The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and All Is Lost (2013)

The Shawshank Redemption, just starring Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford in the lead roles? It might just have happened, if writer/director Frank Darabont hadn't turned down a life-changing offer to let someone else direct the film.

Instead, he dug in, and put together - across a testing production - a film that's gone on to be very highly regarded. Even after it flopped at the box office.

The late Robert Redford meanwhile was 77 years old when he came to make the film All Is Lost. It involved him stuck in the water for hours on end, left him with hearing loss, and in the midst of a film that benefitted heavily from an abandoned Disney blockbuster.

Stories of both films are told in this episode...

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