When adapting Stephen King’s novella, Frank Darabont decided to remove “Rita Hayworth” from The Shawshank Redemption’s title after much confusion about the characters and plot. The Shawshank Redemption has become one of the most critically acclaimed and beloved films of all time, currently holding the title for the top-rated movie on IMDb. With the movie’s dramatic, inspirational themes, many were surprised to discover it actually came from the Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption novella by Stephen King, who’s much more notable for his classic horror novels like The Shining and Misery.

Both the Stephen King novella and Frank Darabont's 1994 movie follow the same premise, where Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is imprisoned for murdering his wife and her love, though he claims innocence. He befriends fellow prisoner Ellis “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman), where they begin a money-laundering business led by the Warden before Dufresne finally makes a grand escape from Shawshank Prison. In masterminding his escape in the novella, one seemingly innocent piece of memorabilia in Andy’s cell becomes instrumental to his plan: A poster of Rita Hayworth.

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Although not the first time a popular movie adaptation changed the name of King’s novella, like Rob Reiner’s Stand by Me adapted from King’s The Body, Golden Age actress Rita Hayworth being in the title seemed to be something that would draw in audiences. In reality, Darabont decided to remove her name from The Shawshank Redemption’s title for a good reason, namely so that those in Hollywood wouldn’t think he was making a biopic on Rita Hayworth. According to Mental Floss, when the news hit that director and frequent Stephen King collaborator Frank Darabont was adapting Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption, he received plenty of audition requests from the agents of supermodels and actresses who said they would be perfect for “playing the lead.”

In 1994, Stephen King was still insanely popular, so it’s hard to believe agents wouldn’t have done some research into what the book he was adapting was actually about. Even then, Darabont revealed that when some agents asked him about setting up their clients for the movie, they would feign that it was one of the best scripts they had ever read and they desperately wanted their client to play the (nonexistent) role of Rita Hayworth. Although not an actual role in the cast of The Shawshank Redemption, Rita Hayworth herself does appear a few times in the movie. First, as the star in Gilda, the movie the prisoners watch, and second, when Andy gets Red to smuggle him in a poster of Hayworth that he cleverly places in his cell. At the same time, Hayworth’s poster is only up in the movie momentarily before being replaced by Marilyn Monroe then Raquel Welch, the latter of whom’s poster plays the biggest part in finally covering up the hole through which he escapes. Since Hayworth’s poster is less significant in the movie than in the novella, Darabont didn’t necessarily need to leave her in the title.

Although leaving Rita Hayworth out of The Shawshank Redemption’s title may have alleviated some confusion, the final name has still become a point of contention over whether or not it contributed to Shawshank’s initial box office flop. Tim Robbins even told EW that he blames the movie’s box office failure on the title being difficult to remember, where he recalls individuals referring to it as “Scrimshaw Reduction,” “Shankshaw,” or “Shimmy, Shimmy, Shake.” From the movie’s first announcement of being developed, it seems The Shawshank Redemption hasn’t been able to avoid issues with its title, even after removing Rita Hayworth.

Next: Why Shawshank Redemption Is Still IMDb’s Top Rated Movie Of All Time