I included this particular scene because this is the first time in the movie where Andy really shows he's got guts. It's also got some great camerawork. For instance, one cut shows an overhead shot of Andy and the Warden, showing how far Andy's going to fall if he gets thrown from the roof. The camera then swoops down to bring us closer to the frantic conversation the two are having. Another example is when the boys are sipping their beers on the roof. The camera pans around in a circle, and reveals a nicely structured shot of the guards looming behind Red's shoulder.

How to make friends while tarring a roof:
While tarring the roof with his fellow prisoners, Andy overhears a conversation the warden is having with a guard. The warden complains that the $35,000 his dead brother left him will be taxed by the government. Red mockingly says, "Some people really got it awful." Then Andy walks off...

Andy approaches the group of guards, looks at the warden and says, "Mr. Hadley, do you trust your wife?" The ill-tempered warden busts out his stick, and remarks that Andy will soon be performing sexual acts with a toothless mouth.

Andy then says, "What i mean is, do you think she'd go behind your back? Try to hamstring you?" Again, this doesn't go over so well.

At the last second, Andy busts out a quick speech about how the warden can keep all the money tax-free if he gives it to his wife as a gift.

After almost getting Superman'd off the roof, Andy then offers to do all the necessary paperwork for a small price: three beers for each of his co-workers.

Everyone stares in disbelief at the major cajones Andy has just put on display. The warden let's him go, and it cuts to the next shot: all the boys sitting around sipping cold ones in the sun.

The best part is that, after the enormous risk he took in offering that proposal, Andy doesn't even drink any of the beers.

Red's narrative: "We sat with the sun on our shoulders, feeling like free men. Andy sat in the shade with a strange smile on his face, watching us drink his beer."

"You could argue that he'd done it to curry favor with the guards, or to make a few friends among us cons. Me, I think he did it just to feel normal again, if only for a short while."