Warden Samuel Norton meets Andy and reassigns him to the prison library to assist elderly inmate Brooks Hatlen, a front to use Andy's financial expertise to manage financial matters for other prison staff, guards from other prisons, and the warden himself.

After an assault by the Sisters nearly kills Andy, Hadley beats and cripples Bogs, who is subsequently transferred to another prison Andy is not attacked again. In 1949, Andy overhears the captain of the guards, Byron Hadley, complaining about being taxed on an inheritance and offers to help him shelter the money legally.

Assigned to work in the prison laundry, Andy is frequently sexually assaulted by 'the Sisters' and their leader, Bogs Diamond.

He is befriended by Ellis 'Red' Redding, a contraband smuggler serving a life sentence, who procures a rock hammer and a large poster of Rita Hayworth for Andy. In early 1947, Portland, Maine, banker Andy Dufresne arrives at Shawshank State Prison to serve two consecutive life sentences for murdering his wife and her lover. In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'. Decades after its release, the film was still broadcast regularly, and is popular in several countries, with audience members and celebrities citing it as a source of inspiration or naming it a favorite in various surveys, leading to its recognition as one of the most 'beloved' films ever made. The broadcast rights were acquired following the purchase of Castle Rock by Turner Broadcasting System, and it was shown regularly on the TNT network starting in 1997, further increasing its popularity. Over 320,000 VHS rental copies were shipped throughout the United States, and on the strength of its award nominations and word of mouth, it became one of the top video rentals of 1995. It went on to receive multiple award nominations, including seven Academy Award nominations, and a theatrical re-release that, combined with international takings, increased the film's box-office gross to $73.3 million. Many reasons were cited for its failure at the time, including competition from the films Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump, the general unpopularity of prison films, its lack of female characters, and even the title, which was considered to be confusing for audiences. While The Shawshank Redemption received critical acclaim upon its release-particularly for its story, the performances of Robbins and Freeman, Newman's score, Darabont's direction and screenplay and the cinematography-the film was a box-office disappointment, earning only $16 million during its initial theatrical run. The project attracted many stars for the role of Andy, including Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, and Kevin Costner. While the film is set in Maine, principal photography took place from June to August 1993 almost entirely in Mansfield, Ohio, with the Ohio State Reformatory serving as the eponymous penitentiary. Two weeks after submitting his script to Castle Rock Entertainment, Darabont secured a $25 million budget to produce The Shawshank Redemption, which started pre-production in January 1993. William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, and James Whitmore appear in supporting roles.ĭarabont purchased the film rights to King's story in 1987, but development did not begin until five years later, when he wrote the script over an eight-week period. Over the following two decades, he befriends a fellow prisoner, contraband smuggler Ellis 'Red' Redding ( Morgan Freeman), and becomes instrumental in a money laundering operation led by the prison warden Samuel Norton ( Bob Gunton). The film tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne ( Tim Robbins), who is sentenced to life in Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murders of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of innocence. The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.

Contraband in a sentence