oh, and although Shawshank is set in Maine, it was actually filmed at the Mansfield Correctional Institute in Ohio. This was likely done because, like Frank, who was born in Ohio, it seemed like a place where someone could make a tremendous escape.
Shawshank’s unexpected ascent
The Shawshank Redemption, which had a $25 million budget, brought in roughly $28 million for Columbia Pictures at the box office.
The film had a very mediocre reaction because to its R rating, violence, and poor marketing strategy, despite its potent themes of hope and redemption. However, two factors prevented it from fading into obscurity in silence. It first became a cult favorite after finding new life on home video.
The second explanation? Ted Turner, a man. The TNT network, which was controlled by the cable tycoon, took Shawshank and ran with it like a football, making it a hit show that appealed to audiences of all ages and ethnicities.
In an interview with Yahoo, filmmaker Frank Darabont said, “I don’t think it cost him anything, so Turner started airing Shawshank on TV like every five minutes for years.”
“I also bless Ted Turner because there was this limitless opportunity for people to catch up with it on a Turner network.” because he gave it his best shot.
Unexpectedly, the director’s hands appear.
Let’s now discuss Frank Darabont for a moment. In 1994, the Hungarian-American filmmaker created a significant impression with The Shawshank Redemption, which received seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
But without some inspiration from Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, the movie would not have been what it is today. Goodfellas served as a major inspiration for Darabont, particularly in terms of its use of voiceover narration, editing methods, and time period transitions.
Here’s a fascinating fact: the hands that are seen in the opening shots when Andy loads the revolver are actually those of filmmaker Frank Darabont, not Tim Robbins.
Later, Darabont’s hands reappear in the insert shots during the sequences in which Andy chisels his name into the cell wall (which occur twice in the movie). Because Darabont believed that only he could get the exact look he desired for those occasions, he filmed these close-ups during post-production.
Shimmy Shimmy Shake from Shawshank
As Tim Robbins has stated, he is often reminded of The Shawshank Redemption. However, he had no idea how much the film would influence his career when he signed on.
From beginning to end, the script was the best thing he had ever read; nevertheless, as previously stated, the movie wasn’t a box office success when it was initially released.
There were several explanations offered for why it did not do well at the box office when movie was released, including: “It’s the title; nobody can remember the title.” This is also understandable, as for years following the release of that movie, people would approach me and say, “You know, I really loved you in that movie Scrimshaw Reduction,” “Shimmy, Shimmy, Shake,” or “Shankshaw”—what a title confusion!” Robbins said.
Every few years, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman have dinner together.
Before meeting Morgan Freeman, 87, on the set of The Shawshank Redemption, Tim Robbins, 66, had a decent idea of who he was, but he was genuinely amazed when they finally met in person.
I was instantly impressed by his warmth, calmness, and tranquility when we first met in person. I grew to appreciate him as a friend as much as a collaborator on Shawshank Redemption. Tim told the Hollywood reporter, “On weekends, we would hang out and occasionally have dinner after shooting.”
“I still have dinner with Morgan every year or two,” Robbins continued. Over the years, we’ve been astounded by the number of individuals who would stop us to tell us that Shawshank is their all-time favorite film, that they’ve seen it forty times, or that it somehow saved their lives. That is quite an accomplishment and a wonderful gift.
Years later, The Shawshank Redemption still enthralls and surprises us with its remarkable performances and untold backstage stories.
The next time you see this classic movie, stop and consider the little things that could otherwise go unnoticed yet contribute to Shawshank’s masterpiece status. Additionally, remember to tell others about your favorite memories!
