Frank Darabont’s 1994 prison drama The Shawshank Redemption was a famous bust at the Oscars, but has since come to occupy a prime spot in the hearts and minds of cinema fans. Almost 30 years after its premiere, the movie – which sees Mainer Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) sentenced to life imprisonment in the notorious titular prison for a crime he didn’t commit – continues to be cited in critics’ best-ever lists. (It even gets referenced in superhero movies.)
You may, however, be surprised to discover that very little was filmed in the Pine Tree State. So where was The Shawshank Redemption filmed? Here’s the skinny.
Finding the right look for Shawshank Prison
During pre-production, it was felt that filming of the scenes inside the prison would be facilitated if a location could be found that was no longer in use, to avoid the disruption of everyday activities. After months of searching, Darabont settled on the Ohio State Reformatory, which had served as the backdrop for the 1989 action film Tango and Cash, and which had recently closed. The prison, which is still standing and is in the process of being renovated, can be found in Mansfield, Ohio, around 70 miles south-west of Cleveland.
The crew found other useful locations in the region; a courthouse in Wyandot County was hired for the opening scene, and the Bissman Building, a late 19th Century construction in the center of Mansfield, was also used as the setting for the moving scenes in the second act in which the aged ex-convict Brooks desperately tries to make a life for himself after a lifetime spent behind bars.
The oak scene
The denouement was filmed not far from Mansfield. Earlier in the movie, Andy tells Red about a field containing a tree under which Andy proposed to his wife in happier times, and tells Red to visit the tree if he ever gets out. Red does so, and his discovery directly leads to the emotional climax.
Like Shawshank Prison, the field in question was not in fact in upstate Maine, but in Ohio, in Monroe township just outside Mansfield. Unfortunately, the so-called “Shawshank oak” is no more; it was colonized by ants in 2011, and a severe storm in 2016 further weakened it. The tree was cut down by the landowner the following year.
The final scene
The crew had to go further afield for the last scene, which saw Andy working on his long-hoped-for boat on a beach, ostensibly in the Mexican town of Zihuatanejo. For practical reasons, the crew stayed on U.S. territory, and filmed the scene on Saint Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
