20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Green Mile
9. Period Inauthenticity Part 2 - Prison Anachronisms
The movie, like the book, insists on the prison guards wearing a uniform when at work. In reality, prison guards didn’t wear uniforms in 1935. Hanks et al were, at least, aware of the anachronism, but chose to ignore it as, despite the lack of authenticity, the uniforms gave the scenes an authentic feel and were useful for the actors:
”The reality is that they didn’t wear uniforms on death row in 1935. But Frank [Darabont] wanted them because it looked really cool, and I wanted them as an actor because it gave me this exoskeleton that was communicating some of the subtler aspects of the scenes.”
Similarly, the straitjackets used in the film use buckles despite this accessory not being introduced until nearly fifty years later - back in 1935, straitjackets were laced up.
The biggest prison anachronism in the film, of course, comes from old Sparky himself: prisons in Louisiana in the thirties used hanging as their method of execution, and didn’t swap to the electric chair until 1940.