The Green Mile (film)

At a Louisiana assisted-living home in 1999, elderly retiree Paul Edgecomb becomes emotional while viewing the film Top Hat. His companion Elaine becomes concerned, and Paul explains to her that the film reminded him of events that he witnessed in 1935, when he was a correctional officer at Cold Mountain Penitentiary's death row, nicknamed "The Green Mile".

In 1935, Paul supervises officers Brutus Howell, Dean Stanton, Harry Terwilliger, and Percy Wetmore, reporting to chief warden Hal Moores. Paul is introduced to John Coffey, a physically imposing but mild-mannered African-American man, who has been sentenced to death after being convicted of raping and murdering two white girls. He joins two other condemned inmates on the block: Eduard "Del" Delacroix and Arlen Bitterbuck, the latter of whom is the first to be executed. Percy, the nephew of Louisiana's First Lady, demonstrates a sadistic streak, but flaunts his family connections to avoid being held accountable; he is particularly abusive towards Del, breaking his fingers and killing his pet mouse Mr. Jingles.

After John seemingly heals Paul's severe bladder infection by touching him, and later apparently resurrects Mr. Jingles, Paul gradually realizes that he possesses a supernatural ability to heal others. Suspecting that John is endowed with the power to perform divine miracles, Paul begins to doubt whether he is truly guilty of his crimes. Meanwhile, the correctional officers are forced to deal with new psychotic inmate "Wild Bill" Wharton, who frequently causes trouble by assaulting the guards and racially abusing John, forcing them to restrain him in the block's padded cell on more than one occasion.

In exchange for resigning from the penitentiary and accepting a job at an insane asylum, Percy is allowed to oversee Del's execution. At the execution, Percy deliberately avoids soaking the sponge used to conduct electricity to Del's head, leading to Del suffering a gruesome and agonizing death. As punishment for his actions, Paul and the other correctional officers bind Percy and force him to spend a night in the padded cell. While Percy is locked away, they secretly smuggle John out of the prison so that he can use his powers to heal Warden Moores' wife Melinda of a brain tumor, saving her life. Percy is later released with a warning that if he continues with his spoiled, antagonistic attitude, the others will report him for his various acts of misconduct.

Later, John uses his powers to "release" Melinda's affliction into Percy's brain, causing him to go silent and shoot Wharton to death. Shortly after, John psychically reveals to Paul that Wharton was the true culprit of the crimes for which he was wrongfully condemned, releasing his supernatural energy into Paul in the process. Having apparently suffered a mental breakdown, the still silent Percy is committed to the same insane asylum where he had planned to work after resigning.

Finally realizing that John is innocent, Paul is distraught at the thought of executing him, and offers to let him go free. John, however, tells Paul that he wishes to die, as he views the world as a cruel place, and feels constant pain at the cruelty of humanity. Mentioning that he had never seen a movie before, John watches Top Hat with the other guards as a last request. When executed later that night, he asks not to have a hood placed over his head, as he is afraid of the dark. Back in the present, Paul tells Elaine that John's was the last execution that he and Brutus witnessed, as they both subsequently resigned from the prison and took jobs in the juvenile system.

Concluding his story, Paul reveals that Del's mouse Mr. Jingles is still alive, having been blessed with a supernaturally long life thanks to John's healing touch. He also reveals that he himself is now 108 years old; he was forty-four years old at the time of John's execution. While Elaine sees Paul's long life as another of John's miracles, Paul speculates that it may be a divine punishment, and that he has been condemned to linger on Earth and outlive all of his loved ones for the crime of killing an innocent man chosen by God to perform miracles. Paul is later shown attending Elaine's funeral, and muses on how much longer he has left to live.

Darabont adapted Stephen King's novel, The Green Mile, into a screenplay in under eight weeks.[2]

The film was shot at Warner Hollywood Studios, West Hollywood, California, and on location in Shelbyville, Tennessee, Blowing Rock, North Carolina[3] and the old Tennessee State Prison.[4] The interior sets were custom built by production designer Terence Marsh. "We tried to give our set a sense of space. A sense of history. And a sense of mystery, in a way. We chose the elongated cathedral-like windows because there is a very mystical element in this movie, a supernatural element [...] It presented us with lots of opportunities", he said.[5] The electric chair was also a bespoke design, and was inspired by real prisons which have the device.[5]

The official film soundtrack, Music from the Motion Picture The Green Mile, was released on December 19, 1999 by Warner Bros. It contains 37 tracks, primarily instrumental tracks from the film score by Thomas Newman. It also contains four vocal tracks: "Cheek to Cheek" by Fred Astaire, "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby" by Billie Holiday, "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" by Gene Austin, and "Charmaine" by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians.

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• Official website
• The Green Mile at IMDb
• The Green Mile at the TCM Movie Database
• The Green Mile at AllMovie
• The Green Mile at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Green Mile at Box Office Mojo