The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

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 Construction | Uniform | Corporal Punishment | Coercion | Behind Enemy Lines

Awards:

Won 7 Oscars. Another 23 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

William Holden	...	Cmdr. Shears
Jack Hawkins	...	Maj. Warden
Alec Guinness	...	Col. Nicholson
Sessue Hayakawa	...	Col. Saito
James Donald	...	Maj. Clipton
Geoffrey Horne	...	Lt. Joyce
André Morell	...	Col. Green (as Andre Morell)
Peter Williams	...	Capt. Reeves
John Boxer	...	Maj. Hughes
Percy Herbert	...	Pvt. Grogan
Harold Goodwin	...	Pvt. Baker, Sick List Volunteer
Ann Sears	...	Nurse at Siamese hospital
Heihachiro Okawa	...	Capt. Kanematsu (as Henry Okawa)
Keiichiro Katsumoto	...	Lt. Miura
M.R.B. Chakrabandhu	...	Yai (as M.R.B. Chakrabandhu {Col. Broome})
Vilaiwan Seeboonreaung	...	Siamese girl
Ngamta Suphaphongs	...	Siamese girl
Javanart Punynchoti	...	Siamese girl
Kannikar Dowklee	...	Siamese girl

Directed by
David Lean

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

Produced by
Sam Spiegel	....	producer

Original Music by
Malcolm Arnold

Cinematography by
Jack Hildyard		(director of photography)

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

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

Sound Department
John Cox	....	sound
Joel Fein	....	sound mixer (restoration)
Don Hall	....	sound editor: restoration
Gary Krivacek	....	sound editor: restoration
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	....	wardrober (as John Apperson)

Editorial Department
Pam Bosworth	....	additional editor (as Pamela Bosworth)
Eric Boyd-Perkins	....	additional editor
Fred Burnley	....	additional editor
Rusty Coppleman	....	additional editor
Teddy Darvas	....	additional editor
Janet Davidson	....	additional editor
Norma Hawkes	....	additional editor
Peter Miller	....	additional editor
William Pine	....	color timer (restoration) (as Bill Pine)
Peter Taylor	....	chief editor
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)
Maurice Landsberger	....	production accountant (uncredited)

Production Companies

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

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical)
• 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
• Equipment and Construction Co.  bridge construction
• Husband & Co. of Sheffield  consulting engineers for the bridge
• Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The  music played by (as The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
• Sunset Gower Studios  sound stages

Runtime:

161 min

Country:

USA | UK

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:

South Korea:12 | Brazil:12 | Iceland:12 | USA:PG (re-rating) (1991) | USA:Approved | 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:

Producer 'Sam Spiegel (I)' - in his efforts for securing rights, casting, locations, etc. - flew around the world 4 times in the 3 years it took to get the film from page to screen.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the very end of the movie the bridge is blown and the entire train falls into the shallow river Kwai but no engine or cars are visible under the bridge as the movie ends.

Quotes:

Colonel Saito: All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Zhivago: Behind the Camera with David Lean (1965)

Soundtrack:

God Save the King

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.