Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins’ The Shawshank Redemption is undoubtedly one of the best films released in 1994, the same year when Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump were released. While the latter two managed to nab some Oscars, The Shawshank Redemption shockingly went empty-handed, but, it hasn’t undermined its reputation of being one of the best films of that decade.
The inspiring and heartwarming prison drama told the story of one man’s resilience and eventual freedom from being put into prison despite claims of innocence. The ending of the film saw the emotional reunion of Freeman and Robbins’ characters. It seems the original treatment of the film was slightly different, one which Freeman was vehemently against.
Morgan Freeman Protested Against The Shawshank Redemption‘s Original Ending
Morgan Freeman starred alongside Tim Robbins in Frank Darabont’s prison drama The Shawshank Redemption based on Stephen King’s novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. Throughout the film, Freeman’s Red and Robbins’ Andy form a close bond in the prison, with Andy telling Red to travel to Buxton once he’s released.
This plot point came around as Andy escapes much earlier than Red is released. Freeman’s character then does what Andy told him which leads to the duo’s poignant reunion at Zihuatanejo. Their reunion was not approached in any grand way, as it was simply two friends embracing with a hug. However, this heartwarming scene was different from the orginal script.
In an interview with The Daily News, Freeman revealed that he disagreed with director Darabont’s original idea for that ending scene. Darabont’s treatment had Red playing the harmonica that Andy gave him at the prison during their reunion scene. Freeman found it cliched and unnecessary, while also calling it an asinine idea. He said.
“Frank thought I should be blowing that harmonica that Andy gave me. And I refused…sort of asinine, sort of cliched, sort of unnecessary and overkill”
Freeman’s refusal paid off very well as the reunion scene feels much more intimate and moving in the way it’s shown in the film. The original treatment as Freeman says, sounds out of place and weird. The film will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year and people continue to discover and celebrate the brilliance of its narrative to this day.
Morgan Freeman Points Out One Flaw From The Shawshank Redemption
Even after almost 30 years of its release, Morgan Freeman‘s The Shawshank Redemption is still a very popular film today. As he tells Seth Meyers on Late Night with Seth Meyers, people continue to come up to him to this day and tell him that it’s their favorite film. However, the actor feels there is one major flaw in the film.
Freeman felt the film’s title was terrible. The source book was titled Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, and he felt it weird that the makers omitted Rita Hayworth (who was one of the top actresses in Hollywood’s Golden Age) and chose The Shawshank Redemption.
The actor revealed that when he enquired about it, the reason behind the omission was that the long title wouldn’t fit on the marquee. Despite his repeated requests to include Rita Hayworth, the makers refused. Freeman does admit that the movie’s title caught on with him as time went on. He said,
“You can’t walk down the street without somebody telling you it’s their favorite movie. Terrible title. The original title was Stephen King’s book, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. Now don’t choose ‘Shawshank Redemption’ when you’ve got ‘Rita Hayworth. They said when I complained – and I did – that it won’t fit on the marquee. I said, ‘So what?’ Just put Rita Hayworth… You’ve got the one-sheet there, it’ll say the rest of it! But they chose not to, and so it took a while to catch on.”
In addition to Freeman, the film also starred Tim Robbins, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, and James Whitmore. Stephen King has declared the film to be one of the best adaptations of his works and a potential movie classic (via Oscars.org).
Fans can watch/rent The Shawshank Redemption on Apple TV+.
