not the sort of thing that usually makes a good movie.Īs “Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption” began to flow out of his mind and out through his fingertips, the narrator in question became Red, a veteran prisoner in a Maine penitentiary named Shawshank Prison, and his heroic secondary character was revealed as unassuming, determined banker Andy Dufresne. I had always loved this technique of creating a hero out of a secondary character (sort of like turning Watson into Sherlock Holmes), and determined to try it with “Shawshank Redemption.” The result was a moody tale with more thinking than action in it. Brand’s books would often feature a “plain-spun narrator” telling stories about their amazing friend – but at the same time be telling a story about themselves. After years of procrastination, Darabont wrote the script on spec in the span of eight weeks, and when shopping it around to studios, he only ended up having to go to Castle Rock Entertainment – the production company behind Stand By Me, Misery, and Needful Things – to get a “yes.”Īccording to Stephen King’s essay “Rita Hayworth And The Darabont Redemption” (included as an introduction in The Shawshank Redemption’s published screenplay), original inspiration for the story came out of a desire to echo the style of author Max Brand, a.k.a. The author didn’t quite see the cinematic potential in the story, but he trusted the material in the hands of the man who made The Woman In The Room and granted the filmmaker the option. Stephen King was impressed and shocked by the quality, and made a point of remembering the name of the young filmmaker responsible for making it: Frank Darabont.Īround 1987, Darabont reached out to King again, but this time not about a Dollar Baby short he wanted permission to take a crack at adapting “Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption,” a prison-set novella from 1982’s Different Seasons. Featured in the collection Night Shift, the short story is an emotional and melancholy piece about terminal illness and euthanasia, and the 30-minute movie is a haunting and powerful incarnation. In the last four decades, many young writer/directors have taken advantage of this program, but there is no question whatsoever that the standout work among all those completed is an adaptation of “The Woman In The Window” that was made in 1983.
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