Shawshank Redemption Page #16

The new fish disembark, chained together single-file. The old-

timers holler and shake the fence. A deafening gauntlet.

171INT -- CELLBLOCK EIGHT -- NIGHT (1965) 171

Tommy and the others are marched in naked and shivering,

covered with delousing powder, greeted by TAUNTS and JEERS.

172INT -- TOMMY'S CELL -- NIGHT (1965) 172

The bars slam with a STEEL CLANG. Tommy and his new CELLMATE

take in their new surroundings.

TOMMY:

Well. Ain't this for sh*t?

173INT -- PRISON CORRIDOR -- DAY (1965) 173

DOLLYING Tommy as he struts along, combing his ducktail,

cigarette behind his ear. (We definitely need The Coasters or

Del Vikings on the soundtrack here. Maybe Jerry Lee Lewis.)

RED (V.O.)

Tommy Williams came to Shawshank in

1965 on a two year stretch for B&E.

Cops caught him sneakin' TV sets

out the back door of a JC Penney.

174INT -- WOOD SHOP -- DAY (1965) 174

A SHRIEKING BUZZSAW slices ten-foot lengths of wood. Red runs

the machine while some other OLD-TIMERS feed the wood.

RED (V.O.)

Young punk, Mr. Rock n' Roll, cocky

as hell...

Tommy is hauling the cut wood off the conveyor and stacking it,

It's a ball-busting job, but the kid's a blur.

TOMMY:

(slapping his gloves)

C'mon there, old boys! Movin' like

molasses! Makin' me look bad!

The old guys just grin and shake their heads.

RED (V.O.)

We liked him immediately.

175INT -- MESS HALL -- DAY (1965) 175

Tommy regales the old boys with his exploits:

TOMMY:

...so I'm backin' out the door,

right? Had the TV like this...

(mimes his grip)

Big ol' thing. Couldn't see sh*t.

Suddenly, here's this voice:

Freeze kid! Hands in the air!

Well I just stand there holdin' on

to that TV, so the voice says: "You

hear what I said, boy?" And I say,

Yes sir, I sure did! But if I drop

this f***in' thing, you got me on

destruction of property too!

The whole table falls about laughing.

176INT -- LIBRARY -- DAY (1965) 176

Poker game in progress. Tommy, Andy, Red and the boys.

HEYWOOD:

You did a stretch in Cashman too?

TOMMY:

Yeah. That was an easy ride, let me

tell you. Work programs, weekend

furloughs. Not like here.

SNOOZE:

Sounds like you done time all over

New England.

TOMNY:

Been in and out since I was 13. Name

the place, chances are I been there.

ANDY:

Perhaps it's time you considered a

new profession.

(the game stalls)

What I mean is, you don't seem to

be a very good thief. Maybe you

should try something else.

TOMMY:

What the hell you know about it,

Capone? What are you in for?

ANDY:

(wry glance to Red)

Everyone's innocent in here. Don't

you know that?

The tension breaks. Everyone laughs.

177INT -- VISITOR'S ROOM -- DAY (1965) 177

CAMERA TRAVELS the room. Chaotic. CONS are waiting their turn

or talking to visitors through a thick plexi shield.

RED (V.O.)

As it turns out, Tommy had himself

a young wife and new baby girl...

Tommy's at the end of the row, phone to his ear. Other side of

the glass is BETH, near tears, fussing with a BABY on her lap.

BETH:

...said we can stay with them, but

Joey's gettin' out of the service

next month, and they barely got

enough room as it is. Plus they got

Poppa workin' double shifts and the

baby cries half the night. I just

don't know where we're gonna go...

PUSH IN on Tommy's face as he listens.

RED (V.O.)

Maybe it was the thought of them on

the streets...or his child growing

up not knowing her daddy...

178INT -- LIBRARY -- DAY (1965) 178

Tommy enters, the strut gone from his step. A little scared.

He finds Andy filing library cards.

RED (V.O.)

Whatever it was, something lit a

fire under that boy's ass.

TOMMY:

I'm thinkin' maybe I should try for

high school equivalency. Hear you

helped some fellas with that.

ANDY:

I don't waste time on losers, Tommy.

TOMNY:

(tight)

I ain't no goddamn loser.

ANDY:

That's a good start. If we do this,

we do it all the way. One hundred

percent. Nothing half-assed.

Tommy thinks about it, nods.

TOMMY:

Thing is, see...

(leans in, mutters)

...I don't read all that good.

ANDY:

(smiles)

Well. You've come to the right

place then.

179INT -- LIBRARY -- DAY (1965) 179

We find Andy giving an impassioned reading:

ANDY:

...and the lamplight o'er him

streaming throws his shadow on the

floor...and my soul from out that

shadow that lies floating on the

floor, shall be lifted nevermore! "

Andy slaps the book shut, immensely pleased with himself.

TOMMY:

So this raven just sits there and

won't go away?

ANDY:

That's right.

TOMMY:

(beat)

Why don't that fella get hisself a

12-gauge and dust the f***er?

180INT -- LIBRARY -- DAY (1965) 180

Tommy tries to read as Andy looks on:

TOMMY:

The cat sh--The cat shh...

(glances up)

The cat shat on the welcome mat?

Andy shakes his head. Not exactly.

181INT -- LIBRARY -- DAY (1965) 181

Andy chalks the alphabet on a blackboard.

RED (V.O.)

So Andy took Tommy under his wing.

Started walking him through his

ABCs...

182INT -- MESS HALL -- DAY (1965) 182

TRACK the table to Tommy and Andy. Discussing a book.

RED (V.O.)

Tommy took to it pretty well, too.

Boy found brains he never knew he

had.

183EXT -- EXERCISE YARD BLEACHERS -- DAY (1965) 183

TOMNY:

The cat sh--shh--shimmied up the

tree and crept st--stel--stealthily

out on the limb...

184INT -- WOOD SHOP -- DAY (1965) 184

Tommy intent on a paperback, mouthing the words. Behind him,

wood is piling up on the conveyor belt.

RED (V.O.)

After a while, you couldn't pry

those books out of hands.

RED:

Ass in gear, son! You're putting us

behind!

Tommy shoves the book in his back pocket and hurries over.

185INT -- LIBRARY -- DAY (1965) 185

Tommy writes a sentence on the blackboard. Andy steps in,

shows him how to reconstruct it.

RED (V.O.)

Before long, Andy started him on

his course requirements. He really

liked the kid, that was part of it.

Gave him a thrill to help a

youngster crawl off the shitheap.

But that wasn't the only reason...

186INT -- ANDY'S CELL -- NIGHT (1966) 186

TIGHT ANGLE on chessboard. Most of the pieces complete. PAN TO

Andy lying in his bunk, carefully polishing...

RED (V.O.)

Prison time is slow time. Sometimes

it feels like stop-time. So you do

what you can to keep going...

...and we keep going past Andy in a SLOW PAN of the cell.

Sink. Toilet. Books. Outside the window bars, we hear another

TRAIN passing in the night...

RED (V.O.)

Some fellas collect stamps. Others

build matchstick houses. Andy built

a library. Now he needed a new project.

Tommy was it. It was the same reason

he spent years shaping and polishing

those rocks. The same reason he hung

his fantasy girlies on the wall...

...STILL PANNING, past a chair, a sweater on a hook...and

finally to the place of honor on the wall...

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