Shawshank Redemption Page #3

RED (V.O.)

I must admit I didn't think much of

Andy first time I laid eyes on him.

He might'a been important on the

outside, but in here he was just a

little turd in prison grays. Looked

like a stiff breeze could blow him

over. That was my first impression

of the man.

SKEET:

What say, Red?

RED:

Little fella on the end. Definitely.

I stake half a pack. Any takers?

SNOOZE:

Rich bet.

RED:

C'mon, boys, who's gonna prove me

wrong?

(hands go up)

Floyd, Skeet, Joe, Heywood. Four brave

souls, ten smokes apiece. That's it,

gentlemen, this window's closed.

Red pockets his notepad. A VOICE comes over the P.A. speakers:

VOICE (amplified)

Return to your cellblocks for

evening count.

14INT -- ADMITTING AREA -- DUSK (1947) 14

The new fish are marched in. Guards unlock the shackles. The

chains drop away, rattling to the stone floor.

HADLEY:

Eyes front.

WARDEN SAMUEL NORTON strolls forth, a colorless man in a gray

suit and a church pin in his lapel. He looks like he could

piss ice water. He appraises the newcomers with flinty eyes.

NORTON:

This is Mr. Hadley, captain of the

guard. I am Mr. Norton, the warden.

You are sinners and scum, that's

why they sent you to me. Rule

number one:
no blaspheming. I'll

not have the Lord's name taken in

vain in my prison. The other rules

you'll figure out as you go along.

Any questions?

CON:

When do we eat?

Cued by Norton's glance, Hadley steps up to the con and screams

right in his face:

HADLEY:

YOU EAT WHEN WE SAY YOU EAT! YOU

PISS WHEN WE SAY YOU PISS! YOU SH*T

WHEN WE SAY YOU SH*T! YOU SLEEP

WHEN WE SAY YOU SLEEP! YOU MAGGOT-

DICK MOTHERF***ER!

Hadley rams the tip of his club into the con's belly. The

man falls to his knees, gasping and clutching himself.

Hadley takes his place at Norton's side again. Softly:

NORTON:

Any other questions?

(there are none)

I believe in two things. Discipline

and the Bible. Here, you'll receive

both.

(holds up a Bible)

Put your faith in the Lord. Your

ass belongs to me. Welcome to

Shawshank.

HADLEY:

Off with them clothes! And I didn't

say take all day doing it, did I?

The men shed their clothes. Within seconds, all stand naked.

HADLEY:

First man into the shower!

Hadley shoves the FIRST CON into a steel cage open at the

front. TWO GUARDS open up with a fire hose. The con is slammed

against the back of the cage, sputtering and hollering.

Seconds later, the water is cut and the con yanked out.

HADLEY:

Delouse that piece of sh*t! Next

man in!

The con gets a huge scoop of white delousing powder thrown all

over him. Gasping and coughing, blinking powder from his eyes,

he gets shoved to a trustee's cage. The TRUSTEE slides a short

stack of items through the slot -- prison clothes and a Bible.

All the men are processed quickly -- a blast of water, powder,

clothes and a Bible...

15INT -- INFIRMARY -- NIGHT (1947) 15

A naked CON steps before a DOCTOR and gets a cursory exam.

A penlight is shined in his eyes, ears, nose, and throat.

DOCTOR:

Bend over.

The con does. A GUARD with a penlight in his teeth spreads his

cheeks, peers up his ass, and nods. Andy is next up. He gets

the same treatment.

16INT -- PRISON CHAPEL -- NIGHT (1947) 16

CAMERA TRACKS the naked newcomers shivering on hard wooden

chairs, clothes on their laps, Bibles open.

CHAPLAIN (O.S.)

...maketh me to lie down in green

pastures. He leadeth me beside the

still waters. He restoreth my soul...

17INT -- CELLBLOCK FIVE -- NIGHT (1947) 17

Three tiers to a side, concrete and steel, gray and imposing.

Andy and the others are marched in, still naked, carrying

their clothes and Bibles. The CONS in their cells greet them

with TAUNTS, JEERS, and LAUGHTER. One by one, the new men are

shown to their cells and locked in with a CLANG OF STEEL.

RED (V.O.)

The first night's the toughest, no

doubt about it. They march you in

naked as the day you're born, fresh

from a Bible reading, skin burning

and half-blind from that delousing

sh*t they throw on you...

Red watches from his cell, arms slung over the crossbars,

cigarette dangling from his fingers.

RED (V.O.)

...and when they put you in that

cell, when those bars slam home,

that's when you know it's for real.

Old life blown away in the blink of

an eye...a long cold season in hell

stretching out ahead...nothing

left but all the time in the world

to think about it.

Red listens to the CLANGING below. He watches Andy and a few

others being brought up to the 2nd tier.

RED (V.O.)

Most new fish come close to madness

the first night. Somebody always

breaks down crying. Happens every

time. The only question is, who's

it gonna be?

Andy is led past and given a cell at the end of the tier.

RED (V.O.)

It's as good a thing to bet on as

any, I guess. I had my money on

Andy Dufresne...

18INT -- ANDY'S CELL -- NIGHT (1947) 18

The bars slam home. Andy is alone in his cell, clutching his

clothes. He gazes around at his new surroundings, taking it

in. He slowly begins to dress himself...

19EXT -- SHAWSHANK PRISON -- NIGHT (1947) 19

A malignant stone growth on the Maine landscape. The moon

hangs low and baleful in a dead sky. The headlight of a

PASSING TRAIN cuts through the night.

20INT -- RED'S CELL -- NIGHT (1947) 20

Red lies on his bunk below us, tossing his baseball toward the

ceiling and catching it again. He pauses, listening. FOOTSTEPS

approach below, unhurried, echoing hollowly on stone.

21INT -- CELLBLOCK FIVE -- NIGHT (1947) 21

LOW ANGLE. A CELLBLOCK GUARD strolls into frame.

GUARD:

That's lights out! Good night, ladies.

The lights bump off in sequence. The guard exits, footsteps

echoing away. Darkness now. Silence. CAMERA CRANES UP the

tiers toward Red's cell.

RED (V.O.)

I remember my first night. Seems a

long time ago now.

Red looms from the darkness, leans on the bars. Listens.

Waits. From somewhere below comes faint, ghastly tittering.

VOICES drift through the cellblock, taunting:

VARIOUS VOICES (O.S.)

Fishee fishee fisheeee...You're

gonna like it here, new fish. A

whooole lot...Make you wish your

daddies never dicked your

mommies...You takin' this down, new

fish? Gonna be a quiz later.

(somebody LAUGHS)

Sshhh. Keep it down. The screws'll

hear...Fishee fishee fisheeee...

RED (V.O.)

The boys always go fishin' with

first-timers...and they don't quit

till they reel someone in.

The VOICES keep on, sly and creepy in the dark...

22INT -- VARIOUS CELLS -- NIGHT (1947) 22

thru thru 25

2g ...while the new cons go quietly crazy in their cells. One man

paces like a caged animal...another sits gnawing his cuticles

bloody...a third is weeping silently...a fourth is dry-heaving

into the toilet...

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