Stephen King at the Movies



  Many of Stephen King’s books have been made into movies, some good, and some not so good.  If you have read any of King’s books and then watched the movie you will see that the movie does not always follow the book.  This is largely due to Stephen King not being involved in writing the screen plays.  Two movies that did follow the books well, and in which King was involved were The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

Stephen King’s short story “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” was published in the book Different Season.  It is the story of a young banker, Andy Dufresne which is wrongly convicted of his wife’s murder and sentenced to life at Shawshank Prison.  After nearly twenty years in prison, Andy escapes by tunneling out of the prison using a rock hammer and hiding his escape route behind a poster of Rita Hayworth.  The young film maker Frank Darabont had secured the film adaptation rights from Stephen King, and King gave him technical advice during the production.   The film was nominated for several Academy Awards but lost out to Forest Gump.  Even though  The Shawshank Redemption did not win big during the Academy Awards it has become one of the best one hundred films of all times according to the American Film Institute.  I truly feel that Stephen King’s inputs while filming the movie greatly influenced the later success of the film. 

                        

The Green Mile was another great movie that followed the book well.  Originally it was published into six small paperbacks released over a six month period.  The Green Mile was set in a Louisiana prison during the Great Depression.  A man named John Coffy is brought to the prison to be put to death via the electric chair for killing two small girls. Soon the prison guards find out the John Coffy is not just an ordinary man and has the powers of healing.   Again Frank Darabont asked King to give him first dibs on making the movie.  After he read the books Darabont drove to where King was on another project to say “yes” he wanted to make the movie.  He asked King to be on sight to ensure the movie was what King would want the movie to depict from his writings.  Stephen King was often at the set of the movie giving advice to the director.  Again, this movie was nominated for several Academy Awards including Best Picture but lost to American Beauty.   Although these movies did win any awards they are still two of the best movies of all times.  The success of these movies can be directly contributed to having King on set conveying his visions.  I have watched a lot of older King movies where he is not involved, and they often do not follow the book, making the film a disappointment for fans.  To me, not all books are meant to be made into movies but when the author is involved with the process it makes a huge difference in the overall outcome.