Plot hole: When the warden comes into the cell the morning after the escape, the poster covering the hole is fastened down on all four corners - impossible to do after squeezing into that small hole. [On the DVD commentary, the director confirms that this was a movie "cheat".] (01:49:05)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
1 plot hole
Directed by: Frank Darabont
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Clancy Brown, Tim Robbins, William Sadler, Bob Gunton, Gil Bellows
Character mistake: Red says that Andy crawled to freedom through 500 yards - 'just shy of half a mile'. 500 yards is far less than half a mile; in fact, it's less than a third of a mile. It is however just shy of half a kilometer, which may be what King was thinking of when he wrote the book.
Andy Dufresne: Get busy living, or get busy dying.
Trivia: There are many references to the number 237 in the movie. For instance, this is the number of Red's cell, and these digits are on Andy's prison I.D. This number makes appearances throughout Steven King stories, the most famous one being the room where the murders take place in "The Shining".
Question: Did the Warden know about the "Randall Stevens" character? At first it would seem that he didn't, since Andy used the identity to clean out the bank accounts and escape to Mexico. On the other hand, how could the Warden make deposits and withdrawals (before Andy's escape) from his bank accounts without noticing?
Chosen answer: He probably only knows the name. He doesn't want to know anymore, so he can pin the blame on Andy should anything go wrong. He no doubt hasn't even considered that Andy might have ID so he can access the accounts after his escape.
Also, Andy indicated that the deposits were night deposits, which were in envelopes. So, the warden may not have known the "Randall Stevens" name.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Suggested correction: It's a shame the director surrendered, but for someone as smart as Andy, this is the smallest of problems. He could've put weights on the bottom of the poster, or used magnets he embedded in the walls together with iron glued to the poster, or enough washers in the bottom to essentially do both.
dizzyd
That's a load of rubbish. Embedding magnets in the wall? Really.
Ssiscool ★
If he can make a six foot escape tunnel, he can scrape out several small holes around the poster's edge, and insert the aforementioned magnets, glued in however he can manage (ie tape, chewing gum).
dizzyd
He could have simply used glue mixed with dirt to weigh it down. Once the glue dried it wouldn't matter how heavy the poster was, so long as there was contact.
How could Andy do that after he escaped through the hole in the wall?
satishsasikumar
I don't think it's what happened, but easily enough. Put magnets in the wall during his tunnel digging process - he had years - then something magnetic affixed to the corners of the poster. As soon as he was in the hole the poster would hang down and affix itself to the bottom corners.
Further, if the poster weren't "glued" on the bottom, it would not have been taught enough for the warden's pebble to go through it. If the poster were attached loosely, the pebble would have simply bounced off.