Shawshank+Redemption-fun+facts

The role of Tommy Williams was intended for Brad Pitt. Filmed at the defunct Mansfield State Penitentiary in Ohio. The prison was in such poor condition that renovations had to be made prior to filming. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals monitored the filming of scenes involving Brooks' crow. During the scene where he fed it a maggot, the ASPCA objected on the grounds that it was cruel to the maggot, and required that they use a maggot that had died from natural causes. One was found, and the scene was filmed. There are several similarities to the Alexandre Dumas novel, "The Count of Monte Cristo" (which is also mentioned during the film). Gil Bellows plays Thomas ("Tommy") Williams. In "Ally McBeal" (1997), he played William ("Billy") Thomas. The movie is dedicated Frank Darabont's former agent who helped him get started. The Rita Hayworth movie the prisoners are watching is Gilda (1946). Warden Norton whistles the hymn "Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott", the English title of which is "A Mighty Fortress is Our God". The mugshots of a young-looking 'Freeman, Morgan' that are attached to his parole papers are actually pictures of Morgan's younger son, Alfonso Freeman. Alfonso also had a cameo in the movie as a con shouting "Fresh fish! Fresh fish today! We're reeling 'em in!" On the wall in Andy Dufresne's cell is a picture of Albert Einstein. Tim Robbins, who portrayed Andy Dufresne also played in the fictional movie of Albert Einstein, I.Q. In the opening courtroom sequence, Andy Dufrene mentions that he threw his gun into the Royal River, this is the same name of the river that the kids cross in Stand By Me, also from a Stephen King story. When Warden Samuel Norton opens the Bible where Andy Dufresne hid his rock pick, it opens to the Book of Exodus, which details the escape of the Jews from Egypt. The music Andy Dufresne plays on the Tannoy is Mozart's Che Soave Zeffiretto, from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, in which a servant outwits his master (just as Andy plans to do against his "master", the Warden.) The song is where Figaro outlines his plan to do so, in fact. In the scene after Andy has escaped, the warden wants them to question Red. When they call to open Red's cell they shout. "Open 237!" This is the same number as the room in The Shining, also by Steven King. The cellblocks used for the movie weren't even in the prison due to poor conditions. Parts of the crew built it in a nearby Westinghouse Warehouse. The Halfway house that Brooks and Red stayed in was actually a room in Mansfield Reformatory. <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The former Mansfield prison warden appears as a con on the bus with Tommy, he is the black man sitting behind Tommy. <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">In the Shawshank Redemption book, Tommy wasn't killed, he made a deal with the warden, the warden sent him to a minimum secruity prison in exchange for him to keep his mouth shut about Elmo Blatch.