D.A.:Mr. Dufresne, describe the confrontation you had with your wife the night she was murdered.
ANDY:It was very bitter. She said she was glad I knew, that she hated all the sneaking around. She said she wanted a divorce in Reno.
D.A.:What was your response?
ANDY:I told her I would not grant one.
D.A.:"I'll see you in Hell before I see you in Reno." Those were the words you used, Mr. Dufresne, according to the testimony of your neighbors.
ANDY:If they say so. I really don't remember. I was upset.
D.A.:What happened after you and your wife argued?
ANDY:She packed a bag and went to stay with Mr. Quentin.
D.A.:Glenn Quentin. The golf pro at the Falmouth Hills Country Club. The man you had recently discovered was her lover.(Andy nods) Did you follow her?
ANDY:I went to a few bars first. Later,I decided to drive to Mr. Quentin's home and confront them. They weren't there...so I parked my car in the turnout...and waited.
D.A.:With what intention?
ANDY:I'm not sure. I was confused. Drunk.I think mostly I wanted to scare them.
D.A.:You had a gun with you?
ANDY:Yes. I did.
D.A.:When they arrived, you went up to the house and murdered them?
ANDY:No. I was sobering up. I realized she wasn't worth it. I decided to
let her have her quickie divorce.
D.A.:Quickie divorce indeed. A .38 caliber divorce, wrapped in a handtowel to muffle the shots,isn't that what you mean? And then you shot her lover!
ANDY:I did not. I got back in the car and drove home to sleep it off. Along the way, I stopped and threw my gun into the Royal River. I feel I've been very clear on this point.
D.A.:Yes, you have. Where I get hazy,though, is the part where the cleaning woman shows up the next morning and finds your wife and her lover in bed, riddled with .38 caliber bullets. Does that strike you as a fantastic coincidence, Mr.Dufresne, or is it just me?
ANDY:(softly)Yes. It does.
D.A.:I'm sorry, Mr. Dufresne, I don't think the jury heard that.
ANDY:Yes. It does.
D.A.:Does what?
ANDY:Strike me as a fantastic coincidence.
D.A.:On that, sir, we are in accord...
D.A.:You claim you threw your gun into the Royal River before the murders took place. That's rather convenient.
ANDY:It's the truth.
D.A.:You recall Lt. Mincher's testimony?He and his men dragged that river for three days and nary a gun was found. So no comparison can be made between your gun and the bullets taken from the bloodstained corpses of the victims. That's also rather convenient, isn't it, Mr. Dufresne?
ANDY:(faint, bitter smile)Since I am innocent of this crime,sir, I find it decidedly inconvenient the gun was never found.
D.A.:Ladies and gentlemen, you've heard all the evidence, you know all the facts. We have the accused at the scene of the crime. We have foot prints. Tire tracks. Bullets scattered on the ground which bear his fingerprints. A broken bourbon bottle, likewise with fingerprints.Most of all, we have a beautiful young woman and her lover lying dead in each other's arms. They had sinned. But was their crime so GREat as to merit a death sentence?
D.A.:I suspect Mr. Dufresne's answer to that would be yes. I further suspect he carried out that sentence on the night of September 21st, this year of our Lord, 1946, by pumping four bullets into his wife and another four into Glenn Quentin. And while you think about that, think about this...A revolver holds six bullets, not eight. I submit to you this was not a hot-blooded crime of passion! That could at least be understood, if not condoned. No, this was revenge of a much more brutal and cold-blooded nature. Consider! Four bullets per victim! Not six shots fired, but eight! That means he fired the gun empty...and then stopped to reload so he could shoot each of them again! An extra bullet per lover...right in the head.I'm done talking. You people are all decent, God-fearing Christian folk. You know what to do.
JUDGE:You strike me as a particularly icy and remorseless man, Mr. Dufresne.It chills my blood just to look at you. By the power vested in me by the State of Maine, I hereby order you to serve two life sentences,back to back, one for each of your victims. So be it.
………………………………
MAN #1:Sit.
MAN #2:we see by your file you've served twenty years of a life sentence.
MAN #3:you feel you've been rehabilitated?
RED:yes, sir. Absolutely. I've learned my lesson. I can honestly say I'm a changed man. I'm no longer a danger to society. That's the God's honest truth. No doubt about it.
………………………………
RED (V.O.):There's a con like me in every prison in America, I guess. I'm the guy who can get it for you. Cigarettes, a bag of reefer if you're partial, a bottle of brandy to celebrate your kid's high school graduation. Damn near anything, within reason.
RED (V.O.) :yes sir, I'm a regular Sears &Roebuck.
RED (V.O.): So when Andy Dufresne came to me in 1949 and asked me to smuggle Rita Hayworth into the prison for him, I told him no problem. And it wasn't.
………………………………
RED (V.O.):Andy came to Shawshank Prison in early 1947 for murdering his wife and the fella she was bangin'.On the outside, he'd been vice-president of a large Portland bank.Good work for a man as young as he was, when you consider how conservative banks were back then.
CON:Fresh fish! Fresh fish today!
TOWER GUARD:All clear!
HADLEY
On your feet before I fuck you up
so bad you never walk again.
13 ON THE BLEACHERS 13
RED
There they are, boys. The Human
Charm Bracelet.
HEYWOOD:Never seen such a sorry-lookin' heap of maggot shit in my life.
JIGGER:
Comin' from you, Heywood, you being
so pretty and all...
FLOYD:Takin' bets today, Red?
RED:(pulls notepad and pencil)Bear Catholic? Pope shit in the woods?Smokes or coin, bettor's choice.
FLOYD:Smokes. Put me down for two.
RED:High roller. Who's your horse?
FLOYD:That gangly sack of shit, third from the front. He'll be the first.
HEYWOOD:Bullshit. I'll take that action.
ERNIE:Me too.
HEYWOOD:You're out some smokes, son. Take my word.
FLOYD:You're so smart, you call it.
HEYWOOD:I say that chubby fat-ass...let's see...fifth from the front. Put me down for a quarter deck.
RED:That's five cigarettes on Fat-Ass.Any takers?
RED (V.O.):I must admit I didn't think much of Andy first time I laid eyes on him.He might'a been important on the outside, but in here he was just a little turd in prison grays. Looked like a stiff breeze could blow him over. That was my first impression
of the man.
SKEET:What say, Red?
RED:Little fella on the end. Definitely.I stake half a pack. Any takers?
SNOOZE:Rich bet.
RED:C'mon, boys, who's gonna prove me wrong?(hands go up)Floyd, Skeet, Joe, Heywood. Four brave souls, ten smokes apiece. That's it,gentlemen, this window's closed.
VOICE (amplified):Return to your cellblocks for evening count.
………………………………
HADLEY:Eyes front.
NORTON:This is Mr. Hadley, captain of the guard. I am Mr. Norton, the warden.You are sinners and scum, that's why they sent you to me. Rule number one: no blaspheming. I'll not have the Lord's name taken in vain in my prison. The other rules you'll figure out as you go along.Any questions?
CON:When do we eat?
HADLEY:YOU EAT WHEN WE SAY YOU EAT! YOU PISS WHEN WE SAY YOU PISS! YOU SHIT WHEN WE SAY YOU SHIT! YOU SLEEP WHEN WE SAY YOU SLEEP! YOU MAGGOT-DICK MOTHERFUCKER!
NORTON:Any other questions?(there are none)I believe in two things. Discipline
and the Bible. Here, you'll receive both.(holds up a Bible)Put your faith in the Lord. Your ass belongs to me. Welcome to Shawshank.
HADLEY:Off with them clothes! And I didn't say take all day doing it, did I?
HADLEY
First man into the shower!
Hadley shoves the FIRST CON into a steel cage open at the
front. TWO GUARDS open up with a fire hose. The con is slammed
against the back of the cage, sputtering and hollering.
Seconds later, the water is cut and the con yanked out.
HADLEY
Delouse that piece of shit! Next
man in!
The con gets a huge scoop of white delousing powder thrown all
over him. Gasping and coughing, blinking powder from his eyes,
he gets shoved to a trustee's cage. The TRUSTEE slides a short
stack of items through the slot -- prison clothes and a Bible.
All the men are processed quickly -- a blast of water, powder,
clothes and a Bible...
15 INT -- INFIRMARY -- NIGHT (1947) 15
A naked CON steps before a DOCTOR and gets a cursory exam.
A penlight is shined in his eyes, ears, nose, and throat.
DOCTOR
Bend over.
The con does. A GUARD with a penlight in his teeth spreads his
cheeks, peers up his ass, and nods. Andy is next up. He gets
the same treatment.
16 INT -- PRISON CHAPEL -- NIGHT (1947) 16
CAMERA TRACKS the naked newcomers shivering on hard wooden
chairs, clothes on their laps, Bibles open.
CHAPLAIN (O.S.)
...maketh me to lie down in GREen
pastures. He leadeth me beside the
still waters. He restoreth my soul...
17 INT -- CELLBLOCK FIVE -- NIGHT (1947) 17
Three tiers to a side, concrete and steel, gray and imposing.
Andy and the others are marched in, still naked, carrying
their clothes and Bibles. The CONS in their cells GREet them
with TAUNTS, JEERS, and LAUGHTER. One by one, the new men are
shown to their cells and locked in with a CLANG OF STEEL.
RED (V.O.):The first night's the toughest, no doubt about it. They march you in naked as the day you're born, fresh from a Bible reading, skin burning and half-blind from that delousing shit they throw on you......and when they put you in that cell, when those bars slam home,that's when you know it's for real.Old life blown away in the blink of an eye...a long cold season in hell stretching out ahead...nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it.
RED (V.O.):Most new fish come close to madness the first night. Somebody always
breaks down crying. Happens every time. The only question is, who's it gonna be?
RED (V.O.):It's as good a thing to bet on as any, I guess. I had my money on Andy Dufresne...
GUARD:That's lights out! Good night, ladies.
RED (V.O.):I remember my first night. Seems a long time ago now.
VARIOUS VOICES (O.S.):Fishee fishee fisheeee...You're gonna like it here, new fish. A whooole lot...Make you wish your daddies never dicked your mommies...You takin' this down, new fish? Gonna be a quiz later. (somebody LAUGHS) Sshhh. Keep it down. The screws'll hear...Fishee fishee fisheeee...
RED (V.O.):The boys always go fishin' with first-timers...and they don't quit till they reel someone in.
HEYWOOD (O.S.):Fat-Ass...oh, Faaaat-Ass. Talk to me, boy. I know you're in there. I can hear you breathin'. Now don't you listen to these nitwits, hear?
HEYWOOD (O.S.):This ain't such a bad place. I'll introduce you around, make you feel right at home. I know some big ol' bull queers who'd love to make your acquaintance...especially that big white mushy butt of yours...
FAT-ASS:OH GOD! I DON'T BELONG HERE! I WANNA GO HOME!
HEYWOOD:AND IT'S FAT-ASS BY A NOSE.'
VOICES:Fresh fish...fresh fish...fresh fish...fresh fish...
FAT-ASS:I WANNA GO HOME! I WANT MY MOTHER.'
VOICE (O.S.):I had your mother! She wasn't that GREat!
HADLEY:What the Christ is this happy shit?
VOICE (O.S.):He took the Lord's name in vain!I'm tellin' the warden!
HADLEY:(to the unseen wit)You'll be tellin' him with my baton up your ass!
HADLEY:What's your malfunction you fat fuckin' barrel of monkey-spunk?
FAT-ASS:PLEASE! THIS AIN'T RIGHT! I AIN'T SUPPOSED TO BE HERE! NOT ME!
HADLEY:I ain't gonna count to three! Not even to one! Now shut the fuck up 'fore I sing you a lullabye!
HADLEY:Get this tub of shit down to the infirmary.(peers around)If I hear so much as a mouse fart in here the rest of the night, by God and Sonny Jesus, you'll all visit the infirmary. Every last motherfucker here.
RED (V.O.):His first night in the joint, Andy Dufresne cost me two packs of cigarettes. He never made a sound...
………………………………
BROOKS:You gonna eat that?
ANDY:Hadn't planned on it.
BROOKS:You mind?
BROOKS:Mmm. Nice and ripe.
BROOKS:Jake says thanks. Fell out of his nest over by the plate shop. I'm lookin' after him till he's old enough to fly.
JIGGER:Oh, Christ, here he comes.
HEYWOOD:Mornin', boys. It's a fine mornin'.You know why it's fine?
HEYWOOD:That's right, send 'em all down. I wanna see 'em lined up in a row, pretty as a chorus line.
FLOYD:Smell my ass...
HEYWOOD:Gee, Red. Terrible shame, your horse comin' in last and all.Hell, I sure do love that horse of mine. I believe I owe that boy a big sloppy kiss when I see him.
RED:Give him some'a your cigarettes instead, cheap bastard.
HEYWOOD:Say Tyrell, you pull infirmary duty this week? How's that winnin' horse
of mine, anyway?
TYRELL:Dead.(the men fall silent)Hadley busted his head pretty good.Doc already went home for the night. Poor bastard lay there till this morning. By then...
ANDY:What was his name?
HEYWOOD:What? What'd you say?
ANDY:I was wondering if anyone knew his name.
HEYWOOD:What the fuck you care, new fish?(resumes eating)Doesn't matter what his fuckin' name was. He's dead.
………………………………
BOGS: You're some sweet punk. You been broke in yet?
BOGS:Hard to get. I like that.
………………………………
ANDY:(offers his hand)Hello. I'm Andy Dufresne.
RED:The wife-killin' banker.
ANDY:How do you know that?
RED:I keep my ear to the ground. Why'd you do it?
ANDY:I didn't, since you ask.
RED:Hell, you'll fit right in, then.(off Andy's look)Everyone's innocent in here, don't
you know that? Heywood! What are you in for, boy?
HEYWOOD:Didn't do it! Lawyer fucked me!
ANDY:What else have you heard?
RED:People say you're a cold fish. They say you think your shit smells sweeter than ordinary. That true?
ANDY:What do you think?
RED:Ain't made up my mind yet.
ANDY：I understand you're a man who knows how to get things.
RED：I'm known to locate certain things from time to time. They seem to fall into my hands. Maybe it's 'cause I'm Irish.
ANDY：I wonder if you could get me a rock-hammer?
RED：What is it and why?
ANDY：You make your customers' motives a part of your business?
RED：If you wanted a toothbrush, I wouldn't ask questions. I'd just quote a price. A toothbrush, see,is a non-lethal sort of object.
ANDY：Fair enough. A rock-hammer is about eight or nine inches long. Looks like a miniature pickaxe, with a small sharp pick on one end, and a blunt hammerhead on the other. It's for rocks.
RED：Rocks.
RED：Quartz?
ANDY：Quartz, sure. And look. Mica. Shale.Silted granite. There's some graded limestone, from when they cut this place out of the hill.
RED：So?
ANDY：I'm a rockhound. At least I was, in my old life. I'd like to be again,on a limited scale.
RED：Yeah, that or maybe plant your toy in somebody's skull?
ANDY：I have no enemies here.
RED：No? Just wait.
RED：Word gets around. The Sisters have taken a real shine to you, yes they have. Especially Bogs.
ANDY：Tell me something. Would it help if I explained to them I'm not homosexual?
RED:Neither are they. You have to be human first. They don't qualify.(off Andy's look)Bull queers take by force, that's all they want or understand. I'd grow eyes in the back of my head if I were you.
ANDY:Thanks for the advice.
RED:That comes free. But you understand my concern.
ANDY:If there's trouble, I doubt a rock-hammer will do me any good.
RED:Then I guess you wanna escape.Tunnel under the wall maybe?(Andy laughs politely)I miss the joke. What's so funny?
ANDY:You'll know when you see the rock-hammer.
RED:What's this item usually go for?
ANDY:Seven dollars in any rock and gem shop.
RED:My standard mark-up's twenty percent, but we're talkin' about a special object. Risk goes up, price goes up. Call it ten bucks even.
ANDY:Ten it is.
RED:I'll see what I can do.(rises, slapping dust)But it's a waste of money.
ANDY: Oh?
RED:Folks who run this place love surprise inspections. They turn a blind eye to some things, but not a gadget like that. They'll find it, and you'll lose it. Mention my
name, we'll never do business again. Not for a pair of shoelaces or a stick of gum.
ANDY:I understand. Thank you, Mr...?
RED:Red. The name's Red.
ANDY:Red. I'm Andy. Pleasure doing business with you.
RED (V.O.):I could see why some of the boys took him for snobby. He had a quiet way about him, a walk and a talk that just wasn't normal around here. He strolled. like a man in a park without a care or worry. Like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place.(resumes playing catch)Yes, I think it would be fair to say I liked Andy from the start.
………………………………
RED (V.O.):He was a man who adapted fast.
BOB:DUFRESNE! WE'RE LOW ON HEXLITE!HEAD ON BACK AND FETCH US UP SOME!
ANDY:You get this in your eyes, it blinds you.
BOGS:Honey, hush.
BOGS:That's it, fight. Better that way.
RED (V.O.):I wish I could tell you that Andy fought the good fight, and the Sisters let him be. I wish I could tell you that, but prison is no fairy-tale world.
RED (V.O.):He never said who did it...but we all knew.
………………………………
RED (V.O.):Things went on like that for a while. Prison life consists of routine, and then more routine.
RED (V.O.):Every so often, Andy would show up with fresh bruises.
RED (V.O.):The Sisters kept at him. Sometimes he was able to fight them off...sometimes not.
RED (V.O.):And that's how it went for Andy. That was his routine. I do believe those first two years were the worst for him. And I also believe if things had gone on that way, this place would have got the best of him.But then, in the spring of 1949,the powers-that-be decided that...
………………………………
NORTON:...the roof of the license-plate factory needs resurfacing. I need a dozen volunteers for a week's work.We're gonna be taking names in this steel bucket here...
RED (V.O.):It was outdoor detail, and May is one damn fine month to be workin' outdoors.
RED (V.O.):More than a hundred men volunteered for the job.
RED (V.O.):Wouldn't you know it? Me and some fellas I know were among the names called.Only cost us a pack of smokes per man. I made my usual twenty percent, of course.
………………………………
HADLEY:...so this shithead lawyer calls long distance from Texas, and he says, Byron Hadley? I say, yeah. He says, sorry to inform you, but your brother just died.
YOUNGBLOOD:Damn, Byron. Sorry to hear that.
HADLEY:I ain't. He was an asshole. Run off years ago, family ain't heard of him since. Figured him for dead anyway.So this lawyer prick says, your brother died a rich man. Oil wells and shit, close to a million bucks. Jesus, it's frigging incredible how lucky some assholes can get.
TROUT:A million bucks? Jeez-Louise! You get any of that?
HADLEY:Thirty five thousand. That's what he left me.
TROUT:Dollars? Holy shit, that's GREat!Like winnin' a lottery...(off Hadley's shitty look)...ain't it?
HADLEY:Dumbshit. What do you figger the government's gonna do to me? Take a
big wet bite out of my ass, is what.
TROUT:Oh. Hadn't thought of that.
HADLEY:Maybe leave me enough to buy a new car with. Then what happens? You
pay tax on the car. Repairs and maintenance. Goddamn kids pesterin' you to take 'em for a ride...
MERT:And drive it, if they're old enough.
HADLEY:That's right, wanting to drive it,wanting to learn on it, f'Chrissake!Then at the end of the year, if you figured the tax wrong, they make you pay out of your own pocket.Uncle Sam puts his hand in your shirt and squeezes your tit till it's purple. Always get the short end. That's a fact.(spits over the side)Some brother. Shit.
HEYWOOD:Poor Byron. What terrible fuckin' luck. Imagine inheriting thirty five thousand dollars.
RED:Crying shame. Some folks got it awful bad.
RED:Hey, you nuts? Keep your eyes on your pail!
RED:Andy! Come back! Shit!
SNOOZE:What's he doing?
FLOYD:Gettin' himself killed.
RED:God damn it...
HEYWOOD:Just keep spreadin' tar...
ANDY:Mr. Hadley. Do you trust your wife?
HADLEY:That's funny. You're gonna look funnier suckin' my dick with no fuckin' teeth.
ANDY:What I mean is, do you think she'd go behind your back? Try to hamstring you?
HADLZY:That's it! Step aside, Mert. This fucker's havin' hisself an accident.
HEYWOOD:Oh God, he's gonna do it, he's gonna throw him off the roof...
SNOOZE:Oh shit, oh fuck, oh Jesus...
ANDY:Because if you do trust her, there's no reason in the world you can't keep every cent of that money.
HADLEY:You better start making sense.
ANDY:If you want to keep that money, all of it, just give it to your wife.See, the IRS allows you a one-time-only gift to your spouse. It's good up to sixty thousand dollars.
HADLEY:Naw, that ain't right! Tax free?
ANDY:Tax free. IRS can't touch one cent.
HADLEY:You're the smart banker what shot his wife. Why should I believe a smart banker like you? So's I can wind up in here with you?
ANDY:It's perfectly legal. Go ask the IRS, they'll say the same thing.Actually, I feel silly telling you all this. I'm sure you would have investigated the matter yourself.
HADLEY:Fuckin'-A. I don't need no smart wife-killin' banker to show me where the bear shit in the buckwheat.
ANDY:Of course not. But you will need somebody to set up the tax-free gift, and that'll cost you. A lawyer, for example...
HADLEY:Ambulance-chaaing, highway-robbing cocksuckers!
ANDY:...or come to think of it, I suppose I could set it up for you.That would save you some money.I'll write down the forms you need,you can pick them up, and I'll prepare them for your signature...nearly free of charge.(off Hadley's look)I'd only ask three beers apiece for my co-workers, if that seems fair.
TROUT:(guffawing)Co-workers! Get him! That's rich,ain't it? Co-workers...
ANDY:I think a nan working outdoors feels more like a man if he can have a bottle of suds. That's only my opinion.
HADLEY:What are you jimmies starin' at?Back to work, goddamn it!
………………………………
RED (V.O.):And that's how it came to pass,that on the second-to-last day of the job, the convict crew that tarred the plate factory roof in the spring of '49...
RED (V.O.):...wound up sitting in a row at ten o'clock in the morning, drinking icy cold Black Label beer courtesy of the hardest screw that ever walked a turn at Shawshank State Prison.
HADLEY:Drink up, boys. While it's cold.
RED (V.O.):The colossal prick even managed to sound magnanimous.
RED (V.O.):We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders, and felt like free men. We could'a been tarring the roof of one of our own houses. We were the Lords of all Creation.
RED (V.O.):As for Andy, he spent that break hunkered in the shade, a strange little smile on his face, watching us drink his beer.
HEYWOOD:(approaches with a beer)Here's a cold one, Andy.
ANDY:No thanks. I gave up drinking.
RED (V.O.):You could argue he'd done it to curry favor with the guards. Or maybe make a few friends among us cons. Me, I think he did it just to feel normal again...if only for a short while.
………………………………
RED:King me.
ANDY:Chess. Now there's a game of kings.Civilized...strategic...
RED:...and totally fuckin' inexplicable. Hate that game.
ANDY:Maybe you'll let me teach you someday. I've been thinking of getting a board together.
RED:You come to the right place. I'm the man who can get things.
ANDY:We might do business on a board. But the pieces, I'd like to carve those myself. One side done in quartz...the opposing side in limestone.
RED:That'd take you years.
ANDY:Years I've got. What I don't have are the rocks. Pickings here in the exercise yard are pretty slim.
RED:How's that rock-hammer workin' out anyway? Scratch your name on your wall yet?
ANDY:(smiles)Not yet. I suppose I should.
RED:Andy? I guess we're gettin' to be friends, ain't we?
ANDY:I suppose we are.
RED:I ask a question? Why'd you do it?
ANDY:I'm innocent, remember? Just like everybody else here.
ANDY:What are you in for, Red?
RED:Murder. Same as you.
ANDY:Innocent?
RED:The only guilty man in Shawshank.
………………………………
RED:Here's the good part. Bugs come out of the walls to get his ass.
ANDY:I know. I've seen it three times this month already.
ANDY:Can we talk business?
RED:Sure. What do you want?
ANDY:Rita Hayworth. Can you get her?
RED:No problem. Take a few weeks.
ANDY:Weeks?
RED:Don't have her stuffed down my pants this very moment, sorry to say. Relax.
………………………………
BOGS:Take a walk.
PROJECTIONIST:I have to change reels.
BOGS:I said fuck off.
BOGS:Ain't you gonna scream?
ROOSTER:Fuck! Shit! He broke my nose!
BOGS:Now I'm gonna open my fly, and you're gonna swallow what I give you to swallow. And when you d mine, you gonna swallow Rooster's. You done broke his nose,so he ought to have somethin' to show for it.
ANDY:Anything you put in my mouth,you're going to lose.
BOGS:You don't understand. You do that,I'll put all eight inches of this steel ii your ear.
ANDY:Okay. But you should know that sudden serious brain injury causes the victim to bite down. Hard.(faint smile)In fact, I understand the bite-reflex is so strong the victim's jaws have to be pried open with a crowbar.
BOGS:You little fuck.
RED (V.O.):Bogs didn't put anything in Andy's mouth, and neither did his friends.
What they did do is beat him within an inch of his life...Andy spent a month in traction.Bogs spent a week in the hole.
………………………………
GUARD:Time's up, Bogs.
VOICE (O.S.):Return to your cellblocks for evening count.
RED (V.O.):Two things never happened again after that. The Sisters never laid a finger on Andy again...
RED (V.O.):...and Bogs never walked again. They transferred him to a minimum security hospital upstate. To my knowledge,he lived out the rest of his days drinking his food through a straw.
RED:I'm thinkin' Andy could use a nice welcome back when he gets out of the infirmary.
HEYWOOD:Sounds good to us. Figure we owe him for the beer.
RED:Man likes to play chess. Let's get him some rocks.
………………………………
FLOYD:That ain't quartz. Nor limestone.
HEYWOOD:What are you, fuckin' geologist?
SNOOZE:He's right, it ain't.
HEYWOOD:What the hell is it then?
RED:Horse apple.
HEYWOOD:Bullshit.
RED:No, horse shit. Petrified.
RED (V.O.):Despite a few hitches, the boys came through in fine style...
RED (V.O.):...and by the week Andy was due back, we had enough rocks saved up to keep him busy till Rapture.
RED (V.O.):Also got a big shipment in that week. Cigarettes, chewing gum, shoelaces, playing cards with naked ladies on 'em, you name it...(pulls a cardboard tube)...and, of course, the most important item.
………………………………
ERNIE:Heads up. They're tossin' cells.
ANDY:Good evening.
NORTON:I'm pleased to see you reading this. Any favorite passages?
ANDY:"Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh."
NORTON:(smiles)Luke. Chapter 13, verse 35. I've always liked that one.(strolls the cell)But I prefer: "I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
ANDY:John. Chapter 8, verse 12.
NORTON:I hear you're good with numbers.How nice. A man should have a skill.
You wanna explain this?
ANDY:It's called a rock blanket. It's for shaping and polishing rocks.Little hobby of mine.
HADLEY:Looks pretty clean. Some contraband here, nothing to get in a twist over.
NORTON:I can't say I approve of this...(turns to Andy)...but I suppose exceptions can always be made.
NORTON:I almost forgot.
NORTON:I'd hate to deprive you of this. Salvation lies within.
………………………………
RED (V.O.):Tossin' cells was just an excuse.Truth is, Norton wanted to size Andy up.
NORTON:My wife made that in church group.
ANDY:It's very pretty, sir.
NORTON:You like working in the laundry?
ANDY:No, sir. Not especially.
NORTON:Perhaps we can find something more befitting a man of your education.
………………………………
ANDY:Hey, Jake. Where's Brooks?
BROOKS:Andy! Thought I heard you out here!
ANDY:I've been reassigned to you.
BROOKS:I know, they told me. Ain't that a kick in the ass? Come on in, I'll give you the dime tour.
BROOKS:Here she is, the Shawshank Prison Library. Along this side, we got the National Geographics. That side, the Reader's Digest Condensed books. Bottom shelf there, some Louis L'Amours and Erle Stanley Gardners. Every night I pile the
cart and make my rounds. I write down the names on this clipboard here. Well, that's it. Easy, peasy, Japanesey. Any questions?
ANDY:Brooks? How long have you been librarian?
BROOKS:Since 1912. Yuh, over 37 years.
ANDY:In all that time, have you ever had an assistant?
BROOKS:Never needed one. Not much to it,is there?
ANDY:So why now? Why me?
BROOKS:I dunno. Be nice to have some comp'ny down here for a change.
HADLEY (O.S.):Dufresne!
HADLEY:That's him. That's the one.
DEKINS:I'm Dekins. I been, uh, thinkin''bout maybe settin' up some kinda trust fund for my kids' educations.
ANDY:I see. Well. Why don't we have a seat and talk it over?
ANDY:So tell me, Mr. Dekins. Where do you want to send your kids?Harvard? Yale?
………………………………
FLOYD:He didn't say that!
BROOKS:God is my witness. And Dekins, he just blinks for a second, then laughs his ass off. Afterward, he actually shook Andy's hand.
HEYWOOD:My ass!
BROOKS:Shook his fuckin' hand. Just about shit myself. All Andy needed was a suit and tie, a jiggly little hula girl on his desk, he would'a been Mister Dufresne, if you please.
RED:Makin' yourself some friends, Andy.
ANDY:I wouldn't say "friends." I'm a convicted murderer who provides sound financial planning. That's a wonderful pet to have.
RED:Got you out of the laundry, didn't it?
ANDY:Maybe it can do more than that.(off their looks)How about expanding the library?Get some new books in there.
HEYWOOD:How you 'spect to do that, "Mr.Dufresne-if-you-please?"
ANDY:Ask the warden for funds.
BROOKS:Son, I've had six wardens through here during my tenure, and I have learned one GREat immutable truth of the universe: ain't one of 'em been born whose asshole don't pucker up tight as a snare drum when you ask for funds.
………………………………
NORTON:Not a dime. My budget's stretched thin as it is.
ANDY:I see. Perhaps I could write to the State Senate and request funds directly from them.
NORTON:Far as them Republican boys in Augusta are concerned, there's only three ways to spend the taxpayer's hard-earned when it come to prisons. More walls. More bars. More guards.
ANDY:Still, I'd like to try, with your permission. I'll send a letter a week. They can't ignore me forever.
NORTON:They sure can, but you write your letters if it makes you happy. I'll even mail 'em for you, how's that?
RED (V.O.):So Andy started writing a letter a week, just like he said.
RED (V.O.):And just like Norton said, Andy got no answers. But still he kept on.
RED (V.O.):The following April, Andy did tax returns for half the guards at Shawshank.
RED (V.O.):Year after that, he did them all...including the warden's.
RED (V.O.):Year after that, they rescheduled the start of the intramural season to coincide with tax season...
RED (V.O.):The guards on the opposing teams all remembered to bring their W-2's.
ANDY:Moresby Prison issued you that gun,but you actually had to pay for it?
THE BATTER:Damn right, and the holster too.
ANDY:See, that's all deductible. You get to write that off.
RED (V.O.):Yes sir, Andy was a regular H&R Block. In fact, he got so busy at tax time, he was allowed a staff.
ANDY:Say Red, could you hand me a stack of those 1040s?
RED (V.O.):Got me out of the wood shop a month out of the year, and that was fine by me.And still he kept sending those letters...
………………………………
FLOYD:Red? Andy? It's Brooks.
JIGGER:C'mon, Brooksie, why don't you just calm the fuck down, okay?
BROOKS:Goddamn miserable puke-eatin' sons of whores!
RED:What the hell's going on?
SNOOZE:You tell me, man. One second he was fine, then out came the knife. I better get the guards.
RED:No. We'll handle this. Ain't that right, Brooks? Just settle down and we'll talk about it, okay?
BROOKS:Nothing left to talk about! It's all talked out! Nothing left now but to cut his fuckin' throat!
RED:Why? What's Heywood done to you?
BROOKS:That's what they want! It's the price I gotta pay!
ANDY:Brooks, you're not going to hurt Heywood, we all know that. Even Heywood knows it, right Heywood?
HEYWOOD:(nods, terrified)Sure. I know that. Sure.
ANDY:Why? Ask anyone, they'll tell you.Brooks Hatlen is a reasonable man.
RED:(cuing nods all around) Yeah, that's right. That's what everybody says.
ANDY:You're not fooling anybody, so just put the damn knife down and stop scaring the shit out of people.
BROOKS:But it's the only way they'll let me stay.
ANDY:Take it easy. You'll be all right.
HEYWOOD:Him? What about me? Crazy old fool! Goddamn near slit my throat!
RED:You've had worse from shaving.What'd you do to set him off?
HEYWOOD:Nothin'! Just came in to say fare-thee-well.(off their looks)Ain't you heard? His parole came through!
………………………………
ANDY:I just don't understand what happened in there, that's all.
HEYWOOD:Old man's crazy as a rat in a tin shithouse, is what.
RED:Heywood, enough. Ain't nothing wrong with Brooksie. He's just institutionalized, that's all.
HEYWOOD:Institutionalized, my ass.
RED:Man's been here fifty years. This place is all he knows. In here,he's an important man, an educated man. A librarian. Out there, he's nothing but a used-up old con with arthritis in both hands. Couldn't even get a library card if he applied. You see what I'm saying?
FLOYD:Red, I do believe you're talking out of your ass.
RED:Believe what you want. These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. After long enough, you get so you depend on 'em. That's "institutionalized."
JIGGER:Shit. I could never get that way.
ERNIE:(softly)Say that when you been inside as long as Brooks has.
RED:Goddamn right. They send you here for life, and that's just what they take. Part that counts, anyway.
………………………………
BROOKS:I can't take care of you no more.You go on now. You're free.
BROOKS (V.O.):Dear Fellas. I can't believe how fast things move on the outside.I saw an automobile once when I was young. Now they're everywhere.The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry.The parole board got me into this halfway house called the Brewster,and a job bagging groceries at the Foodway... :It's hard work. I try to keep up, but my hands hurt most of the time.
WOMAN:Make sure he double-bags. Last time your man didn't double-bag and the
bottom near came out.
MANAGER:You double-bag like the lady says,understand?
BROOKS:Yes sir, double-bag, surely will.
BROOKS (V.O.):I don't think the store manager likes me very much.
BROOKS (V.O.):Sometimes after work I go to the park and feed the birds. I keep
thinking Jake might show up and say hello, but he never does. I hope wherever he is, he's doing okay and making new friends.
BROOKS (V.O.):I have trouble sleeping at night. The bed is too big. I have bad dreams, like I'm falling. I wake up scared. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember where I am.
BROOKS (V.O.):Maybe I should get me a gun and rob the Foodway, so they'd send me home.I could shoot the manager while I was at it, sort of like a bonus.But I guess I'm too old for that sort of nonsense anymore.
BROOKS (V.O.):I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided not to stay.I doubt they'll kick up any fuss.Not for an old crook like me.
ANDY:P.S. Tell Heywood I'm sorry I put a knife to his throat. No hard feelings.
RED:He should'a died in here, goddamn it.
………………………………
HADLEY:Dufresne! What the fuck did you do?(Andy looks up)Your ass, warden's office, now!
ANDY:What is all this?
HADLEY:You tell me, fuck-stick! They're addressed to you, every damn one!
WILEY:Well, take it.
ANDY:"Dear Mr. Dufresne. In response to your repeated inquiries, the State Senate has allocated the enclosed funds for your library project..." (stunned, examines check) This is two hundred dollars.
ANDY:"In addition, the Library District has generously responded with a charitable donation of used books and sundries. We trust this will fill your needs. We now consider the matter closed. Please stop sending us letters. Yours truly,the State Comptroller's Office."
HADLEY:I want all this cleared out before the warden gets back, I shit you not.
WILEY:Good for you, Andy.
ANDY:Only took six years.(beat)From now on, I send two letters a week instead of one.
WILEY:(laughs, shakes his head)I believe you're crazy enough. You better get this stuff downstairs like the Captain said. I'm gonna go pinch a loaf. When I get back, this is all gone, right?
WILEY:Andy? You hear that?
RED (V.O.):I have no idea to this day what them two Italian ladies were singin' about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I like to think they were singin' about something so beautiful it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it.
RED (V.O.):I tell you, those voices soared.Higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made these walls dissolve away...and for the briefest of moments every last man at Shawshank felt free.
RED (V.O.):It pissed the warden off something terrible.
WILEY (O.S.):LET ME OUUUUT!
RED (V.O.):Andy got two weeks in the hole for that little stunt.
………………………………
HEYWOOD:Couldn't play somethin' good, huh? Hank Williams?
ANDY:They broke the door down before I could take requests.
FLOYD:Was it worth two weeks in the hole?
ANDY:Easiest time I ever did.
HEYWOOD:Shit. No such thing as easy time in the hole. A week seems like a year.
ANDY:I had Mr. Mozart to keep me company.Hardly felt the time at all.
RED:Oh, they let you tote that record player down there, huh? I could'a swore they confiscated that stuff.
ANDY:(taps his heart, his head)The music was here...and here.That's the one thing they can't confiscate, not ever. That's the beauty of it. Haven't you ever felt that way about music, Red?
RED:Played a mean harmonica as a younger man. Lost my taste for it. Didn't make much sense on the inside.
ANDY:Here's where it makes most sense.We need it so we don't forget.
RED:Forget?
ANDY:That there are things in this world not carved out of gray stone. That there's a small place inside of us they can never lock away, and that place is called hope.
RED:Hope is a dangerous thing. Drive a man insane. It's got no place here.Better get used to the idea.
ANDY:(softly)Like Brooks did?
………………………………
MAN #l:It says here you've served thirty years of a life sentence.
MAN #2:You feel you've been rehabilitated?
RED:Yes sir, without a doubt. I can say I'm a changed man. No danger to society, that's the God's honest truth. Absolutely rehabilitated.
………………………………
RED: Thirty years.Jesus. When you say it like that...
ANDY:You wonder where it went. I wonder where ten years went.
ANDY:Anniversary gift. Open it.
ANDY:Had to go through one of your competitors. Hope you don't mind.Wanted it to be a surprise.
RED:It's very pretty, Andy. Thank you.
ANDY:You gonna play something?
RED:Not today.
………………………………
RED (V.O.):Andy was as good as his word. He kept writing to the State Senate.Two letters a week instead of one.
RED (V.O.):In 1959, the folks up Augusta way finally clued in to the fact they couldn't buy him off with just a 200 dollar check. Appropriations Committee voted an annual payment of 500 dollars, just to shut him up. You'd be amazed how far Andy could stretch it. He made deals with book clubs, charity groups...he bought remaindered books by the pound...
HEYWOOD:Treasure Island. Robert Louis...
ANDY:(jotting)...Stevenson. Next?
RED:I got here an auto repair manual, and a book on soap carving.
ANDY:Trade skills and hobbies, those go under educational. Stack right behind you.
HEYWOOD:The Count of Monte Crisco...
FLOYD:Cristo, you dumbshit.
HEYWOOD:...by Alexandree Dumb-ass.
ANDY:Dumas. You boys'll like that one.It's about a prison break.
RED:Maybe that should go under educational too.
RED (V.O.):By the year Kennedy was shot, Andy had transformed a broom closet smelling of turpentine into the best prison library in New England.
………………………………
RED (V.O.):That was also the year Warden Norton instituted his famous "Inside-Out" program. You may remember reading about it. It made all the papers
and got his picture in LIFE magazine.
NORTON:...a genuine, proGREssive advance in corrections and rehabilitation. Our inmates, properly supervised,will be put to work outside these walls performing all manner of public service. Cutting pulpwood,repairing bridges and causeways,digging storm drains...
NORTON:These men can learn the value of an honest day's labor while providing a valuable service to the community -- and at a bare minimum of expense to Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Taxpayer!
RED (V.O.):'Course, Norton failed to mention to the press that "bare minimum of expense" is a fairly loose term. There are a hundred different ways to skim off the top. Men,materials, you name it. And, oh my Lord, how the money rolled in...
NED:This keeps up, you're gonna put me out of business! With this pool of slave labor you got, you can underbid any contractor in town.
NORTON:Ned, we're providing a valuable community service.
NED:That's fine for the papers, but I got a family to feed. The State don't pay my salary. Sam, we go back a long way. I need this new highway contract. I don't get it, I go under. That's a fact.(hands him a box) Now you just have some'a this fine pie my missus baked specially for you, and you think about that.
NORTON:Ned, I wouldn't worry too much over this contract. Seems to me I've already got my boys committed elsewhere. You be sure and thank Maisie for this fine pie.
………………………………
RED (V.O.):And behind every shady deal, behind every dollar earned......there was Andy, keeping the books.
ANDY:Two deposits, Casco Bank and New England First. Night drop, like always.
NORTON:Get my stuff down t'laundry. Two suits for dry-clean and a bag of whatnot. Tell 'em if they over-starch my shirts again, they're gonna hear about it from me.(adjusts his tie)How do I look?
ANDY:Very nice.
NORTON:Big charity to-do up Portland way. Governor's gonna be there.(indicates pie)Want the rest of that? Woman can't bake worth shit.
………………………………
RED:from what I hear.
ANDY:What you hear isn't half of it.He's got scams you haven't dreamed of. Kickbacks on his kickbacks.There's a river of dirty money flowing through this place.
RED:Money like that can be a problem.Sooner or later you gotta explain where it came from.
ANDY:That's where I come in. I channel it, funnel it, filter it...stocks,securities, tax free municipals...I send that money out into the big world. And when it comes back...
RED:It's clean as a virgin's whistle?
ANDY:Cleaner. By the time Norton retires,I will have made him a millionaire.
RED:Jesus. They ever catch on, he's gonna wind up wearing a number himself.
ANDY:(smiles)I thought you had more faith in me than that.
RED:I'm sure you're good, but all that paper leaves a trail. Anybody gets too curious -- FBI, IRS, whatever --that trail's gonna lead to somebody.
ANDY:Sure it will. But not to me, and certainly not to the warden.
RED:Who then?
ANDY:Peter Stevens.
RED:Who?
ANDY:The silent, silent partner. He's the guilty one, your Honor. The man with the bank accounts. That's where the filtering process starts.They trace it back, all they're
gonna find is him.
RED:Yeah, okay, but who the hell is he?
ANDY:A phantom. An apparition. Second cousin to Harvey the Rabbit.(off Red's look)I conjured him out of thin air. He doesn't exist...except on paper.
RED:You can't just make a person up.
ANDY:Sure you can, if you know how the system works, and where the cracks are. It's amazing what you can accomplish by mail. Mr. Stevens has a birth certificate, social security card, driver's license.They ever track those accounts,they'll wind up chasing a figment of my imagination.
RED:Jesus. Did I say you were good?You're Rembrandt.
ANDY:It's funny. On the outside, I was an honest man. Straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.
………………………………
RED:Does it ever bother you?
ANDY:I don't run the scams, Red, I just process the profits. That's a fine line, maybe. But I've also built that library, and used it to help a dozen guys get their high school
diplomas. Why do you think the warden lets me do all that?
RED:To keep you happy and doing the laundry. Money instead of sheets.
ANDY:I work cheap. That's the trade-off.
………………………………
TOMMY
Well. Ain't this for shit?
173 INT -- PRISON CORRIDOR -- DAY (1965) 173
DOLLYING Tommy as he struts along, combing his ducktail,
cigarette behind his ear. (We definitely need The Coasters or
Del Vikings on the soundtrack here. Maybe Jerry Lee Lewis.)
RED (V.O.):Tommy Williams came to Shawshank in 1965 on a two year stretch for B&E.Cops caught him sneakin' TV sets out the back door of a JC Penney.Young punk, Mr. Rock n' Roll, cocky as hell...
TOMMY:(slapping his gloves)C'mon there, old boys! Movin' like molasses! Makin' me look bad!
RED (V.O.):We liked him immediately.
TOMMY:...so I'm backin' out the door,right? Had the TV like this...(mimes his grip)Big ol' thing. Couldn't see shit.Suddenly, here's this voice:"Freeze kid! Hands in the air!"Well I just stand there holdin' on to that TV, so the voice says: "You hear what I said, boy?" And I say,"Yes sir, I sure did! But if I drop this fuckin' thing, you got me on destruction of property too!"
HEYWOOD:You did a stretch in Cashman too?
TOMMY:Yeah. That was an easy ride, let me tell you. Work programs, weekend furloughs. Not like here.
SNOOZE:Sounds like you done time all over New England.
TOMNY:Been in and out since I was 13. Name the place, chances are I been there.
ANDY:Perhaps it's time you considered a new profession. (the game stalls)What I mean is, you don't seem to be a very good thief. Maybe you should try something else.
TOMMY:What the hell you know about it,Capone? What are you in for?
ANDY:(wry glance to Red)Everyone's innocent in here. Don't you know that?
RED (V.O.):As it turns out, Tommy had himself a young wife and new baby girl...
Maybe it was the thought of them on the streets...or his child growing up not knowing her daddy...Whatever it was, something lit a fire under that boy's ass.
TOMMY:I'm thinkin' maybe I should try for high school equivalency. Hear you helped some fellas with that.
ANDY:I don't waste time on losers, Tommy.
TOMNY:(tight)I ain't no goddamn loser.
ANDY:That's a good start. If we do this,we do it all the way. One hundred percent. Nothing half-assed.
TOMMY:Thing is, see...(leans in, mutters)...I don't read all that good.
ANDY:(smiles)Well. You've come to the right place then.
RED (V.O.):So Andy took Tommy under his wing.Started walking him through his
ABCs...Tommy took to it pretty well, too.Boy found brains he never knew he had.
RED (V.O.):Before long, Andy started him on his course requirements. He really liked the kid, that was part of it.Gave him a thrill to help a youngster crawl off the shitheap.But that wasn't the only reason...
RED (V.O.):Prison time is slow time. Sometimes it feels like stop-time. So you do what you can to keep going...... Some fellas collect stamps. Others build matchstick houses. Andy built a library. Now he needed a new project.Tommy was it. It was the same reason he spent years shaping and polishing those rocks. The same reason he hung his fantasy girlies on the wall...
RED (V.O.):In prison, a man'll do most anything to keep his mind occupied.
RED (V.O.):By 1966...right about the time Tommy was getting ready to take his exams...it was lovely Racquel.
ANDY:Well?
TOMMY:Well. It's for shit.(gets up in disgust)Wasted a whole fuckin' year of my time with this bullshit!
AND:May not be as bad as you think.Y
TOMMY:It's worse! I didn't get a fuckin' thing right! Might as well be in Chinese!
ANDY:We'll see how the score comes out.
TOMMY:I'll tell you how the goddamn score comes out...
TOMMY:Two points! Right there! There's your goddamn score!(storms out) Goddamn cats crawlin' up trees, 5 times 5 is 25, fuck this place,fuck it!
TOMMY:I feel bad. I let him down.
RED:That's crap, son. He's proud of you. Proud as a hen.(off Tommy's look)We been friends a long time. I know him as good as anybody.
TOMMY:Smart fella, ain't he?
RED:Smart as they come. Used to be a banker on the outside.
TOMMY:What's he in for anyway?
RED:Murder.
TOMMY:The hell you say.
RED:You wouldn't think, lookin' at him.Caught his wife in bed with some golf pro. GREased 'em both.
………………………………
TOMMY:'Bout four years ago, I was in Thomaston on a 2 to 3 stretch.Stole a car. Dumbfuck thing to do.(beat) Few months left to go, I get a new cellmate in. Elmo Blatch. Big twitchy fucker. Crazy eyes. Kind of roomie you pray you don't get, know what I'm sayin'? 6 to 12 for armed burglary. Said he done hundreds of jobs. Hard to believe, high-strung as he was. Cut a loud fart, he'd go three feet in the air. Talked all the time, too, that's the other thing. Never shut up. Places he'd been, jobs he pulled, women he fucked. Even people he killed.People that gave him shit, that's
how he put it. One night, like a joke, I say: "Yeah? Who'd you kill?" So he says...
BLATCH:...I got me this job one time bussin' tables at a country club.So I could case all the big rich pricks that come in. I pick out this guy, go in one night and do his place. He wakes up and gives me shit. So I killed him. Him and the tasty bitch he was with. (starts laughing) That's the best part! She's fuckin' this prick, see, this golf pro, but she's married to some other guy! Some hotshot banker. He's the one they pinned it on!
………………………………
NORTON:Well. I have to say, that's the most amazing story I ever heard.What amazes me most is you were taken in by it.
ANDY:Sir?
NORTON:It's obvious this fellow Williams is impressed with you. He hears your tale of woe and quite naturally wants to cheer you up.He's young, not terribly bright.Not surprising he didn't know what a state he'd put you in.
ANDY:I think he's telling the truth.
NORTON:Let's say for a moment Blatch does exist. You think he'd just fall to his knees and cry, "Yes, I did it!I confess! By all means, please add a life term to my sentence!"
ANDY:It wouldn't matter. With Tommy's testimony, I can get a new trial.
NORTON:That's assuming Blatch is even still there. Chances are excellent he'd be released by now. Excellent.
ANDY:They'd have his last known address.Names of relatives...(Norton shakes his head)Well it's a chance. isn't it? How can you be so obtuse?
NORTON:What? What did you call me?
ANDY:Obtuse! Is it deliberate? The country club will have his old time cards! W-2s with his name on them!
NORTON:(rises)Dufresne, if you want to indulge this fantasy, that's your business. Don't make it mine. This meeting's over.
ANDY:Look, if it's the squeeze, don't worry. I'd never say what goes on in here. I'd be just as indictable as you for laundering the money!
NORTON:Don't you ever mention money to me again, you sorry son of a bitch!Not in this office, not anywhere!(slaps intercom)Get in here! Now!
ANDY:I was just trying to rest your mind at ease, that's all.
NORTON:(as GUARDS enter)Solitary! A month!
ANDY:What's the matter with you? It's my chance to get out, don't you see that? It's my life! Don't you understand it's my life?
………………………………
FLOYD:A month in the hole. Longest damn stretch I ever heard of.
TOMMY:It's my fault.
RED:Like hell. You didn't pull the trigger, and you didn't convict him.
HEYWOOD:Red? You saying Andy's innocent? I mean for real innocent?(Red nods)
Sweet Jesus. How long's he been in here?
RED:Since '47. Going on nineteen years.
MAIL CALLER:Thomas Williams!
RED:Board of Education.
TOMMY:The son of a bitch mailed it.
RED:Looks that way. You gonna open it or stick your thumb up your butt?
TOMMY:Thumb up my butt sounds better.
TOMMY:C'mon, just throw it away. Will you please? Just throw it away?
RED:Well, shit.
ELDERLY GUARD:Kid passed. C-plus average. Thought you'd like to know.
………………………………
MERT:Warden wants to talk.
TOMMY:Out here?
MERT:That's what the man said.
TOMMY:Warden?
NORTON:Tommy, we've got a situation here.I think you can appreciate that.
TOMMY:Yes sir, I sure can.
NORTON:I tell you, son, this really came along and knocked my wind out. It's got me up nights, that's the truth.
NORTON:The right decision. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what that is.ou understand?(Tommy nods)Think hard, Tommy. If I'm gonna move on this, there can't be the least little shred of doubt. I have to know if you what you told Dufresne was the truth.
TOMMY:Yes sir. Absolutely.
NORTON:Would you be willing to swear before a judge and jury...having placed your hand on the Good Book and taken an oath before Almighty God Himself?
TOMMY:Just gimme that chance.
NORTON:That's what I thought.
………………………………
NORTON:Terrible thing. Man that young,less than a year to go, trying to escape. Broke Captain Hadley's heart to shoot him, truly it did.
ANDY:I'm done. It stops right now. Get H&R Block to declare your income.
NORTON:Nothing stops! NOTHING!(tight)Or you will do the hardest time there is. No more protection from the guards. I'll pull you out of that one-bunk Hilton and put you in with the biggest bull queer I can find. You'll think you got fucked by a train! And the library? Gone!Sealed off brick by brick! We'll have us a little book-barbecue in the yard! They'll see the flames for miles! We'll dance around it like wild Indians! Do you understand me? Are you catching my drift?
………………………………
ANDY:My wife used to say I'm a hard man to know. Like a closed book.Complained about it all the time.She was beautiful. I loved her. But I guess I couldn't show it enough.I killed her, Red.
ANDY:I didn't pull the trigger. But I drove her away. That's why she died. Because of me, the way I am.
RED:That don't make you a murderer. Bad husband, maybe.Feel bad about it if you want. But you didn't pull the trigger.
ANDY:No. I didn't. Someone else did, and I wound up here. Bad luck, I guess.
RED:Bad luck? Jesus.
ANDY:It floats around. Has to land on somebody. Say a storm comes through. Some folks sit in their living rooms and enjoy the rain.The house next door gets torn out of the ground and smashed flat. It was my turn, that's all. I was in the path of the tornado.(softly)I just had no idea the storm would go on as long as it has.(glances to him)Think you'll ever get out of here?
RED:Sure. When I got a long white beard and about three marbles left rolling around upstairs.
ANDY:Tell you where I'd go. Zihuatanejo.
RED:Zihuatanejo?
ANDY:Mexico. Little place right on the Pacific. You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific? They say it has no memory. That's where I'd like to finish out my life, Red. A warm place with no memory. Open a little hotel right on the beach.Buy some worthless old boat and fix it up like new. Take my guests out charter fishing.(beat)You know, a place like that, I'd need a man who can get things.
RED:Jesus, Andy. I couldn't hack it on the outside. Been in here too long.I'm an institutional man now. Like old Brooks Hatlen was.
ANDY:You underestimate yourself.
RED:Bullshit. In here I'm the guy who can get it for you. Out there, all you need are Yellow Pages. I wouldn't know where to begin.(derisive snort)Pacific Ocean? Hell. Like to scare me to death, somethin' that big.
ANDY:Not me. I didn't shoot my wife and I didn't shoot her lover, and whatever mistakes I made I've paid for and then some. That hotel and that boat...I don't think it's too much to want. To look at the stars just after sunset. Touch the sand.Wade in the water. Feel free.
RED:Goddamn it, Andy, stop! Don't do that to yourself! Talking shitty pipedreams! Mexico's down there,and you're in here, and that's the way it is!
ANDY:You're right. It's down there, and I'm in here. I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.
RED:Andy?
ANDY:(turns back)Red, if you ever get out of here,do me a favor. There's this big hayfield up near Buxton. You know where Buxton is?
RED:(nods)Lots of hayfields there.
ANDY:One in particular. Got a long rock wall with a big oak at the north end. Like something out of a Robert Frost poem. It's where I asked my wife to marry me. We'd gone for a picnic. We made love under that tree. I asked and she said yes.Promise me, Red. If you ever get out, find that spot. In the base of that wall you'll find a rock that has no earthly business in a Maine hayfield. A piece of black volcanic glass. You'll find something buried under it I want you to have.
RED:What? What's buried there?
ANDY:You'll just have to pry up that rock and see.
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RED:I tell you, the man was talkin' crazy. I'm worried, I truly am.
SKEET:We ought to keep an eye on him.
ZIGGER:That's fine, during the day. But at night he's got that cell all to himself.
HEYWOOD:Oh Lord. Andy come down to the loading dock today. Asked me for a
length of rope. Six foot long.
SNOOZE:Shit! You gave it to him?
HEYWOOD:Sure I did. I mean why wouldn't I?
FLOYD:Christ! Remember Brooks Hatlen?
HEYWOOD:How the hell was I s'pose to know?
ZIGGER:Andy'd never do that. Never.
RED:Every man's got a breaking point.
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FLOYD:Where the hell is he?
HEYWOOD:Probably still up in the warden's.
TOWER GUARD:(via bullhorn)YOU MEN! YOU HEAR THAT ANNOUNCEMENT OR ZUST TOO STUPID TO UNDERSTAND?
SKEET:Christ. What do we do?
FLOYD:Nothing we can do. Not tonight.
HEYWOOD:Let's pull him aside tomorrow, all of us. Have a word with him. Ain't
that right, Red?
RED:(unconvinced)Yeah. Sure. That's right.
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NORTON:Lickety-split. I wanna get home.
ANDY:Just about done, sir.
ANDY:Three deposits tonight.
NORTON:Get my stuff down t'laundry. And shine my shoes. I want 'em lookin'like mirrors.(pauses at door)Nice havin' you back, Andy. Place just wasn't the same without you.
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GUARD (O.S.):Open number twelve!
VOICE (O.S.):Lights out!
RED (V.O.):I have had some long nights in stir. Alone in the dark with nothing but your thoughts, time can draw out like a blade...That was the longest night of my life...
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GUARD:Man missing on tier two! Cell 12!
HAIG:Dufresne? Get your ass out here,boy! You're holding up the show!(no answer)
Don't make me come down there now!I'll thump your skull for you!
HAIG:Dufresne, dammit, you're putting me behind! You better be sick or dead in there, I shit you not!
HAIG:Oh my Holy God.
HAIG:WHAT THE FUCK!
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NORTON:I want every man on that cellblock questioned! Start with that friend of his!
HADLEY:who?
NORTON:Him.
NORTON:What do you mean "he just wasn't here?" Don't say that to me, Haig!Don't say that to me again!
HAIG:But sir! He wasn't! He isn't!
NORTON:I can see that, Haig! You think I'm blind? Is that what you're saying?Am I blind, Haig?
HAIG:No sir!
NORTON:What about you? You blind? Tell me what this is!
HADLEY:Last night's count.
NORTON:You see Dufresne's name? I sure do! Right there, see? "Dufresne." He was in his cell at lights out!Stands to reason he'd still be here this morning! I want him found! Not tomorrow, not after breakfast! Now!
NORTON:Well?
RED:Well what?
NORTON:I see you two all the time, you're thick as thieves, you are! He must'a said something!
RED:No sir, he didn't!
NORTON:Lord! It's a miracle! Man up and vanished like a fart in the wind!Nothin' left but some damn rocks on the windowsill and that cupcake on the wall! Let's ask her! Maybe she knows! What say there, Fuzzy-Britches? Feel like talking? Guess not. Why should you be different?
NORTON:It's a conspiracy! (SMASH) That's what this is! (SMASH) It's
