The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

David Lean

Writer (WGA):

Pierre Boulle (novel)
(more)

Release Date:

2 October 1957 (UK)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | War

Tagline:

It spans a whole new world of entertainment!

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Bridge | British | Construction | Japanese | Sabotage

Awards:

Won 7 Oscars. Another 23 wins & 5 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 22

10:00 PM

TCM

Cast

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
Heihachiro Okawa	...	Captain Kanematsu (as Henry Okawa)
Keiichiro Katsumoto	...	Lieutenant Miura (as K. Katsumoto)
M.R.B. Chakrabandhu	...	Col. Broome Yai
Vilaiwan Seeboonreaung	...	Siamese Girl
Ngamta Suphaphongs	...	Siamese Girl
Javanart Punynchoti	...	Siamese Girl
Kannikar Dowklee	...	Siamese Girl

Directed by
David Lean

Writing credits (WGA)
Michael Wilson		(screenplay) originally uncredited and
Carl Foreman		(screenplay) originally uncredited
Pierre Boulle		(novel "Le pont de la rivière Kwaï")

Produced by
Sam Spiegel	....	producer

Original Music by
Malcolm Arnold		(music by)

Cinematography by
Jack Hildyard		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Peter Taylor		(chief editor)

Art Direction by
Donald M. Ashton

Makeup Department
Stuart Freeborn	....	makeup artist
George Partleton	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Cecil F. Ford	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gus Agosti	....	assistant director
Ted Sturgis	....	assistant director
John Kerrison	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Geoffrey Drake	....	assistant art director
Peter Dukelow	....	construction manager

Sound Department
Pam Bosworth	....	additional sound editor
Eric Boyd-Perkins	....	additional sound editor
Fred Burnley	....	additional sound editor
Rusty Coppleman	....	additional sound editor
John Cox	....	sound
Teddy Darvas	....	additional sound editor
Janet Davidson	....	additional sound editor
Joel Fein	....	sound mixer (restoration)
Don Hall	....	sound editor (restoration)
Norma Hawkes	....	additional sound editor
Gary Krivacek	....	sound editor (restoration)
Peter Miller	....	additional sound editor
Bob Minkler	....	sound mixer (restoration)
John W. Mitchell	....	sound (as John Mitchell)
Winston Ryder	....	chief sound editor
B. Tennyson Sebastian III	....	sound mixer (restoration) (as Tennyson Sebastian)
Peter Davies	....	post-synchronisation (uncredited)

Stunts
Nosher Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Archie Dansie	....	chief electrician
Peter Newbrook	....	camera operator
Ron Drinkwater	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Gerry Fisher	....	additional camera operator (uncredited)
Gerry Fisher	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Robert Merry	....	lighting technician (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
John Wilson-Apperson	....	wardrobe (as John Apperson)

Editorial Department
George Hively	....	editor (restoration)
William Pine	....	color timer (restoration) (as Bill Pine)
Sati Tooray	....	colorist (uncredited)

Other crew
Angela Martelli	....	continuity
Jim Painten	....	producer of restoration
L.E.M. Perowne	....	technical advisor (as Major-Gen. L.E.M. Perowne)
William Harrigan Jr.	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Robert Haslam	....	consultant: explosives (uncredited)
Robert Haslam	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Grady Johnson	....	publicist (uncredited)
Maurice Landsberger	....	production accountant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Horizon Pictures (II) (for)
• Columbia Pictures Corporation (presents)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (as Columbia Pictures Corporation)
• Warner Bros. (1957) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1963) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1966) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (????) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (1999) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• LK-TEL (1999) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)
• Nothing's New Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia Film-Verleih (1958) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1994) (USA) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Ellis Burman III  audio restoration (uncredited)
• Equipment and Construction Co.  bridge construction (as Equipment and Construction Co. of Ceylon)
• Husband & Co. of Sheffield  consulting engineers for the bridge
• OCS/Freeze Frame/Pixel Magic  negative restoration (restoration) (as OCS/Freeze Frame)
• Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The  music played by
• Sony Pictures Studios  sound services (restoration) (as Sony Pictures Studio, Culver City, California)
• Sunset Gower Studios  sound stages (uncredited)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild war violence. (1991 reissue)

Runtime:

161 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Japanese | Thai

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (RCA Sound System) | Dolby SR (re-release) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 | USA:Approved | USA:PG (re-rating) (1991) | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Spain:T | UK:PG | West Germany:12 (w) | Sweden:15 | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Ambepussa, Sri Lanka

Company:

Horizon Pictures (II)

Trivia:

The film's story was loosely based on a true World War II incident, and the real-life character of Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey. One of a number of Allied POW's, Toosey was in charge of his men from late 1942 through May 1943 when they were ordered to build two Kwai River bridges in Burma (one of steel, one of wood), to help move Japanese supplies and troops from Bangkok to Rangoon. In reality, the actual bridge took 8 months to build (rather than two months), and they were actually used for two years, and were only destroyed two years after their construction - in late June 1945. The memoirs of the 'real' Colonel Nicholson were compiled into a 1991 book by Peter Davies entitled The Man Behind the Bridge.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): It wouldn't have been necessary for Joyce, the Canadian, to go to the UK to enlist to fight against the Japanese, as he says when being interviewed to join the commando group going back to the Kwai. Canada joined the war only a couple of days after war was declared by the British, and Joyce could easily have enlisted at home in Montreal.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Featured in Pucker Up (2005)

Soundtrack:

If You Were the Only Girl in the World

Nothing less than a masterpiece...

About as Oscar-worthy as any film made in the '50s is David Lean's gripping BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. Based loosely on a real-life incident, it tells the story of an imprisoned British officer (Alec Guinness) who loses sight of his mission when forced to build a bridge for the Japanese that will enable the enemy to carry supplies by train through the jungle during World War II. Guinness plays the crisp British officer to perfection, brilliant in all of his scenes but especially in his confrontations with Sessue Hayakawa. William Holden has a pivotal role as one of the prisoners who escapes and enjoys his freedom for awhile before being asked to return with a small squadron to destroy the bridge. Jack Hawkins and Geoffrey Horne have colorful roles too and all are superb under David Lean's direction.

The jungle settings filmed in Ceylon add the necessary realism to the project and there is never a suspension of interest although the story runs well over two-and-a-half hours. The film builds to a tense and magnificent climax with an ending that seems to be deliberately ambiguous and thought provoking. Well worth watching, especially if shown in the restored letterbox version now being shown on TCM.

Some of the best lines go to William Holden and he makes the most of a complex role--a mixture of cynicism and heroism in a character that ranks with his best anti-hero roles in films of the '50s. He brings as much conviction to his role as Alec Guinness does and deserved a Best Actor nomination that he did not get.