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The Green Mile
Promotional poster for The Green Mile
Directed by	Frank Darabont
Produced by	Frank Darabont David Valdes
Written by	Novel: Stephen King Screenplay: Frank Darabont
Starring	Tom Hanks David Morse Bonnie Hunt Michael Clarke Duncan Barry Pepper James Cromwell Doug Hutchison Sam Rockwell Patricia Clarkson Harry Dean Stanton
Music by	Thomas Newman
Cinematography	David Tattersall
Editing by	Richard Francis-Bruce
Distributed by	Warner Bros. (U.S. Theatrical & worldwide DVD) UIP / Universal (International)
Release date(s)	December 10, 1999
Running time	188 min.
Language	English French
Budget	$60 million
IMDb profile

The Green Mile is an Academy Award-nominated 1999 drama film, directed by Frank Darabont and adapted by him from the 1996 Stephen King novel The Green Mile. The film stars Tom Hanks as Paul Edgecomb and Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey.

The movie is primarily about Edgecomb and his life as a corrections officer on Death Row in the 1930s. The movie is told in flashback by the protagonist in a nursing home and follows a string of supernatural and metaphysical events upon the arrival of Coffey, a convicted murderer.

In the 2000 Academy Awards, the movie was nominated for four awards (Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Picture, Best Sound, and Best Writing: Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published).

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Characters 3.1 John Coffey 3.2 Paul Edgecomb 3.3 Brutus "Brutal" Howell 3.4 William "Wild Bill" Wharton 3.5 Eduard Delacroix 3.6 Arlen Bitterbuck 3.7 Percy Wetmore 3.8 Harold "Hal" Moores 3.9 Mr. Jingles 4 Deviations from source material 5 Soundtrack listing 6 Awards and nominations 7 References 8 External links

The Green Mile is a story told in flashback by an elderly Paul Edgecomb in a nursing home. He tells a friend about the summer of 1935 when he was a corrections officer in charge of Death Row inmates in Louisiana's Cold Mountain Penitentiary. His domain was called "The Green Mile" because the condemned prisoners walking to their execution are said to be walking "the last mile" here, on a stretch of green linoleum. The main feature of the cellblock was "Old Sparky", the electric chair.

One day, a new inmate arrives. He is 7 foot tall (about 2.13 metres) John Coffey, a black man convicted of raping and killing two young white girls. Coffey immediately shows himself to be a "gentle giant", keeping to himself, afraid of the dark and being moved to tears on occasion. Soon enough, Coffey reveals his extraordinary healing powers by healing Edgecomb's urinary tract infection and resurrecting a mouse. Later, he would heal the terminally ill wife of Warden Hal Moores (James Cromwell). Although it is clear that Coffey has a degree of control over his power, when asked to explain it, he merely says that he "took it back."

At the same time, Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison), a vicious, sadistic guard who takes pleasure in intimidating and injuring inmates, exasperates everyone else in the cellblock. He "knows people in high places" (he was the nephew of the governor's wife), in effect preventing Edgecomb or anybody else from doing anything significant to curb his deviant behavior. Wetmore recognizes that the other officers greatly dislike him, and uses that to demand being put "up front" (i.e., in charge) at the next execution. After that, he promises, he will have himself transferred to an administrative post in the Briar Ridge mental hospital, and Edgecomb will never hear from him again. A reluctant agreement is made, but Edgecomb comes to regret it after Wetmore deliberately sabotages the electrocution, inflicting as much pain as possible on Eduard Delacroix (Michael Jeter), a Cajun inmate who had previously embarrassed him.

Meanwhile, a violent prisoner named William Wharton (Sam Rockwell) arrives, due to be executed for multiple murders he committed during a robbery. At one point he seizes Coffey's arm, and Coffey senses that Wharton is also the true killer of the two girls, the crime for which Coffey was falsely convicted and sent to death row. Coffey then uses his powers to compel Wetmore to empty his handgun into Wharton, after which Wetmore falls into a permanent catatonic state. Stunned by these events, Edgecomb queries Coffey, who says he "punished them bad men", then takes Edgecomb's hand and imparts the vision that he saw of what really happened to the girls, a vision that Edgecomb finds nearly unbearable to endure. Wharton is dead at Wetmore's hand, and Wetmore ends up as a patient at the very asylum to which he promised Edgecomb he would transfer.

Not withstanding Coffey's incredible abilities and the wrongness of his conviction, he ends up being executed, due in large part to geographically based racial overtones (the movie was set in the American South). The proper story ends there, and Edgecomb says he subsequently transferred from Death Row to a youth detention center, where he spent the remainder of his career. The story then returns to the present, where Edgecomb explains to his friend why he is able to remember the events of 1935: he is in fact 108 years old and still in excellent health. This is apparently a side effect of the life-giving power of Coffey's touch: a significantly lengthened lifespan. Mr. Jingles, the mouse resurrected by Coffey, is also still alive — but Paul believes his outliving all of his relatives and friends to be a punishment from God for not stopping Coffey's execution (although it is not clear whether Paul had the power to do so). Mr Jingles, being a mouse, should only have had a lifespan or a matter of months, yet he has lived for over half a century, so Paul dreads to think how long he himself has left to live, being a human. As he puts it, he has had to walk his own Green Mile, which "seems so long."

Actor	Role
Eve Brent	Elaine Connelly
Brent Briscoe	Bill Dodge
Patricia Clarkson	Melinda Moores
James Cromwell	Warden Hal Moores
Jeffrey DeMunn	Harry Terwilliger
Michael Clarke Duncan	John Coffey
Graham Greene	Arlen Bitterbuck
Dabbs Greer	Old Paul Edgecomb
Tom Hanks	Paul Edgecomb
Bonnie Hunt	Jan Edgecomb
Doug Hutchison	Percy Wetmore
Michael Jeter	Eduard "Del" Delacroix
David Morse	Brutus "Brutal" Howell
Barry Pepper	Dean Stanton
Sam Rockwell	"Wild Bill" Wharton
William Sadler	Klaus Detterick
Gary Sinise	Burt Hammersmith
Harry Dean Stanton	Toot-Toot
Bill McKinney	Jack Van Hay
Brian Libby	Sheriff McGee

Coffey is an enormous black prisoner on Death Row for raping and killing two small girls. It is later revealed that he was innocent and that Wharton, on Death Row for another crime was the girls' rapist/murderer. Coffey is favored by officers and inmates of the prison. Coffey is scared of the dark, and his character is one of an innocent child, making the crime he is accused of somewhat unbelievable. He chooses to be executed partly due to the cruelty he feels in the world. Coffey has the ability to heal, which he used to cure Paul's Urinary Tract infection amongst other things.

The first of the two protagonists, Edgecomb is the head corrections officer of a Louisiana Death Row during the 1930s. He tells his life in flashbacks. Paul is cured of his urinary infection by John Coffey, of whom Edgecombe and the other officers become fond. Later John Coffey show Paul who the real killer of the girls is and as a result Paul is given the gift of life. He is at his wits' ends with the conniving and abusive officer Percy Wetmore, along with the psychotic "Wild Bill" Wharton.

Second-in-charge of Cold Mountain's Death Row, Brutus Howell, often referred to as "Brutal" by the others, is Paul Edgecombe's closest friend. Despite his intimidating name and large frame, Brutal is a calm, easy-going individual, but he does have a temper, which he mostly shows towards Wetmore.

William Wharton, who prefers to be known as "Billy the Kid", but is known to the inmates and officers as "Wild Bill", is the extremely evil individual behind the crime for which John Coffey was convicted. Wharton serves as an antagonist. He is a deranged and psychotic killer. He worked on the farm where the two girls lived. Wharton kidnaps and rapes them. He then kills the girls where they are discovered by Coffey. Wild Bill attacks officers on occasion. He even grabs Coffey's arm, and that's when Coffey discovers Wharton was the true killer of the girls. It is also implied Wharton is racist, as during the film he repeatedly uses the racial slur "nigger". It is implied that he may have homosexual tendencies when he assaults Percy Wetmore in a predatory way. Wharton is later shot to death by Percy, to whom a disease was passed by Coffey.

Eduard Delacroix, better known as "Del", is a fairly well-adjusted inmate who becomes a friend of John Coffey. Del discovers a mouse whom he names Mr. Jingles, who becomes his closest friend on death row. He despises Wetmore, who also hates him in return. Del even laughs at Percy after he is attacked by Wharton. Wetmore later severely injures Mr. Jingles, but the mouse is healed by Coffey. Finally, Del's execution is sabotaged by Wetmore in order to inflict maximum pain on him. However, the electrocution gets so out of hand that even the family of Delacroix's victims is horrified.

Arlen Bitterbuck is a Native American who was in prison when John Coffey arrived at Cold Mountain. Repentant of what he has done, on the night of his execution he confides in Paul Edgecomb about his belief that, if a person were truly sorry for his sins that after his death, he would return to the time he was happiest.

Wetmore is a cynical and sadistic corrections officer inside the prison who assaults prisoners. He flaunts the fact that his aunt is married to the state governor, therefore allowing him to get away with his unruly behavior. He often uses this to his advantage whenever he is assigned a lousy task by having the state governor call the warden's office to chastise the rest of the staff. At one point, he wickedly crushes Mr. Jingles with his foot. The mouse is brought back to health by Coffey. Wetmore is tormented by Wild Bill, a serial killer in the prison whom he later kills. Wetmore even sabotages prisoner Eduard Delacroix's execution. The other officers later throw Wetmore into the restraining room, bound in a straitjacket due to his wicked ways. Wetmore is released, only to be grabbed by Coffey. Coffey passes the sickness he absorbed from the warden's wife into Wetmore. Wetmore, now cursed with the disease, empties his pistol and kills "Wild Bill" Wharton. Wetmore then goes into a permanent, catatonic state. He is later placed in a mental-health institution which, ironically, is Briar Ridge Mental Hospital, the institution he was applying to for a good job.

The warden of Cold Mountain Prison, Hal Moores is a friend of the Edgecombes, and his personal life provides much of the drama of the movie. Early on, it was revealed that his wife Melinda had an inoperable brain tumor which was cured when Coffey "took it back" when they snuck him out of E-Block. This sickness was later passed into Percy which caused him to kill Wild Bill. Moores represent the Judas figure in the Christ parallel. He signs Coffey's execution papers after witnessing his healing power.

A mouse that initially caused a deal of trouble among the inmates and caretakers of E-Block, but was later adopted by Delacroix as a pet. Mr. Jingles nearly got killed when Percy stepped on him. He was later resurrected by Coffey. The mouse has had an extended lifespan, as a side-effect of being in Coffeys hand while he was taking in the pain of Del's execution. The mouse was still alive at the time of Edgecombe's telling of the story.

The Green Mile is, for the most part, faithful to Stephen King's original novel. There are, however, a few slight alterations.

• The novel is a written story, delivered by the elderly Edgecomb to his fellow nursing home patient, Elaine. Each of the six volumes includes both an entry in the Green Mile story, as well as brief bookend scenes taking place in a modern day nursing home. These scenes included not only Edgecomb's relationship with Elaine, but also his interaction with a sadistic employee, Brad Dolan, who reminds him of Percy Wetmore, his Green Mile co-worker. It is these interactions that cause him to remember 1935, his last year on the Mile. In the film, Brad Dolan is left out completely, and the bookend sequences only take place at the very beginning and end of the movie. Instead of Dolan, it is watching the 1935 film Top Hat that provokes the flashback, and this film is added to the main storyline as well, in which John Coffey's last request is to be able to see a "flick show" (motion picture) before he is executed.

• In the book, Hal Moores has an assistant named Curtis Anderson. He does not appear in the film, and his lines and scenes are given to Moores instead. Other inmates on the Green Mile in the book who did not have speaking roles, and are inconsequential to the plot, are also omitted.

• The first and second volumes of the book are told out of chronological order. The first book begins with the arrival of Coffey, and provides details of the murder for which he was convicted. At this point in time, inmate Eduard Delacroix already has his pet mouse, Mr. Jingles, and another inmate, Arlen Bitterbuck, has already been executed. The second book goes back in time, to before Coffey is brought in, to explain where Mr. Jingles came from, and who Bitterbuck was. The film re-arranges these events so that Coffey's arrival is the first event to take place, and all others follow it.

• In the book, strong evidence — ignored by the authorities — is presented to the reader of Coffey's innocence in Edgecomb's eyes: for example, the tracking dogs' confusion at the site of the girls' murder, resulting from the murderer and the girls' bodies leaving in different directions. In the movie, however, Coffey grabs Edgecomb's hand and, along with transferring "life" to him, also shows Edgecomb who really killed the two girls.

The Green Mile (Original Soundtrack)
Soundtrack by Various Artists
Released	December 14, 1999
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	74:15
Label	Warner Bros.
Professional reviews
All Music Guide (3/5) link

The Green Mile soundtrack contains mostly instrumental pieces scored by Thomas Newman. Below is a listing of the songs (and their track numbers on the CD) that weren't composed by Newman.

1. Old Alabama - B.B. and Group
2. Monstrous Big
3. The Two Dead Girls
4. The Mouse On The Mile
5. Foolishment
6. Billy-Be-Frigged
7. Coffey's Hands
8. Cheek To Cheek - Fred Astaire
9. Condemned Man
10. Limp Noodle
11. Scared Of The Dark
12. Wild Bill
13. Cigar Box
14. Circus Mouse
15. The Bad Death Of Eduard Delacroix
16. Boy's Eye
17. Two Run-Throughs
18. Red Over Green
19. I Can't Give You Anything But Love - Billie Holiday
20. That's The Deal
21. L'Homme Mauvais
22. An Offense To The Heart
23. Morphine & Cola
24. Night Journey
25. Danger Of Hell
26. Done Tom Turkey
27. Did You Ever See A Dream Walking - Gene Austin
28. Trapingus Parish
29. Boogeyman
30. Shine My Knob
31. Briar Ridge
32. Coffey On The Mile
33. Punishment
34. Charmaine - Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians
35. Now Long Gone
36. No Exceptions
37. The Green Mile

1999 Academy Awards (Oscars)

• Nominated - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role — Michael Clarke Duncan
• Nominated - Best Picture — David Valdes, Frank Darabont
• Nominated - Best Sound Mixing — Robert J. Litt, Elliot Tyson, Michael Herbick, Willie D. Burton
• Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay — Frank Darabont

2000 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (Saturn Awards)

• Won - Best Supporting Actor (Film) — Michael Clarke Duncan
• Won - Best Supporting Actress (Film) — Patricia Clarkson
• Won - Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film
• Nominated - Best Director — Frank Darabont
• Nominated - Best Music — Thomas Newman

2000 BMI Film & TV Awards

• Won - BMI Film Music Award — Thomas Newman

2000 Black Reel Awards

• Won - Theatrical - Best Supporting Actor — Michael Clarke Duncan

2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards

• Won - Favorite Actor - Drama — Tom Hanks
• Nominated - Favorite Supporting Actor - Drama — Michael Clarke Duncan
• Nominated - Favorite Supporting Actress - Drama — Bonnie Hunt

2000 Bram Stoker Awards

• Nominated - Best Screenplay — Frank Darabont

2000 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards

• Won - Best Screenplay, Adaptation — Frank Darabont
• Won - Best Supporting Actor — Michael Clarke Duncan
• Nominated - Best Picture

2000 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

• Nominated - Best Supporting Actor — Michael Clarke Duncan
• Nominated - Most Promising Actor — Michael Clarke Duncan

2000 Directors Guild of America

• Nominated - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures — Frank Darabont

2000 Golden Globe Awards

• Nominated - Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture — Michael Clarke Duncan

2000 Image Awards

• Nominated - Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture — Michael Clarke Duncan

2000 MTV Movie Awards

• Nominated - Best Breakthrough Male Performance — Michael Clarke Duncan

2000 Motion Picture Sound Editors (Golden Reel Award)

• Nominated - Best Sound Editing - Dialogue and ADR — Mark A. Mangini, Julia Evershade
• Nominated - Best Sound Editing - Effects and Foley — Mark A. Mangini, Aaron Glascock, Howell Gibbens, David E. Stone, Solange S. Schwalbe

2000 People's Choice Awards

• Won - Favorite All-Around Motion Picture
• Won - Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture

2001 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (Nebula Award)

• Nominated - Best Script — Frank Darabont

2000 Screen Actors Guild Awards

• Nominated - Outstanding Performance by a Cast
• Nominated - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role — Michael Clarke Duncan

• Official film website
• The Green Mile at the Internet Movie Database
• The Green Mile at Rotten Tomatoes
• MovieGlimpse.com / Green Mile (shows parallels with Jesus Christ & John Coffey)
• HollywoodJesus / Green Mile (this website offers a commentary by Frank Darabont (Director and Screenwriter of 'The Green Mile') on the Christ parallels within the book/film)
• Boheme Magazine / Green Mile (on the Christ parallels within the book/film)