Ezcellent

Rating: 10/10 (25 January 2016)

Though the film is set in Maine, the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio, served as the fictional Shawshank State Penitentiary. Although a large portion of the prison was torn down after filming, the main administration building and two cell blocks remained; the site was revisited for filming parts of the film Air Force One.[12] Several of the interior shots of the specialized prison facilities, such as the admittance rooms and the warden's office, were shot in the reformatory. [12] The interior of the boarding room used by Brooks and Red was located in the administration building, though exterior shots were made elsewhere.[12] The prison site is a tourist attraction.[12] Internal scenes in the prison cell blocks were actually filmed on a soundstage built inside the nearby shuttered Westinghouse factory.[12] Downtown scenes were also filmed in Mansfield, as well as neighboring Ashland, Ohio. The oak tree under which Andy buries his letter to Red is located at 40°39′14″N 82°23′31″W, near Malabar Farm State Park, in Lucas, Ohio. The tree was heavily damaged by straight-line winds in a thunderstorm on July 29, 2011; officials were unsure if the tree would survive.[13] However, due to rally groups and inspections by forestry organizations, the tree was found to be alive and well and still stands today.[14]
Just as a prison in Ohio stood in for a fictional one in Maine, the beach scenes shown in the final minutes of the film meant to portray Zihuatanejo, Mexico, were actually shot in the Caribbean on the island of St. Croix, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The beach at 'Zihuatanejo' is Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge, a two-mile crescent of sand just south of Frederiksted on the southwestern tip of the island. The refuge is a hatching ground for leather back sea turtles, and open only at limited times (10 am to 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays), and not at all during the breeding season.[15]
The film was dedicated to Allen Greene,