Stephen King’s original title was ‘Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption’. The studio shortened the title, not because it was too long, but because many people in the film industry thought the film was going to be a biopic of the actress. Young actresses and supermodels sent audition requests to play Rita.
What they didn’t know was that Rita Hayworth (the real one) only appears once in ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ when her film ‘Gilda’ is played to the inmates on movie night. The movie never needed anyone to portray Rita.
No Extra Scenes on DVD
One of the advantages DVD versions have on their theater counterparts is the extras and bonus features. People can't get enough of bloopers, a backstage look, and deleted scenes.
However, the DVD release of 'The Shawshank Redemption' never included any of the scenes left on the editor's room floor. Frank Darabont was actually so embarrassed by the scenes he didn't include, he thought it would be best for people to never see them.
The Recording Problem
Morgan Freeman had to record his iconic voice-over twice. The first time took only 40 minutes and was played out loud during filming to set the rhythm of each scene. So why did they record the voice-over a second time? Well, the first recording had a hiss that the movie's sound engineers couldn't fix.
Since the first recording couldn't be used in the final cut, Freeman had to do it a second time. Though this time, it took the actor three weeks to complete. Who said art was supposed to be easy?
Not Exactly a Real Jail
Shawshank Prison isn't a real prison at all. The only real shots were the exterior ones done outside the abandoned Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield. The inside of the reformatory was such a disaster that the filmmakers shot the interior shots on a sound stage.
They figured it would be cheaper to create a replica than try to renovate the decaying jail. They definitely fooled us (and the Academy). The set design was so convincing that everyone thought it was filmed in a real prison.
Shawshank References
Stephen King loves Maine. He loves it so much that he lives there, and also sets many of his diabolically frightening novels in the Pine Tree State. 'The Shawshank Redemption' is no exception. What King also loves to do is interconnect his books. Shawshank is mentioned in many of his works.
In the film 'Dolores Claiborne', based on one of King's novels, Dolores yells at her husband that he will do time in Shawshank for what he did to their daughter. Shawshank Prison is also mentioned in 'The Fifth Quarter', 'Needful Things', 'Sun Dog', and more.