The Green Mile

"The Green Mile" is one of my favorite Stephen King books and I have read it several times and I am translating it these days for a publishing house. I was anxiously anticipating the film version, but was concerned that the emotional impact of the book could not be replicated on screen. Fortunately this wonderful story was adapted by Frank Darabont, who did such a magnificent job bringing King's "Shawshank Redemption" to the screen. He does the same high quality work with "The Green Mile". The story is faithful to the book, only losing details that were not important to the story anyway. The casting is superb - every actor is perfectly suited for his role and does an excellent job, although I would like to single out Doug Hutchison. His portrayal of the detestable Percy is right on the mark and suggests complexities in this character I had not discovered in the book. The length is about three hours and it seems that critics are complaining about that. I can't understand the complaints. The film never drags and is never dull, and it certainly didn't feel three hours long. The length is needed to tell this story the way it should be told, and the story is so very engrossing. Best of all, Darabont and the actors bring so much emotion ot the screen, that I cried like a baby through several scenes. "The Green Mile" will haunt you.

The Green Mile is a masterwork. This is film as art, at it's very best. The depth of the cast is extraordinary, with all of the players delivering excellent performances. There is a clear sense here that all involved in the production knew that this was something special, and gave it their all. See this film if you truly enjoy actors giving everything to their craft. Watch for the countless subtleties of expression, and the great power that the cast creates with silence. This is evident in the opening sequence and remains throughout. Above all, Michael Duncan as John Coffey is exceptional. He brings gripping emotion to a unique, fascinating character.

Frank Darabont returns to the directors chair with another adaptation of Stephen Kings novel. The events take place at a death row, the guards call the green mile. The story is a layered, rather character-driven fantasy tale of the events that transpire at "the mile" after the arrival of a giant man, John Coffey (Michael Duncan), convicted of the murder of two small girls. Actually this is not one single story, but several tied together seamlessly.A character-driven movie requires a lot from the cast, and fortunately when it comes to cast, The Green Mile delivers. As the poster of the movie tells, this movie stars Tom Hanks as Paul Edgecomb, senior prison guard of the mile, and as always he performs very well indeed. Yet the cast around him is even more spectacular, perhaps partially due to them being relatively unknown. With a face you know, one inevitably remembers previous performances, and the new role is coloured by this. Doug Hutchison as Percy Wetmore, a mean spirited prison guard was particularly impressive, yet his character could have been given more depth. The most captivating was the performance of Michael Duncan.It is hard to find a flaw in this movie. The camerawork is superb, cast wonderful and direction flawless. The movie's considerable length, a bit over three hours, is something that had me worried. Yet the marvellous cast and the peaceful yet firm pace of the movie held my attention progressively through the three hours right to the touching culmination. Many will find this movie to be too long, but I for one was delighted of the style, combination of simplicity of events and depth of characters and conversation.All in all the The Green Mile is a very touching drama, with the joys and sorrows of the life pictured with great skill, if not the best movie of the year. Five out of five.


Internet Trivia

The name for the character John Coffey was lifted from a college professor, Rev. John Coffee. Stephen King had met him once and really liked his name and used it in "The Green Mile". Reverend Coffee taught history classes at Emerson College in Boston Massachusetts. He retired in May 2005.
· Originally set in 1932, the timeframe was bumped to 1935 so the movie Top Hat (1935) could be featured.
· Harry Dean Stanton appears in the film. There is a character named Harry, and another named Dean Stanton. This is merely a happy coincidence since the characters' names existed in the book long before Harry Dean Stanton was cast in the movie.
· In actuality, Michael Clarke Duncan is of a similar height as his co-star David Morse and is a couple inches shorter than James Cromwell. Among other things, creative camera angles were used to create the illusion that Duncan as John Coffey towered over the prison staff, even Brutal Howell and Warden Moores.
· Michael Jeter (who plays Eduard Delacroix) was also in Mousehunt (1997), another film which co-starred a gifted mouse.
· At the beginning of the movie, when the old Paul Edgecomb is walking to get some breakfast after waking from that bad dream, he is walking on a tiled floor that is very green, as if it's his Green Mile.
· The prison guards wear uniforms to give the movie a better feel, even though uniforms weren't in use at the time in which the movie is set.
· The music played over the loudspeakers in the retirement home as Old Paul Edgecomb first walks out of his room is the same as the music the nurses played at medication time in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). The music used is Mantovani's Charmaine.
· Originally, Tom Hanks was going to play the Old Paul Edgecomb but the makeup tests didn't make him look credible enough to be an elderly man. Dabbs Greer was cast instead as the older Paul Edgecomb.
· By the time Paul introduced Elaine to Mr. Jingles, the mouse would have to be at least 64 years old - over nine times the age of the oldest ever known real mouse.
· While many of Stephen King's novels are set in the author's native Maine, The Green Mile takes place in Louisiana. However, the surname of the main character--Edgecomb--is the name of a town on Maine's mid-coast.
· The plot unfolds in the form of Paul telling Elaine the story of the Green Mile. In the book, Paul writes his story down in the form of a novel. At the end of the film, as Paul leaves the cemetery after Elaine's burial, a tombstone can be seen behind him that reads "Greene", and two others, one in the foreground and one to the right of the screen, that read "Story".
· Doug Hutchison (Percy) was given, according to the director, the squeakiest shoes he'd ever heard. He thought this was the greatest bit of fate, and a "perfectly wonderful, annoying character trait" that he kept it in the movie, and you can hear sometimes how loud his shoes are.
· Voted #5 Must See Movie of all time by listeners of Capital FM in London.
· When Stephen King visited the set he asked to be strapped into Old Sparky to see how it felt. He didn't like it and asked to be released.
· When the producers were having trouble finding the right actor to fill the role of John Coffey, Bruce Willis suggested Michael Clarke Duncan with whom he had co-starred in Armageddon (1998/I).
· Michael Clark Duncan was uncomfortable with having to grab Tom Hanks' crotch for the scene where he takes his infection away. Hanks left the set, came back to do the scene, Duncan grabbed at Hanks' crotch and was shocked because Hanks had put an empty water bottle in his pants. After that, Duncan felt more comfortable with the scene.
· John Travolta was offered the role of Paul Edgecomb but turned it down.
· Voted number 2 in Channel 4 (UK) "Top 100 Tearjerkers" countdown, losing first place to "E.T The Extra Terrestrial".
· Dabbs Greer's last film.
· When Paul and Brutal take John Coffey outside at night John looks at the stars and says "Look Boss, it’s Cassie, the lady in the rocking chair." This is a reference to the constellation Cassiopeia. In Greek mythology Queen Cassiopeia is often depicted as sitting in a chair or rocking chair.
· Continuity: Wild Bill shown laying on a mattress on the floor, after he tore up his cell, from which he gets up to request a drink of soda. After he is given the soda, he sits down on his bed which has a mattress. Shortly thereafter, he is again shown passing out on his bed.
· Errors in geography: The movie is set in Louisiana. The prison is called "Cold Mountain Penitentiary," and in the opening prison scenes, the backdrop is a set of weathered, tree-covered mountains similar to the Blue Ridge or Smokey Mountains of the Eastern USA. However, there are no mountains of any kind in the state of Louisiana. The highest point in the state of Louisiana is 535 ft. above sea level, and is in the far northern part of Louisiana, right near the Arkansas/Louisiana state line (however, this does appear to be the part of the state where the film is set).
· Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Eduard Delacroix is being executed, a lightbulb explodes on the mile (the one between the desk and William Wharton's cell). When Paul walks to John Coffey's cell afterwards, the bad bulb is hard to make out, but it is there.
· Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The packing tape shown in this 1935-era film was introduced in 1930.
· Anachronisms: The clock in the execution room is a quartz clock. The quartz clock was invented in 1927 by Warren Morrison and was not even used in laboratories until the 1940s. So it is implausible that a quartz clock was used in a prison in 1935.
· Incorrectly regarded as goofs: At Eduard Delacroix's execution, it's hard to tell, but the water level in the bucket is indeed the same throughout the scene.
· Anachronisms: It is highly unlikely that a radio station in 1930's Louisiana would give airplay to a Billie Holiday record.
· Incorrectly regarded as goofs: You can see a smallpox vaccination scar on the upper arm of the murdered girls' father in the opening sequence of him running through the field. Vaccination was widespread in the USA by 1935, the time of the movie.
· Continuity: During the entire execution of Eduard Delacroix, the generator light bulbs behind the partition are lit. This can particularly be seen in a cut with Brutal in the foreground. But when Percy gives the order "Roll on one" to Van Hay the lights are initially out when they cut to behind the partition.
· Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Paul Edgecomb meets Burt Hammersmith for the first time at his house, Paul questions Burt's reasoning for defending John Coffey, Burt states "Everyone is entitled to a defense." While this wasn't yet codified in law, it could well represent his personal conviction.
· Anachronisms: The film is set in 1935 but Eduard Delacroix is reading a November 1937 issue of "Weird Tales".
· Continuity: The blood on Harry's face reappears on his nose and chin after he wipes it off. It can be seen as he walks past the camera to get Dean and go to the infirmary after Wild Bill wreaks havoc.
· Anachronisms: The movie, set in 1935, depicts executions in Louisiana being carried out by electrocution, but the Louisiana Legislature did not change the method of execution from hanging to electrocution until 1940.
· Factual errors: Executions were carried out at local courthouses in Louisiana until 1957, when they were moved to a state prison.
· Anachronisms: Popular 40s/50s vocalist Eddy Howard is featured on three soundtrack songs, all recorded 4 October 1940 (five years after the movie's setting), with a small jazz band which featured pianist Teddy Wilson.
· Continuity: When Paul and Brutal have Percy in the electric chair, the hair across Percy's forehead changes several times between shots.
· Continuity: When Brutal, Paul, and Henry lock Percy in the isolation room so that they can sneak John out of the prison to see the warden's wife, the position of the rag in Percy's mouth changes slightly underneath the packing tape in between shots.
· Anachronisms: On the desk in "E-Block" at Cold Mountain, there is a small black clock. It is next to the telephone, and faces the wall behind the desk. When Wild Bill is brought into the cell block and the brawl ensues, the clock is knocked off of the desk. This action shows the clock clearly, and it is a Westclox Big Ben "Style 5". The Style 5 was designed by Henry Dreyfuss and introduced in 1939. Production continued until 1949. Since the movie takes place in 1935, that particular model of clock should not be there (especially given how worn it looks).
· Continuity: When John Coffee first enters the bedroom in the warden's house, the warden's wife's nightgown is pulled up somewhere halfway her thigh. In the next shot, a few seconds later it covers her knee again.
· Continuity: In the scene when Percy is sitting at his desk reading a book on mental patients with the dirty magazine in it, Brutal and Paul come in and Percy jumps up closing the book and throwing it where it falls off the edge of the table. In the next shot when Paul picks up the book it is laying on the table opened to the page where the magazine is.
· Continuity: The sex of the mouse changes. When Mr. Jingles first appears, and then scuttles under the door way - the mouse is clearly male (distinguishing between the sexes of mice is easy because of the size of the genitals). However during the scene where John Coffey shares his cornbread Mr. Jingles is clearly a female mouse.
· Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the scene where William Wharton is attacking the guards when first being brought into death row, we clearly hear the sound of Brutal whacking Wild Bill over the head just before he actually hits him.
· Factual errors: When Paul and Brutal confront Wild Bill to put him in the straight jacket, Bill takes off his belt to use as a weapon. Prisoners are not permitted to wear belts for exactly that reason. Another reason is so that death row prisoners can't hang themselves with their belt.

Paul Edgecomb: A big man is ripping your ears off Percy. I'd do as he says.
Paul Edgecomb: Your name is John Coffey? John Coffey: Yes sir boss. Like the drink, only not spelled the same. Paul Edgecomb: Oh, you can spell can you? John Coffey: Just my name boss. J-O...
John Coffey: I couldn't help it, boss. I tried to take it back, but it was too late.
Paul Edgecomb: What did you just do to me? John Coffey: I helped it. Didn't I help it? I just took it back, is all. Awful tired now, boss. Dog tired.
Dean Stanton: What did you do? John Coffey: I helped Del's mouse become a circus mouse, and go to that place Boss Howell was talking about down in... Brutus "Brutal" Howell: Florida? John Coffey: Yes. Boss Percy bad. He mean. He stepped on Del's mouse. I took it back though.
Bill Dodge: I think this boy's cheese has done slid off his cracker.
Paul Edgecomb: What do you want me to do John? I'll do it. You want me to let you walk out of here and see how far you get? John Coffey: Now why would you want to do a foolish thing like that? Paul Edgecomb: When I die and I stand before God awaiting judgment and he asks me why I let one of HIS miracles die, what am I gonna say, that it was my job?
Old Paul Edgecomb: I guess sometimes the past just catches up with you, whether you want it to or not.
Old Paul Edgecomb: They usually call death row the Last Mile, but we called ours the Green Mile, because the floor was the color of faded limes. We had the electric chair then. Old Sparky, we called it. I've lived a lot of years, Ellie, but 1935 takes the prize. That was the year I had the worst urinary infection of my life. That was also the year of John Coffey and the two dead girls.
John Coffey: Do you leave a light on after bedtime? Because I get a little scared in the dark sometimes. If it's a strange place.
Paul Edgecomb: The man is mean, careless, and stupid. Bad combination in a place like this.
Paul Edgecomb: Men under strain can snap. Hurt themselves. Hurt others. That's why our job is talking, not yelling. You'll do better to think of this place like an intensive care ward in a hospital. Percy Wetmore: I think of it as a bucket of piss to drown rats in. That's all. Anybody doesn't like it can kiss my ass.
[a rehearsal execution] Brutus "Brutal" Howell: Arlen Bitterbuck, you have been condemned to die by a jury of your peers, sentence imposed by a judge in good standing in this state. Do you have anything to say before the sentence is carried out? Toot-Toot: [gleefully] Yeah! I want a fried chicken dinner with gravy on the taters, I want to shit in your hat, and I got to have Mae West sit on my face, because I am one horny motherfucker!
Percy Wetmore: Adios, Chief. Drop us a card from hell, let us know if it's hot enough. Brutus "Brutal" Howell: He's paid what he's owed. He's square with the house again, so keep your goddamn hands off him.
Paul Edgecomb: What do you want, John Coffey? John Coffey: Just to help.
Paul Edgecomb: What did you do, big boy? What did you do to me? John Coffey: I helped it. Didn't I help it? Paul Edgecomb: Yes, but... how? John Coffey: [shrugs] Just took it back, is all. Awful tired now, boss. Dog tired.
Paul Edgecomb: I just can't see God putting a gift like that in the hands of a man who would kill a child.
Paul Edgecomb: John, do you know where we're taking you? John Coffey: Help a lady? Brutus "Brutal" Howell: That's right. But how do you know? John Coffey: Don't know. To tell the truth, Boss, I don't know much'o anything.
Melinda Moores: Why do you have so many scars? Who hurt you so badly? John Coffey: Don't hardly remember, ma'am.
Melinda Moores: What's your name? John Coffey: John Coffey, ma'am. Melinda Moores: Like the drink, only not spelled the same. John Coffey: No, ma'am. Not spelt the same at all.
Melinda Moores: I dreamed of you. I dreamed you were wandering in the dark, and so was I. We found each other. We found each other in the dark.
Paul Edgecomb: I've done some things in my life I'm not proud of, but this is the first time I've ever felt in real danger of hell.
Old Paul Edgecomb: We each owe a death, there are no exceptions, I know that, but sometimes, oh God, the Green Mile is so long.
Old Paul Edgecomb: I think Mr. Jingles happened by accident. I think when we electrocuted Del, and it all went so badly... well, John can feel that you know... and I think a part of... whatever magic was inside of him just slept through my tiny friend here. As for me, John had to give me a part of himself; a gift the way he saw it, so that I could see for myself what Wild Billy had done. When John did that; when he took my hand, a part of the power that worked through him spilled into me. Elaine Connelly: He... what? He infected you with life? Old Paul Edgecomb: That's as good a word as any. He infected us both, didn't he, Mr. Jingles? With life. I'm a hundred and eight years old, Elaine. I was forty-four the year that John Coffey walked the Green Mile. You mustn't blame John. He couldn't have what happened to him... he was just a force of nature. Oh I've lived to see some amazing things Elly. Another century come to past, but I've... I've had to see my friends and loved ones die off through the years... Hal and Melinda... Brutus Howell... my wife... my boy. And you Elaine... you'll die too, and my curse is knowing that I'll be there to see it. It's my torment you see; it's my punishment, for letting John Coffey ride the lightning; for killing a miracle of God. You'll be gone like all the others. I'll have to stay. I'll die eventually, that I'm sure. I have no illusions of immortality, but I will await your death... long before death finds me. In truth, I wish for it already.
Old Paul Edgecomb: We each owe a death - there are no exceptions - but sometimes, oh God, the Green Mile seems so long.
Brutus "Brutal" Howell: [after Arlen Bitterbuck has been executed, and Percy Wetmore disrespects his body] He's even with the house now, and you will keep your hands off him.
Paul Edgecomb: On the day of my judgment, when I stand before God, and He asks me why did I kill one of his true miracles, what am I gonna say? That is was my job? My job? John Coffey: You tell God the Father it was a kindness you done. I know you hurtin' and worryin', I can feel it on you, but you oughta quit on it now. Because I want it over and done. I do. I'm tired, boss. Tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we's coming from or going to, or why. Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand? Paul Edgecomb: Yes, John. I think I can.
Hal: [after Del's execution] WHAT IN THE BLUE FUCK WAS THAT? There's puke all over the floor up there. And that smell! I had Van Hayes open both doors but that smell's not going out for five damn years that's what I'm bettin'. And that asshole, Wharton, is singing about it. You can hear him up there! Paul Edgecomb: Can he carry a tune? Hal: Okay, boys, what in the hell happened? Paul Edgecomb: An execution. A successful one. Hal: How in the name of Christ can you call that a success? Paul Edgecomb: Eduard Delacroix is dead. [to Percy] Paul Edgecomb: Isn't he?
John Coffey: You know, I fell asleep this afternoon and had me a dream. I dreamed about Del's mouse. Paul Edgecomb: Did you, John? John Coffey: I dreamed he got down to that place Boss Howell talked about, that Mouseville place. I dreamed there was kids, and how they laughed at his tricks! My! I dreamed those two little blonde-headed girls were there. They 'us laughing, too. I put my arms around 'em and sat 'em on my knees, and there 'us no blood comin' outta their hair and they 'us fine. We all watch Mr. Jingles roll that spool, and how we did laugh. Fit to bust, we was.
Paul Edgecomb: What happens on the mile stays on the mile. Always has.
Arlen Bitterbuck: Do you believe that if a man repents enough for what he done wrong, than he'll get to go back to the time that was happiest for him and live there forever? Could that be what heaven's like? Paul Edgecomb: I just about believe that very thing. Arlen Bitterbuck: I had a young wife when I was eighteen. We spent the summer in the mountains, made love every night. After we would talk sometimes till the sun came up, and she'd lay there, bare breasted in the fire light... that was my best time.
[Edgecomb gives Coffey some cornbread] Paul Edgecomb: My wife made it to thank you. John Coffey: For what, boss? Paul Edgecomb: [points to his groin] You know. John Coffey: Oh, was she pleased? Paul Edgecomb: Yeah. Several times.
John Coffey: People hurt the ones they love. That's how it is all around the world.
John Coffey: There's lotsa people here that hate me, lots. I can feel it. It's like bees stingin' me. Brutus "Brutal" Howell: Well feel how we feel then. We don't hate you. Can you feel that?
[Watching Jerry Springer] Lady in nursing home: It's interesting. Man in nursing home: Interesting? Buncha inbred trailer trash. All they ever talk about is fucking.
Paul Edgecomb: We'll be doing this for real tomorrow night and I don't want nobody to remember some stupid joke like that and get it going again. You ever try to not to laugh in church when something funny gets stuck in your head? Same goddamn thing.
John Coffey: That's a smart mouse, Del, he's like a circus mouse. Eduard Delacroix: Correct, that's just what he is too. He's a circus mouse. When I get outta here, he's gonna make me rich.
[about Coffey's upcoming execution] Paul Edgecomb: Now how about a preacher? Someone to say a little prayer with? John Coffey: Don't want no preacher. You can say a prayer if you like. Paul Edgecomb: Me? I suppose I could if it came to that.
Toot-Toot: Gettin' to my knees. Prayin'. Lord in Heaven, sorry for all the bad shit I've done, all the people I've trampled on, I hope they forgive me, I won't do it again, that's for sure.
Brutus "Brutal" Howell: You all right in there? Paul Edgecomb: Yeah, for a man pissing razor blades.
Paul Edgecomb: John, do you know where we're taking you? John Coffey: Help a lady? Brutus "Brutal" Howell: That's right. But how do you know? John Coffey: Don't know. To tell the truth, Boss, I don't know much o' anything.
Hal: Percy. Something to say? Percy Wetmore: I didn't know the sponge was supposed to be wet. Hal: How many years you spend pissing on a toilet seat before someone told you to put it up? Paul Edgecomb: Percy fucked up, Hal, pure and simple. Hal: Is that your official position? Paul Edgecomb: Don't you think it should be?
Paul Edgecomb: Goddamn, the sponge is dry! Brutus "Brutal" Howell: Well don't you stop it! Don't you do it. It's too late for that.
[about toot-toot] Paul Edgecomb: Is his head properly shaved? Dean Stanton: Nope, it's all dandruffy and smells. Paul Edgecomb: I'll take that as a yes.
Eduard Delacroix: [in the electric chair, about to be executed] Don't forgot about Mouseville. [Paul and Brutal nod] Percy Wetmore: Hey. There's no such place. It's just a fairytale these guys told you to keep you quiet. Just thought you should know, faggot.
[after Wild Bill causes havoc and nearly kills Dean] Harry Terwilliger: We thought he was doped. Paul Edgecomb: You didn't ask? [Terwilliger shakes his head] Paul Edgecomb: Well I don't think that's a mistake you'll be needing to make again anytime soon is it?
Percy Wetmore: Deranged killer? He look more like a limp noodle to me. Hey! [to a doped Wild Bill] Percy Wetmore: You've been declared competent, son, 'know what that means? 'Means you gonna ride the lightning. Ha ha. Dean Stanton: Percy, shut up and give us a hand.
Harry Terwilliger: Can you believe this? The son of a bitch pissed on me! William 'Wild Bill' Wharton: Y'all like that? I'm currently cooking up some turds, to go with it. Nice soft 'uns. Uhhh! Have'em out to y'all tomorrow.
Jan Edgecomb: Honey, if you don't tell me what's on your mind, I'm afraid I'll have to smother you with a pillow.
[Brutal gets his first look at John Coffey, before Paul] Brutus "Brutal" Howell: He's enormous! Paul Edgecomb: Can't be bigger than you.
[Percy, zombie-like, approaches Wild Bill] William 'Wild Bill' Wharton: What are you looking at, you limp noodle? Ya wanna kiss my ass? Ya wanna suck my dick?
Brutus "Brutal" Howell: He's chokin'. Whatever he sucked out of her, he's choking on!
Paul Edgecomb: I wanna hear about this new inmate, aside from how big he is! Brutus "Brutal" Howell: Monstrous big!
[after Coffey shares his cornbread with Del] Eduard Delacroix: I thank you. Mr. Jingles thank you, my mom would thank you too but she's dead.
Paul Edgecomb: Seeing a man die isn't enough for you, you gotta be close enough to smell his nuts cook?
[after finding Mr. Jingles alive after he steps on him] Percy Wetmore: You switched 'em. You switched 'em somehow, you bastards. Brutus "Brutal" Howell: Yeah I always keep a spare mouse in my wallet for occasions such as this.
Harry Terwilliger: [to Paul] Percy met your mouse.
Paul Edgecomb: We all know who your connections are Percy. You ever threaten a man on this block again we're all gonna have a go. The job be damned. Percy Wetmore: You done? Paul Edgecomb: Get all this shit back in the restraining room, you are cluttering up my mile.
Paul Edgecomb: Toot, one more remark like that I'll have Van Hay roll on two for real. And I'll have one less crazy old trustee in the world.
Harry Terwilliger: Paul, we're not gonna have some Cherokee medicine man in here whoopin', hollerin' and shaking his dick are we? Paul Edgecomb: Well actually... Toot-Toot: Still prayin'! Still prayin'! Gettin' right with Jesus! Harry Terwilliger: Do it quietly you old gink! Paul Edgecomb: As I was saying, I don't think they actually shake their dicks Harry. Be that as it may Mr. Bitterbuck is a Christian, so I have the Reverend Schuster coming out. Dean Stanton: Oh he's good. He's fast too. Doesn't get 'em all worked up.
John Coffey: [singing as he's being strapped to the electric chair] Heaven, I'm in heaven... heaven... heaven...
Wild Bill Wharton: You love your sister? You make any noise, you know what happens. I'm gonna kill her instead of you. Understand?
William 'Wild Bill' Wharton: [Brutus Howell hands out cold sodas to the other guards] Hey, hey, I'm gonna get some too, ain't I? Brutus "Brutal" Howell: My ass you get some too. Paul Edgecomb: What makes you think you deserve any? William 'Wild Bill' Wharton: [mutters] 'Cause I got a big pecker...
Earl the Plumber: I been fixing the plumbing in here for ten years. I ain't never had to wear no damn tie before. Bill Dodge: Well you're a VIP today, Earl, so just shut up.
Harry Terwilliger: Piss on ME? [he sprays Wild Bill with a fire hose]
Paul Edgecomb: [to Dean Stanton who is standing in the doorway with a broom] You let him get past you. Dean Stanton: No I did not. Brutus "Brutal" Howell: Three grown men... outsmarted by a mouse.
[Eduard has just been executed, and Paul comes up to the Mile to find Wild Bill sitting on his bed, ripping out chunks of his pillow and throwing the feathers around, singing loudly] William 'Wild Bill' Wharton: Barbecue, me and you! Stinky pinky, pew, pew! Or dilly, Jilly, Hilly or Bob! It was a french-fried Cajun named Delacroix! Paul Edgecomb: [Paul roughly hits his baton against Wild Bill's bars] You are about ten seconds away from spending the rest of your life in the padded room! [Wild Bill, who never takes an order or refuses to give out mayhem, stops immediately]
Melinda Moores: [as John Coffey approaches her bed] Pig fucker!
[Wild Bill grabs Coffey's arm] William 'Wild Bill' Wharton: Where y'all think you're goin'? John Coffey: You a bad man. William 'Wild Bill' Wharton: That's right, nigger. Bad as you'd want.
John Coffey: He kill them wi' their love. Wi' their love fo' each other. That's how it is, every day, all over the world.
[John Coffey has taken Mr Jingles in his hands after Percy stepped on him] Brutus "Brutal" Howell: Oh, my God. The tail. Look at the tail. Dean Stanton: What... what did you do? John Coffey: I helped it.
Toot-Toot: This is a shocking experience!
William 'Wild Bill' Wharton: [about to pass out from drugs] I don't see why white man has to sit in a nigger electric chair. White man should have his own damn electric chair.
[Dean is in tears as he kneels to strap John Coffey to the electric chair] Paul Edgecomb: Wipe your face before you get up Dean.
John Coffey: Boss? I gots to speak with you now, Boss. Paul Edgecomb: [prostrate on the floor after being hit in the groin] This is not a good time, John Coffey. Not a good time at all.
William 'Wild Bill' Wharton: [after being put in solitary confinement] All I wanted me was a little cornbread, motherfuckers! All I wanted me was a little cornbread!
John Coffey: Was your misses pleased? Paul Edgecomb: Oh yes, several times.