¶ … Green Mile, by Frank Darabont [...] several aspects of the second draft of the script. "The Green Mile" is a fascinating film with mystical and miraculous aspects, and the script is quite interesting to read, and see just how a script can make a film more memorable. THE GREEN MILE

This second draft of the script for "The Green Mile" seems to follow the film quite closely; most of the scenes are pretty much verbatim how they appeared on the screen. The format of the script is standard screenplay format, with dialogue usually initiated with a centered name in capital letters, and usually some description of the scene and setting before the dialogue begins. In these first fifteen or so pages (the pages were not numbered or illustrated in any way, so it was difficult to tell), the major characters in the film are not all introduced in the first fifteen pages, but at least two of the major characters are: Paul Edgecomb, played by Tom Hanks, and he is introduced this way in the script:

INT. GEORGIA PINES NURSING HOME...

PAUL
EDGECOMB, late 70's/early 80's, wakes to another day

INT. PAUL'S ROOM - MORNING

Paul stands at his bathroom mirror, meticulously buttoning his shirt. He picks up a hairbrush, starts tidying his hair

Immediately the viewer knows that Paul is elderly, and this film will probably include a flashback to his previous life. As the scenes in the nursing home (in real time) progress, Paul seems to be older than the rest of the residents, but that is subtle, and the viewer does not find out until the end just how old he is, and the true nature of his "present" life as opposed to his past life that the film concerns. Its is clear from Paul's actions that his mind is alert, and that he is a vital man who has outlived his usefulness in society, but not his hopes, dreams, and intelligence. He is a meticulous man, who just wants to be left alone to live what remains…