The Shawshank Redemption's iconic ending reveal has made the decorations of Andy DuFresne's cell a memorable part of the film, with his poster girls being particularly well remembered because of their importance to the story. The Shawshank Redemption follows Andy Dufresne, a self-proclaimed innocent man, as he serves his two life sentences at the Shawshank State Prison. Andy, played by Tim Robbins, is a quiet and meek prisoner throughout most of the film. However, with these unassuming character traits, Andy builds goodwill with some of the guards and prisoners, allowing him to acquire several posters for his cell.
The climactic and euphoric ending shows Andy has been masterfully hatching his escape plan in the background. Andy's posters play a surprisingly integral role in his escape, especially the poster girls. Unbeknownst to Shawshank's security, Andy Dufresne was digging an escape tunnel throughout the movie that he hid by covering it with all his posters. Andy preserves the security of his escape tunnel by hanging more posters as time goes on, making no single decoration stand out as suspicious. There are three poster girls scattered throughout the film contributing to Andy's masterful plan.
Rita Hayworth
The poster of Rita Hayworth is the first poster Andy gets in The Shawshank Redemption. Andy asks Red to get him an image of Rita while at a screening of Gilda, a 1946 movie in which Rita Hayworth stars. Shawshank State Prison shows the Rita Hayworth movie quite often across The Shawshank Redemption, as Andy even mentions that he's seen Rita in the film three times within the same month. Shawshank's inmates love Rita, and they break out into cheers when she comes on screen. The Rita Hayworth poster is pulled directly from the Stephen King book The Shawshank Redemption is based on, signaling its importance.
Rita Hayworth was an actress and model most popular in the 1940s, the period in which The Shawshank Redemption takes place. On top of her acting career, Rita Hayworth was also a sex icon and one of the most popular pin-up girls of the era. This explains why Andy asked for an image of the poster girl, as it would probably be the most innocuous one he could get, and nobody would suspect his ulterior motives. Besides Gilda, Rita Hayworth is best known for movies like Cover Girl and The Lady from Shanghai. Her popularity and film career lasted several decades, and she sadly passed away in 1987 due to Alzheimer's.
Despite not being the poster that covers Andy Dufresne's escape tunnel, she is probably the most iconic poster girl in the film. The Stephen King book the movie adapted is called Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. However, in adapting the book, director Frank Darabont removes Rita Hayworth's name from the title to prevent confusion by audiences, which is probably a clever choice.
Marilyn Monroe
Another poster that can be seen in Andy Dufresne's cell is one of Marilyn Monroe. The image in question is probably Monroe's most iconic, featuring the actress holding down her dress as she stands over a subway vent. The photograph is taken from The Seven Year Itch. Although Marilyn Monroe's poster doesn't play into the story nearly as much as Rita Hayworth's or Raquel Welch's, the actress' popularity made its inclusion a memorable part of The Shawshank Redemption. Marilyn Monroe was a huge name in Hollywood, and it would be believable for a man of Andy Dufresne's age to want a pin-up of her.
Marilyn Monroe is another legendary actress from the 1950s and 1960s when Andy Dufresne would have been in prison. Marilyn Monroe's real-life life and death were nothing short of a tragedy. The actress was the subject of copious sexism, emotional abuse, objectification, and multiple other unfortunate events and mistreatments throughout her lifetime. Monroe is best known for movies like Some Like It Hot, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Misfits, and, naturally, The Seven Year Itch. Besides acting, Marilyn was also a singer, model, and icon of the sexual revolution.
Raquel Welch
Raquel Welch is the third and final poster girl that appears in Andy Dufresne's cell in The Shawshank Redemption. She's also probably the most important. Andy Dufresne's Raquel Welch poster is an image of the actress in the 1966 film One Million Years B.C. It shows the actress in a caveman costume against a rocky background. Raquel Welch's poster in The Shawshank Redemption is the one that covers Andy Dufresne's escape tunnel at the end of the film, with it holding out long enough for Andy to get out of Shawshank and into freedom. The poster only reveals the tunnel by accident after Warden Norton throws a rock through it.
Raquel Welch is also a real-life actress, but she was most prominent later than the former two poster girls, who were stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. Welch's film career was at its peak in the 1960s and 70s, with some of her most well-remembered films being Fantastic Voyage, Hannie Caulder, and the one referenced in The Shawshank Redemption, One Million Years B.C. Also, unlike Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth, Raquel Welch worked well into the 21st century, being part of the cast for modern films like Legally Blonde and 2017's How to Be a Latin Lover. Although she's been in plenty of movies across her long career, the appearance of her poster may well be her most iconic scene.
Andy Has A Lot More Posters Than Just Three
Although The Shawshank Redemption gives the most attention to Andy Dufresne's three poster girls, his cell features many more images hung up on the wall. Various maps, photos of nature and cities, and pictures of various models can be seen. Additionally, Andy has a picture of Albert Einstein sticking his tongue out (something that interestingly didn't exist yet in 1947). There is even a smaller image of Winston Churchill. Andy Dufresne's use of posters is integral to his escape plan. If it weren't for the pictures of Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, and Raquel Welch, the ending of The Shawshank Redemption would have been very different. It turns out posters can be the price of freedom.