Had I known that "The Shawshank Redemption" was a derivation of a Stephen King story, I would have refused to watch it. I'm adverse to any books or movies associated with Stephen King. However, I didn't know and "The Shawshank Redemption" became an exception to my rule about my movie likes and dislikes.

More about my aversion to Stephen King later.

Near the end of the movie Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is supposed to be driving along the ocean in Mexico. As the picturesque scene unfolded, I said to myself, "Hey, I know that location. That's not Mexico, that's St. Croix."

It was the road along the north shore of the island on the way to Cane Bay. The road serpentines along the Caribbean, halfway up the side of the cliff, and the views are spectacular. Which is why I recognized the scene at once. I lived on the island for six years and went biking over that stretch of road hundreds of times. I could never forget the view. (By coincidence, my profile picture is from St. Croix when I was biking and for all I know I may have been off to Cane Bay Road when the picture was being snapped.)

I did some research, and I was right.

Plot Summary - Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is a successful New England banker who is wrongfully convicted for the murder of his wife and her lover. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he finds himself an inamate at the notoriously harsh Shawshank Prison.

A month or so into his imprisonment, Dufresne becomes friends with another inmate, Red (Morgan Freeman), and a circle of Red's friends. Reds niche at Shawshank is that he procures contraband. Dufresne needs two things, a rock hammer to pursue his hobby of rock collecting, and a poster of Rita Hayworth to decorate the wall of his cell. He convinces Red to procure them for him.

(The Rita Hayworth poster was mentioned in The Bikini. which lead to the nomination of "The Shawshank Redemption" as one of My 100 Favorite Movies.)

There are several plot points that occur in prison ... harsh treatment by the guards, working in the prison laundry, constant threats of rape by group of sadistic prisoners known as the "Sisters," and the camaraderie of males bonding under the shared duress.

Andy's skill as a banker gains him favor with the guards, and eventually the warden. He becomes their personal accountant and parlays that favor into getting himself assigned to the thread-bare prison library, which, over the years, he transforms into a jewel of the penal system.

The warden uses Andy's expertise to launch a private construction business. Utilizing the free labor of his prisoners, the warden constructs buildings and builds roads. He profits enormously. But just as quickly as the warden is building an ill-gotten fortune, Dufresne is embezzling it and depositing the money into a series of bank accounts that he established in the names of fictitious individuals he created.

Along the way, a new prisoner comes to Shawshank and becomes friends with Dufresne and Red. As it works out. he was the cellmate of the man who confessed to him that he mudered Dufresne's wife and her lover. But when Dufresne takes that information to the warden, instead of trying to help Defresne get his freedom, the warden has his guards murder the witness.

And that's about as far as I can go without revealing too much. To learn the resolutions of all of these plot complications, you have to watch the movie.

 Click the link below for a thorough investigation of "The Shawshank Redemption."

Frank Darabont directed "The Shawshank Redemption" and also wrote the screenplay as an adaptation of the Stephen King short story "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption."

Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, and James Whitmore.

Tim Robbins - If they ever try to trace any of those accounts, they're gonna end up chasing a figment of my imagination.
Morgan Freeman - Well, I'll be damned. Did I say you were good? Shit, you're a Rembrandt!
Tim Robbins - Yeah. The funny thing is - on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.

Stephen King is one of the most successful authors in the history of the publishing world. Best estimates put his total sales between 3,000,000 and 350,000,000 copies sold.

Twenty some years ago when I started my quest to become an author, I looked at his books. But no matter how hard I tried to like them, I put them down quickly - unread. I hated them. In truth, I read Carrie all the way through, but that was back in 1976 when I was in the hospital getting my knee scoped - an old football injury - and was bored to tears. And that was 10 years before I became interested in writing.

I also read the Bachman Books, that would've been around 1985 and when I was beginning to research writing as a career. Stephen King was a best-seller and I wanted to pick his brain, figuratively speaking. The best I can say is that I didn't hate them.

And I researched interviews of Stephen King and one made an impression. It was an interview in which Stephen King was giving advice to aspiring authors.

Stephen King said that he was often asked what it felt like to become an overnight success. He laughed, and said that it took him 10 years to become an overnight success. One of the secrets to becoming a published writer, he said, was not to take rejection personally. Of course he pointed to the Bachman Books as a perfect example.

In case you don't know the story, after he became popular, Stephen King was rooting around in some old trunks in the basement and found some manuscripts he had written that were rejected. He reread them and thought they were good. He decided to test the market but using the psuedonym Richard Bachman. That way people wouldn't be buying the book becuase it was another Stephen King work.

His other piece of advice that I took to heart was to give my mission time. He suggested a five-year plan. Ignore any and all rejection and just keep plugging. If after five years you failed to get antyhing published, then you should give up the notion of professional writing.

So as much as I don't like Stephen King's books, I heeded his advice on becoming a writer - and it worked.

Your comments are always welcome.

While I am extremely opinionated about the movies I like, my eyes and ears are always open to fresh ideas.

One can never have enough fans - enuf said.

Your movie nominations are always welcome. I've seen so many movies over the years I sometimes forget some that I liked. Your suggestion might be one of those.

"The Shawshank Redemption" has been added to the list of My 100 Favorite Movies.