Synopsis
In 1947, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a banker in Maine, is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, a golf pro. Since the state of Maine has no death penalty, he is given two consecutive life sentences and sent to the notoriously harsh Shawshank Prison. Andy keeps claiming his innocence, but his cold and calculating demeanor leads everyone to believe he did it.
Meanwhile, Ellis Boyd Redding (Morgan Freeman), known as Red is being interviewed for parole after having spent 20 years at Shawshank for murder. Despite his best efforts and behavior, Red's parole is rejected which doesn't phase him all that much. Red is then introduced as the local smuggler who can get inmates anything they want within reason. An alarm goes off alerting all prisoners of new arrivals. Red and his friends bet on whichever "new fish" will have a nervous break down during his first night in prison. Red places a huge bet on Andy.
During the first night, an overweight newly arrived inmate, nicknamed ''fat ass', breaks down and cries hysterically allowing Heywood (William Sadler) to win the bet. However, the celebration is short lived when the chief guard, Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown), savagely beats up the fat man for not keeping quiet when he is asked to. Meanwhile, Andy remains steadfast and composed. The next morning, the inmates learn that ''fat ass'' died in the infirmary because the prison doctor had already left for the night. Andy inquires about the man's name only to get put down by Heywood.
About a month later, Andy approaches Red having heard of his talents for finding things. He asks Red to find him a rock hammer, an instrument he claims is necessary for his hobby of rock collecting and sculpting. Red asks a few questions about his intentions which Andy laughs off. Red agrees to place the order and also warns Andy about ''the sisters'', a group of prisoners who sexually assaults other prisoners, most importantly their leader, Boggs (Mark Rolston) who has a crush on Andy. Though other prisoners consider Andy "a really cold fish," Red sees something in Andy, and likes him from the start. Red thinks Andy intends to use the hammer to engineer an escape in the future but when he finally sees the tool's actual size, he understands why Andy laughed and laughs too, putting aside the thought that Andy could ever use it to dig his way out of prison.
During the first two years of his incarceration, Andy spends most of his time working in the prison laundry or fighting off Boggs and the Sisters. Though he persistently resists and fights them every time, Andy is beaten and raped on a regular basis but keeps quiet about it.
When a work detail for tarring the roof of one of the prison's buildings is announced, Red pulls some strings to get Andy and a few of their mutual friends assigned to the job, giving everyone a break from the usual routine and a chance to "enjoy" the fine weather. During the job Andy overhears Hadley complaining about having to pay taxes for an upcoming inheritance. Drawing from his expertise as a banker, and despite being physically threatened by the truculent Hadley, Andy informs Hadley of how he can shelter his money from the IRS by turning it into a one-time gift for his wife. He then offers to assist Hadley in filling out the paperwork in exchange for some cold beers for his fellow inmates while on the tarring job. Hadley first threatens to throw Andy off the roof, but eventually agrees and do provide the working inmates with cold beers before the job is finished. Red remarks that Andy may have engineered the privilege to build favor with the prison guards as much as with his fellow inmates, but he also thinks Andy did it simply to "feel normal again."
While watching a movie, Andy approaches Red with another unusual demand and asks for a large poster of the actress Rita Hayworth. Red is surprised by the demand but agrees to place the order. As he exits the theater, Andy once more encounters the Sisters. Although he is able to talk his way out of being raped, he is brutally beaten within an inch of his life, putting him in the infirmary for a month. Boggs spends a week in solitary for the beating. When he comes out, he finds Hadley and his men waiting in his cell. They beat him so badly that he's left unable to walk or eat solid food for the rest of his life and is transferred to a prison hospital upstate. The Sisters move on and never bother Andy again. When Andy gets out of the infirmary, he finds a bunch of rocks for him to sculpt and a giant poster of Rita Hayworth in his cell; presents from Red and his friends.
Warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton) hears about how Andy helped Hadley and uses a surprise cell inspection to size Andy up. He finds Andy reading his copy of the Holy Bible and they talk about their favorite verses while the guards are turning the cell upside down looking for illegal possessions. Satisfied with their encounter, the warden leaves and almost forget to give Andy his Bible back. He then encourages Andy to keep reading the Bible saying ''salvation lays within''.
Meanwhile, Ellis Boyd Redding (Morgan Freeman), known as Red is being interviewed for parole after having spent 20 years at Shawshank for murder. Despite his best efforts and behavior, Red's parole is rejected which doesn't phase him all that much. Red is then introduced as the local smuggler who can get inmates anything they want within reason. An alarm goes off alerting all prisoners of new arrivals. Red and his friends bet on whichever "new fish" will have a nervous break down during his first night in prison. Red places a huge bet on Andy.
During the first night, an overweight newly arrived inmate, nicknamed ''fat ass', breaks down and cries hysterically allowing Heywood (William Sadler) to win the bet. However, the celebration is short lived when the chief guard, Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown), savagely beats up the fat man for not keeping quiet when he is asked to. Meanwhile, Andy remains steadfast and composed. The next morning, the inmates learn that ''fat ass'' died in the infirmary because the prison doctor had already left for the night. Andy inquires about the man's name only to get put down by Heywood.
About a month later, Andy approaches Red having heard of his talents for finding things. He asks Red to find him a rock hammer, an instrument he claims is necessary for his hobby of rock collecting and sculpting. Red asks a few questions about his intentions which Andy laughs off. Red agrees to place the order and also warns Andy about ''the sisters'', a group of prisoners who sexually assaults other prisoners, most importantly their leader, Boggs (Mark Rolston) who has a crush on Andy. Though other prisoners consider Andy "a really cold fish," Red sees something in Andy, and likes him from the start. Red thinks Andy intends to use the hammer to engineer an escape in the future but when he finally sees the tool's actual size, he understands why Andy laughed and laughs too, putting aside the thought that Andy could ever use it to dig his way out of prison.
During the first two years of his incarceration, Andy spends most of his time working in the prison laundry or fighting off Boggs and the Sisters. Though he persistently resists and fights them every time, Andy is beaten and raped on a regular basis but keeps quiet about it.
When a work detail for tarring the roof of one of the prison's buildings is announced, Red pulls some strings to get Andy and a few of their mutual friends assigned to the job, giving everyone a break from the usual routine and a chance to "enjoy" the fine weather. During the job Andy overhears Hadley complaining about having to pay taxes for an upcoming inheritance. Drawing from his expertise as a banker, and despite being physically threatened by the truculent Hadley, Andy informs Hadley of how he can shelter his money from the IRS by turning it into a one-time gift for his wife. He then offers to assist Hadley in filling out the paperwork in exchange for some cold beers for his fellow inmates while on the tarring job. Hadley first threatens to throw Andy off the roof, but eventually agrees and do provide the working inmates with cold beers before the job is finished. Red remarks that Andy may have engineered the privilege to build favor with the prison guards as much as with his fellow inmates, but he also thinks Andy did it simply to "feel normal again."
While watching a movie, Andy approaches Red with another unusual demand and asks for a large poster of the actress Rita Hayworth. Red is surprised by the demand but agrees to place the order. As he exits the theater, Andy once more encounters the Sisters. Although he is able to talk his way out of being raped, he is brutally beaten within an inch of his life, putting him in the infirmary for a month. Boggs spends a week in solitary for the beating. When he comes out, he finds Hadley and his men waiting in his cell. They beat him so badly that he's left unable to walk or eat solid food for the rest of his life and is transferred to a prison hospital upstate. The Sisters move on and never bother Andy again. When Andy gets out of the infirmary, he finds a bunch of rocks for him to sculpt and a giant poster of Rita Hayworth in his cell; presents from Red and his friends.
Warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton) hears about how Andy helped Hadley and uses a surprise cell inspection to size Andy up. He finds Andy reading his copy of the Holy Bible and they talk about their favorite verses while the guards are turning the cell upside down looking for illegal possessions. Satisfied with their encounter, the warden leaves and almost forget to give Andy his Bible back. He then encourages Andy to keep reading the Bible saying ''salvation lays within''.
