Often considered the greatest film of all time, The Shawshank Redemption had to come from somewhere. That somewhere was the irreplaceable mind of Stephen King. Alongside his incredible ability to pump out horror novels at an exceptional rate, he was able to show off a less graphic side for simply brilliant storytelling.

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Released as Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption in the collection of short stories Different Seasons back in 1982, it took Frank Darabont twelve years to finalize his Hollywood vision. We’ve collected ten of the things he changed in his recreation.

Tommy’s Fate

In the film, you probably remember Tommy as the guy with information about who truly killed Andy Dufresne’s wife. When the guards and warden find out that Tommy might be able to help get Andy released, he is shot and killed after they pretend he was making an escape attempt. In the book, this brutal death doesn’t actually happen, and he is simply transferred to a different prison in order to avoid the information getting out.

The Warden’s Fate

Speaking of the warden, he was a pretty morally corrupt guy. Considering it was his job to run a prison full of inmates, keeping them in acceptable conditions and allowing their innocence to be heard if necessary, he didn’t do a good job.

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At the end of the film, he shoots himself in the chin, knowing that he is corrupt running would be found out. This scene in particular is known for a continuity error in which the bullet he shoots himself with leaves a hole in a completely different place. In the book, he simply resigns from his post as he doesn’t have the same years of abuse under his belt.

Brooks’ Fate

Without a doubt, the saddest and most depressing moment from the Shawshank Redemption film is when Brooks, unable to adjust to life outside the prison walls, hangs himself, leaving the heart-breaking note, “Brooks was here”. In the book, his character is far less important to the story. As such, he is freed from prison and ends up in an old people’s home, where he dies naturally of old age, rather than the terribly sad alternate circumstances.

Bogg’s Role

In the original Stephen King book, Boggs gets one singular mention. After this, he is transferred out of the prison and never heard from again. In the films, he is the main source of Andy’s torment, filling the role of all of the ‘sisters’ from the book.

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He eventually gets his comeuppance in a morally questionably way, where all of the guards beat him to a pulp, almost killing him and transferring him out of the prison for good.

Andy Is Suicidal In The Books

The opening of the film version of Shawshank Redemption shows Andy to own a gun and to be on trial for the potential murder of his adulterous wife. While the situation is the same in the book, the circumstances around his ownership of the gun are very different. In the film, his owning a gun is never really questioned, so he doesn’t have to explain himself. In the book, however, Andy explains that he is suicidal. Whether this is a cover-up or not, it marks a huge difference to his motivation as explained in the film.

The Main Characters Look Very Different

Shawshank Redemption

Both Red and Andy look completely different from how they are described in the original story. Interestingly, these casting decisions were so perfect that Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman have immortalized the roles; try reading Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption without picturing them. However, Andy in the book is small, mousy haired and wearing glasses. Red is a white Irish man. The writers make reference to this difference by having Red joke about having Irish heritage.

The Location Of The Box

The ending of The Shawshank Redemption may well be its only true weak point. For Andy to rely exclusively on the same specific rock to have never moved in so many years is pretty crazy, but it seems to work, nonetheless. He guides Red to the exact location, describing said rock in detail, leading him to the box.

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In the book, Andy doesn’t guide Red directly. Instead, Red takes it on himself to try and find the place Andy once described, randomly searching for a long time until he finds the box. You’d think if Andy was going to leave money laying around, he’d have just explained where he put it?

Wardens And Guards

Byron Hadley in The Shawshank Redemption

Despite being set over a period of almost twenty years, the makers of the Shawshank Redemption film would like us to believe that every staff member at the prison kept their jobs that whole time. As such, the guards remain unchanged throughout, with Captain Hadley being arrested after Andy’s escape. In the book, Hadley is gone way before Andy ever escapes and also has a heart attack.

Finding The Tunnel

The iconic image of the warden pulling back the poster to reveal Andy’s genius escape tunnel is one of the stills from The Shawshank Redemption that has endured for many years. However, this image wasn’t able to be conjured up in quite the same way when reading the book. While we all know that the warden angrily through a rock at the wall, revealing the hole and tunnel, the book simply sees him angrily tear the poster down, revealing the same tunnel.

Rita Hayworth

Firstly, it is obvious from the word go that Rita Hayworth doesn’t make quite as much impact on the film as it does the book. She is the face on Andy’s poster, and they watch her film Gilda, but that’s about it. The main differences here are that the book also depicts Andy having posters of Raquel Welch and Linda Rondstadt, as well as watching The Lost Weekend instead.

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