The Shawshank Redemption · written by Frank Darabont · 1994

Norton refuses funding for the library; Andy proposes writing to the state legislature.

Scene 70 of 249 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 47 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 70

After a banker is wrongly imprisoned for murder, he uses patience, expertise, and friendship to survive Shawshank and build a path to freedom.

Scenes 1–8
Andy’s former life and conviction frame a banker whose apparent control has vanished.
Scenes 9–10
Inside prison, Andy needs a way to survive without surrendering the inner self he is trying to protect.
Scenes 11–30
Andy enters Shawshank and confronts its violence, hierarchy, and rules.
Scene 31
Andy and Red begin the friendship that will carry the film’s argument about hope and connection.
Scene 51
Andy tells Red that prisoners retain an inner life and hope, though Red warns hope can be dangerous.
Just before
Scene 67
Andy meets Jake the crow while exploring the storage rooms.
Scene 68
Brooks shows Andy the shabby prison library and its small collection.
Scene 69
Brooks tells the men how Andy helped a guard avoid a beating; they doubt the story.
Scene 70
This scene

70INT -- MAIN BUILDING HALLWAY -- DAY (1949)

DOLLYING Norton and Andy up the hall:

NORTON

Not a dime. My budget's stretched

thin as it is.

ANDY

I see. Perhaps I could write to the

State Senate and request funds

directly from them.

NORTON

Far as them Republican boys in

Augusta are concerned, there's only

three ways to spend the taxpayer's

hard-earned when it come to

prisons. More walls. More bars.

More guards.

ANDY

Still, I'd like to try, with your

permission. I'll send a letter a

week. They can't ignore me forever.

NORTON

They sure can, but you write your

letters if it makes you happy. I'll

even mail 'em for you, how's that?