The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.

Director:

David Lean

Writer:

Pierre Boulle (novel)

Stars:

William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins

Top 250 #102 | Won 7 Oscars. Another 24 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Holden	...	Shears
Alec Guinness	...	Colonel Nicholson
Jack Hawkins	...	Major Warden
Sessue Hayakawa	...	Colonel Saito
James Donald	...	Major Clipton
Geoffrey Horne	...	Lieutenant Joyce
André Morell	...	Colonel Green (as Andre Morell)
Peter Williams	...	Captain Reeves
John Boxer	...	Major Hughes
Percy Herbert	...	Grogan
Harold Goodwin	...	Baker
Ann Sears	...	Nurse
Heihachirô Ôkawa	...	Captain Kanematsu (as Henry Okawa)
Keiichirô Katsumoto	...	Lieutenant Miura (as Keiichiro Katsumoto, K. Katsumoto)
M.R.B. Chakrabandhu	...	Yai (as M.R.B. Chakrabandhu {Col. Broome})

Storyline

The film deals with the situation of British prisoners of war during World War II who are ordered to build a bridge to accommodate the Burma-Siam railway. Their instinct is to sabotage the bridge but, under the leadership of Colonel Nicholson, they are persuaded that the bridge should be constructed as a symbol of British morale, spirit and dignity in adverse circumstances. At first, the prisoners admire Nicholson when he bravely endures torture rather than compromise his principles for the benefit of the Japanese commandant Saito. He is an honorable but arrogant man, who is slowly revealed to be a deluded obsessive. He convinces himself that the bridge is a monument to British character, but actually is a monument to himself, and his insistence on its construction becomes a subtle form of collaboration with the enemy. Unknown to him, the Allies have sent a mission into the jungle, led by Warden and an American, Shears, to blow up the bridge.

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Plot Keywords:

bridge | japanese | jungle | river | construction | 

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Taglines:

It spans a whole new world of entertainment!

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild war violence

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Japanese Thai

Release Date:

14 December 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

El puente sobre el río Kwai

Filming Locations:

Ambepussa, Sri Lanka

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$27,200,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Horizon Pictures (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

161 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (RCA Sound Recording) Mono (35 mm prints) (RCA Sound Recording) 4-Track Stereo (Linear PCM)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Carl Foreman wrote the screenplay with Humphrey Bogart in mind for the role of Shears, but Columbia Studios head Harry Cohn refused to allow Bogart out of another project. Cary Grant then was briefly considered to star as Shears, but his flop in a serious role in Crisis concerned the producer, Sam Spiegel. The role of Nicholson was offered to Laurence Olivier who turned it down. Alec Guinness was the next choice.

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Goofs

As Major Shears and the others are parachuting, the POV is the audience looking up at them coming down. There are some white clouds, and a lot of clear sky. Cut to their guide waiting on the ground, watching the men for a few seconds. Cut back to the audience POV looking up, and the sky is now all dark clouds.

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Quotes

Colonel Green: Good show! Jolly good show, Major!

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Crazy Credits

and introducing Geoffrey Horne

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Connections

Referenced in The Parent Trap (1961)

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Soundtracks

"For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by the British Prisoners of War after Nicholson is put in the oven

User Reviews

Far Ahead of Its Time

First off, what is so amazing about this film is that, for the time that it was made, how modern it looks. David Lean certainly had the eye of any modern director and managed to direct a visual masterpiece at a time when many films were still being shot in black and white.

William Holden gives one of his finest performances as a cynic of warfare , citing for us the insanity and absurdity that the combatants often convey. And he hates the war, but he cannot avoid been thrown back into it again and again. We wish he could stay on the beach with his nurse lover, but he is a man destined for a tragic doom for his country, whether he wants to or not.

Alec Guiness also delivers a fine performance as a bold general whose own pride is, at the same time, his most noble quality as well as his greatest fault. He is uncompromising, yet when the Japanese submit to his demands, he begins overseeing the construction of the bridge with great esteem. Eventually, for him, the bridge becomes a manifestation of his belief of the superiority of the British Army, which he follows like a religion. And in putting all his pride into this bridge, he loses sight of even the British's own true agenda. Truly, his sense of overwhelming honor is, at the same time, his downfall in a descent to a loss of morality, and a sense of good and evil.

And yes, by the end of this film, we learn a great lesson of the horrors of war. Not only does it take the lives of many good men, but the utter failure and despair that accompany it make it an unbearable existence. And this message has only recently been re-evaluated with the also-brilliant masterpiece "Saving Private Ryan." But, keep in mind that it took forty years to regain the power that this film inspired so long ago.