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The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
8.4
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 |
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161 min - 
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Top 250 #89
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Won 7 Oscars.
Another
23 wins
&
5 nominations
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| William Holden | ... | ||
| Alec Guinness | ... | ||
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Jack Hawkins | ... | |
| Sessue Hayakawa | ... | ||
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James Donald | ... | |
| Geoffrey Horne | ... | ||
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André Morell | ... |
Col. Green
(as Andre Morell)
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Peter Williams | ... | |
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John Boxer | ... |
Maj. Hughes
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Percy Herbert | ... | |
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Harold Goodwin | ... | |
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Ann Sears | ... | |
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Heihachirô Ôkawa | ... |
Capt. Kanematsu
(as Henry Okawa)
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Keiichirô Katsumoto | ... |
Lt. Miura
(as K. Katsumoto)
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M.R.B. Chakrabandhu | ... | |
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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. Written by alfiehitchie
Plot Summary | Plot SynopsisTaglines:
It spans a whole new world of entertainment!Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated PG for mild war violence (re-rating) (1991) See all certifications »Parents Guide:
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Details
Release Date:
(USA) See more »Also Known As:
El puente sobre el río Kwai See more »Box Office
Budget:
$3,000,000 (estimated)Gross:
$33,300,000 (USA)Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (RCA Sound Recording) | Mono (35 mm prints) (RCA Sound Recording) | 6-Track Stereo (Linear PCM)Color:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.55 : 1
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Colonel Nicholson: Six hundred years, Reeves?
Major Reeves: Yes, sir.
Colonel Nicholson: Six hundred years... That would be quite something.
See more »
(1914) (uncredited)
Music by Kenneth Alford
Whistled by Alec Guinness with British Prisoners of War,
Accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Sessue Hayakawa was 68 years old when he was cast as Saito. Having limited command of the English language, he focused only on those pages of the script in which he had dialog - the rest of the pages he tore out. The complete script was about one inch thick; Hayakawa's with the pages torn out was about an eighth of that. See more »Goofs
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Japan was not a signatory of the Geneva Conventions until 1953, therefore there was no expectation by Allied prisoners of being treated in accordance with them. In fact, the Japanese treatment of prisoners led to the review and update of the conventions in 1949. See more »Quotes
Major Reeves: By the way, sir, I meant to tell you, there are trees in this forest very similar to elm. And the elm piles of London Bridge lasted six hundred years.Colonel Nicholson: Six hundred years, Reeves?
Major Reeves: Yes, sir.
Colonel Nicholson: Six hundred years... That would be quite something.
See more »
Soundtracks
"Colonel Bogey March"(1914) (uncredited)
Music by Kenneth Alford
Whistled by Alec Guinness with British Prisoners of War,
Accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold See more »
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