The Shawshank Redemption

Factual error: Towards the end of the movie when Andy is escaping, he breaks open a sewage pipe and is covered with its contents. It is physically impossible for the sewage to shoot out of the break like it did. In order for that to happen there has to be pressure. But there is none there, because the end he crawls through is empty and the end is in the open air. (01:52:20)

Factual error: When Red is sitting under the oak tree in 1967 and pulls the money out of the envelope, the top bill is signed by Nicholas F. Brady, who was Secretary of the Treasury September 1988 - January 1993. It's less about reading the handwriting as noting the different appearance of different signatures from different eras. (02:14:40)

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.

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)

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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.

Factual error: In the scene where Andy first goes to work with Brooks in the library, the year is 1949 or 1950. Brooks tells Andy where the Louis L'Amour books are located. Louis L'Amour wasn't published in the US until 1951, and only had one book released before then.

Factual error: At the end of the film following Andy's escape from Shawshank there is a scene of him driving along the cliff edge in a red car. This car is a red Pontiac GTO from 1969. The year in the film is 1966, 3 years before the car was made. Confirmed in commentary. (01:57:45)

Continuity mistake: When Brooks has the knife to Heywood's throat, in one shot there is blood visible on his neck, yet in the next shot the blood is gone. (00:54:15)

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Suggested correction: It was always there. But in the 3rd of 4 scenes it was significantly more visible as a bright red streak. The other 3 times it's a dark red dot near the knife point.

Factual error: In the scene where Red is working in the Food-Way shortly after his release in 1967, there are cartons of "More" and "Newport" brand cigarettes visible on the shelf to his right. "More" was not released until 1975. (02:09:25)

BAMO

The Shawshank Redemption mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the scene where the warden is tossing cells and comes to "size up" Andy, it shows all of the chess pieces on the window being knocked over while one is in the guard's hands. After a short time one of the pieces is upright again, without anyone touching them. (00:48:30)

The Shawshank Redemption mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Norton loads his gun the bullets are scattered over the table. When he takes aim the bullets are neatly in one place, but after has has shot himself they are scattered as before. (01:56:45)

NancyFelix

Factual error: When the warden offers Tommy a Marlboro, the pack has Marlboro Miles on the side. Not in 1965 or '66. (01:30:00)

Continuity mistake: When Andy is playing the opera music, the whole prison stops what they're doing and stares at the speakers. When they show the infirmary, an African American man gets out of bed and looks out of the window. When the camera goes to the prison yard it pans around and goes right across the same African American man, who is now standing in the yard. (01:06:05)

Factual error: In the library, Heywood is listening to Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues." He is playing the double LP "Hank Williams 24 Greatest Hits," which was originally released by MGM in 1970. "Lovesick Blues" was recorded long before this, but it is not possible for him to have acquired that particular 1970 double LP.

The Shawshank Redemption mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Andy is discovered missing. While the warden is walking to Andy's cell, he tells the guard to question "him", meaning the Morgan Freeman character. He points to Freeman with his left hand but when the scene changes its point of view he is pointing with his right hand. (01:45:45)

Continuity mistake: The sweat disappears from Red's white shirt as he approaches the oak tree at the end. (02:06:10)

The Shawshank Redemption mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As Norton kills himself, the glass that blows out behind him is quite large and about half of the frame gets blown out. There are a few specs of blood on the window as well. A couple of shots later as the camera pulls back and shows Norton you can see the hole in the window is quite small and shaped differently and a smear of blood above the hole now. (02:03:40)

Lummie

Continuity mistake: When showing how Andy switches the books, watch the folder on the table. The folder has a corner that is bent up. When Andy removes the Bible and folder from behind his back and places then on the table, the folder he places has the bent corner. The one already on the table is perfectly flat.

Guy

Factual error: Chess is played with a white square at the right end of the first row. You see the chess board with the stone figures in Andy's cell, and every time there is a black square on the right. Andy would have known better.

NancyFelix

The Shawshank Redemption mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Andy is in the bank, in the background you can see a man in a "porkpie" hat and a white shirt move forward to talk to the cashier. As Andy stands up to leave, the man can be seen again, standing towards the back of the queue. (01:56:10)

SexyIrishLeprechaun

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Suggested correction: The man may have made an error to some paperwork (deposit slip or withdraw slip), and had to get another one and fix his mistake...which would have put him at the end of the queue. You don't get to jump back in line, unless offered that convenience.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Brooks Hatlen is committing suicide you see him engraving "Brooks was here" into the wood panel near the ceiling. The table he is standing on puts his face opposite the vertical wooden bars underneath the engraving (we see this in a shot looking up at him through these bars). Then when he rocks to tip the table over to hang himself he doesn't seem to fall at all, maybe a few inches if anything, yet when we see the pan out he has fallen at least 2 feet.

rmatthams

Red: Andy Dufresne - who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.

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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".

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Chosen answer: In the original novella it is revealed that Andy smuggled $500 into the prison inside of his rectum. During an interview in 2004 Robbins incorrectly quoted the amount as being $100. The narration up until Red's release is provided as Red writes his account of the events while still in prison, and employs the same method to smuggle the story out. But since the issue of Andy smuggling in $500 into the prison isn't addressed in the movie, we should assume that he smuggled it in. In addition to this, the wardens scams are described as "near slave labor." From this we can assume that it is possible the inmates are getting paid (an incredibly small) wage. Perhaps Andy, with his financial knowledge, knows how to haggle, barter and stretch a dollar. One last (but not as likely) scenario is that Red allows some sort of lay by system to inmates.

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