Why No Credit For Shawshank?"

BuffStuff · Sep 21, 2007

Why does Stephen King get so little attention for writing the short-story/novella that was made into what many consider to be one of the greatest films of the last 50 years? Very few people even know that the movie was heavily based on 'Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption', and (most frustrating of all to me) the 'literary critics' who have a field day ripping into King's horror work conveniently forget to mention it as well.

It's just curious to me that while everyone and their uncle knows that Jurassic Park spawned forth from the mental loins of Crichton, only a precious handful of the public knows the true origins of a far more critically celebrated movie. Even the so-called 'literary elite' are damned sure reluctant to even mention 'Shawshank Redemption' in their assessments of King's overall writing ability and ability as a storyteller.

-BS

PS I think I mentioned my distaste for this situation in a previous post months and months ago, but, at 5:45 AM...it's hard to remember. @_@

Siddow · Sep 21, 2007

It's in the film credits, though, right? I could swear it is...

But that said, I never noticed it the first dozen or so times I saw the movie. My step-mother sent me a book, "Different Seasons", because she was shocked that I had never read The Body. First story in the book? Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. I about fell out of my chair.

Bubastes · Sep 21, 2007

Good question. Does it have anything to do with the movie being based on a short story rather than a novel (and therefore more difficult to link to the original author)?

johnnysannie · Sep 21, 2007

I read the short story long before the movie came out so I was always aware that King wrote the original idea. And, by the way, the movie "Stand By Me" is based on another of King's short works, "The Body" (mentioned in another post).

And, actually, quite a few of King's short stories have become the premise for movies although many are not well known and fall more into the B movie class than a major film. These include - and I may be leaving some out - Sometimes They Come Back, The Mangler, Night Flier, Apt Pupil (from the same book, Different Seasons, as "The Body" and "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption

, The Boogeyman, Children of the Corn, Lawnmower Man, The Langoliers, and Hearts In Atlantis (which is based on just the first of the four novellas in the volume of the same name)

Several of the movies spawned sequels that had little to do with King's original story or characters.

Why he doesn't receive major recognition for some of the films, especially the best ones, is anyone's guess but although the man is one hell of a storyteller and one of my favorite authors, critics have not always been kind or ranked him among the major literary lights of our generation.

Jamesaritchie · Sep 21, 2007

King

Hmmm, I thought King got a lot of credit for Shawshank? It was never a mystery to me that he wrote the story.

jst5150 · Sep 21, 2007

The movie is better than the short story. It's a separate entity. It's made special because its elements as a film. It's not as if Shawshank the film is sitting solidly on the short story as a foundation. The same can be said of "Blade Runner." It's a Phillip K. Dick movie -- and people ALWAYS bitch that no PKD book-to-film adaptation comes close. But Blade Runner is brilliant vision. So is the book. But they are separate and distinct.

George Lucas also tells people that the movies are separate from all of the other materials. His universe is in the films. And Alan Dean Foster wrote the novelization of Star Wars. No one seems to care too much for the novelized version, though.

PeeDee · Sep 21, 2007

Jamesaritchie said:
Hmmm, I thought King got a lot of credit for Shawshank? It was never a mystery to me that he wrote the story.

Same here. Actually, the one I didn't know he had written was Stand by Me. I'd read "The Body," I just hadn't put them together until I paid closer attention. (But that one's my fault, innit?)

One thing Stephen King mentions in interviews and discussions is a conversation with an old lady who said she didn't like his stuff, it was too scary for her. And Stephen King says, "Well, I wrote non-scary stuff, too. Like the Shawshank Redemption." And the old lady says "Oh, I liked that, you didn't write that."

I think maybe people think of Stephen King as the guy who did Pet Semetary and Children of the Corn and It and forget that he also wrote things like Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption or The Things They Left Behind or Hearts in Atlantis.

JeanneTGC · Sep 21, 2007

I'm with JAR -- I was fully aware that both "Stand By Me" and "The Shawshank Redemption" were based on short stories by Stephen King. Maybe it was different in states, but in California, it was made very clear, trumpeted, really, that King was the original author of the shorts for these movies.

"Stand By Me" was a great movie, too.

donroc · Sep 21, 2007

Shawshank, in my humble opinion, should have won best picture over Forrest Gump.

PeeDee · Sep 21, 2007

donroc said:
Shawshank, in my humble opinion, should have won best picture over Forrest Gump.

Absolutely. Forrest Gump was fun, but Shawshank was stunning.

Claudia Gray · Sep 21, 2007

I'm not sure it can accurately be said that Stephen King receives "so little attention" for anything, really.

PeeDee · Sep 21, 2007

Well....The Colerado Kid...

Jamesaritchie · Sep 21, 2007

jst5150 said:
The movie is better than the short story. It's a separate entity. It's made special because its elements as a film. It's not as if Shawshank the film is sitting solidly on the short story as a foundation. The same can be said of "Blade Runner." It's a Phillip K. Dick movie -- and people ALWAYS bitch that no PKD book-to-film adaptation comes close. But Blade Runner is brilliant vision. So is the book. But they are separate and distinct.

George Lucas also tells people that the movies are separate from all of the other materials. His universe is in the films. And Alan Dean Foster wrote the novelization of Star Wars. No one seems to care too much for the novelized version, though.

We'll just have to disagree here. I thought the film was very good, but I thought the story was better.

johnnysannie · Sep 21, 2007

Jamesaritchie said:
We'll just have to disagree here. I thought the film was very good, but I thought the story was better.

I agree with James on this. The movie is good - actually one of my favorite films - but the story is indeed better. It may be just because I am a writer but movies that are better than the original book or short story are rare.

WendyNYC · Sep 21, 2007

johnnysannie said:
I agree with James on this. The movie is good - actually one of my favorite films - but the story is indeed better. It may be just because I am a writer but movies that are better than the original book or short story are rare.

I agree. I can't think of any instances where I thought the movie was better than the book. I was 15 when Stand By Me came out and I remember being excited to see it since I loved The Body, but disappointed with the film. I saw it again recently and liked it much more. Maybe because I hadn't read the story in, oh, two decades.

jst5150 · Sep 21, 2007

Jamesaritchie said:
We'll just have to disagree here. I thought the film was very good, but I thought the story was better.

I understand that. There's plenty of instances like that around.

Take for instance, the Da Vinci Code ...

[JST runs away from lit fuse]

PeeDee · Sep 21, 2007

The only instance where I would side with a movie would be Secret Window, which I preferred over the short story Secret Window, Secret Garden.

I like the short story. I really do. And I realize I'm one of, like six people on the planet who liked the movie...but I love it. And especially after you listen to David Koepp (writer/director) talk about all the little gimmicks and obscure clues he put in, the film is even more fun.

donroc · Sep 21, 2007

As I wrote in another thread, the film SOMEWHERE IN TIME is superior to the book, and the author wrote both, I believe.

www.donaldmichaelplatt.com

C.bronco · Sep 21, 2007

No one mentioned The Running Man, also King's. Great movie w/ Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Secret Window was nearly identical to another story King wrote, but it's in the part of my brain that just broke for lunch.

PeeDee · Sep 21, 2007

C.bronco said:
No one mentioned The Running Man, also King's. Great movie w/ Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Secret Window was nearly identical to another story King wrote, but it's in the part of my brain that just broke for lunch.

The novel The Dark Half. He wrote Secret Window, Secret Garden, in the vicinity of The Dark Half. Coincidentally, The Dark Half is one of the few Stephen King books I read time and again happily.

jst5150 · Sep 21, 2007

I said ...

LIKE THE FREAKING DA VINCI CODE ... :e2fight:

jst5150 · Sep 21, 2007

all right. no one's taking the bait. moving on ...

Jamesaritchie · Sep 21, 2007

Da

jst5150 said:
I understand that. There's plenty of instances like that around. Take for instance, the Da Vinci Code ...

[JST runs away from lit fuse]

I'll take the bait. Both sucked dead bunnies.

PeeDee · Sep 21, 2007

Sucked dead bunnies and blew goats. That's Dan Brown in a nutshell. Ugh. Ugh. Blech. Barf.

johnnysannie · Sep 21, 2007

donroc said:
As I wrote in another thread, the film SOMEWHERE IN TIME is superior to the book, and the author wrote both, I believe.

www.donaldmichaelplatt.com

The book is "Bid Time Return" by Richard Matheson and yes, the movie "Somewhere In Time" was also written by Richard Matheson.

But, again, I must disagree - IMO the book is better although I love the movie.

Why No Credit For Shawshank?"

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