[31], On a BBC Timewatch programme, a former prisoner at the camp states that it is unlikely that a man like the fictional Nicholson could have risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and, if he had, due to his collaboration he would have been "quietly eliminated" by the other prisoners. The place: Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Burma. [Ronald Searle, To the Kwai and Back: War drawings 1939-45, London, Collins, 1986, 104] 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' is now the best-known site on the Burma-Thailand railway but its fame is due more to a fictional film than its significance in World War II. Over a muddy jungle river called Kwai, a Japanese colonel, Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), must complete a railroad bridge vital to Japan's war effort. [21] Guinness later reflected on the scene, calling it the "finest piece of work" he had ever done. They felt none of the Bridge on the River Kwai cast could fully understand or represent what it was like to be there. . 's working to build and/or destroy a bridge for the Japanese during World War II. In the film, a Colonel Saito is camp commandant. Unique to this film, in some ways, were other issues related to poorly made optical dissolves, the original camera lens and a malfunctioning camera. The bridge they build will become a symbol of service and survival to one prisoner, Colonel Nicholson, a proud perfectionist. [61][62], In 1972, the movie was among the first selection of films released on the early Cartrivision video format, alongside classics such as The Jazz Singer and Sands of Iwo Jima. It was still highly unusual at that time for a television network to show such a long film in one evening; most films of that length were still generally split into two parts and shown over two evenings. Chandran Rutnam and William Holden while shooting The Bridge on the River Kwai. The cast includes William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, and . In 1942 Japan seized Myanmar from British control and quickly decided to build a rail link to Thailand in order to maintain a secure supply route to their forces. 2023 Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Bridge On The River Kwai Ending Explained: What Happened to - OtakuKart Harry Cohn, the vulgar (but successful) man who ran Columbia Pictures at the time, was furious when he read the script and saw no love interest. [22], Lean nearly drowned when he was swept away by the river current during a break from filming.[23]. Bangkok - Kanchanaburi More info / Tickets. Warden, Shears, and two other commandos parachute into Thailand; one, Chapman, dies after falling into a tree, and Warden is wounded in an encounter with a Japanese patrol and must be carried on a litter. 21. Omissions? Nicholson spots the wire and brings it to Saito's attention. The Kwai River Bridge was part of the meter-gauge railway constructed by the Japanese during World War Two. British English: The Top 50 Most Beautiful British Insults, British Slang: Your Guide to British Police Slang for the Telly Watcher, British Slang: Tea Time British Words for Tea and Tea Related Culture, ltimate List of Funny British Place Names, 101 Budget Britain Travel Tips 2nd Edition, Great Britons Book: Top 50 Greatest Brits Who Ever Lived, Anglotopias Grand Adventure Lands End to John OGroats. There were no facilities on the island of Ceylon to process film rushes, so the days filming had to be flown to London to be processed and then flown back out to Ceylon. River Kwai (Kanchanaburi): All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go - Tripadvisor [16], Director David Lean clashed repeatedly with his cast members, particularly Guinness and James Donald, who thought the novel was anti-British. A real train rode over the bridge as it blew up. [34] According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission: The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications to support the large Japanese army in Burma. An example of this is when commandos Warden and Joyce hunt a fleeing Japanese soldier through the jungle, desperate to prevent him from alerting other troops. But in Bangkok I was told that David Lean, the film's director, became mad at the extras who played the prisonersusbecause they couldn't march in time. They were supported by an unknown number of Malaysian labourers. In fact, two bridges were built: a temporary wooden bridge and a permanent steel/concrete bridge a few months later. She spent most of the next 42 years working as a copy editor and editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica. "[55], Balu Mahendra, the Tamil film director, observed the shooting of this film at Kitulgala, Sri Lanka during his school trip and was inspired to become a film director. Construction began before anyone had been cast. In early 1943, a contingent of British prisoners of war, led by Lt. After Guinness was done with the scene, Lean said, "Now you can all fuck off and go home, you English actors. At their head was Lieutenant-Colonel Phillip Toosey. He didn't like the screenplay because it reduced Nicholson to secondary status. 16- "You make me sick with your heroics! The River Kwai, also known as Khwae Noi or Khwae Sai Yok is a river located in the western region of Thailand. This film is taken from a popular novel written by Pierre Boulle in 1952. 18. The Bridge on the River Kwai: The explosive bridge (HD CLIP) While Nicholson disapproves of acts of sabotage and other deliberate attempts to delay progress, Toosey encouraged this: termites were collected in large numbers to eat the wooden structures, and the concrete was badly mixed. They were calling it the Death Railway. comment. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. (He didn't attend the Oscars, either.) 8. The correct name for the River Kwai is Khwae Noi, meaning small tributary, which merges with Khwae Yai River to create the Mae Kong River. Is Bridge on River Kwai a true story? - IronSet They included Chinese, Malayan, Burmese, Thai, Indonesian and Singaporean people. She recommended Lean to producer Sam Spiegel, who'd been turned down by Fred Zinnemann, William Wyler, and Carol Reed, and offered the directing job to Lean as a last resort. He didn't like the next draft of the screenplay, either, because it made Nicholson "a blinkered character." Want to work for the CWGC? Reviews There are no reviews yet. Around the time that he was offered the movie, David Lean had little money, as he was in the middle of a financially ruinous divorce, and was very much in need of a new project. [64] The image was restored by OCS, Freeze Frame, and Pixel Magic with George Hively editing. The movie garnered seven Academy Awards, including that for best picture, as well as three Golden Globe Awards and four BAFTA awards. Nicholson objects, informing Saito the Geneva Convention exempts officers from manual labour. His first epic was his twelfth film: The Bridge on the River Kwai, starring Alec Guinness and William Holden as P.O.W. The film was based on the 1952 novel Bridge over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle. Find out how you can apply to become a CWGC Volunteer. When the sun rises, the commandoes realize that the water level in the river has fallen, exposing the explosives and wiring. 16. The Bridge on the River Kwai was selected in 1997 for preservation in the National Film Registry. The Bridge On The River Kwai Trivia: Fun And Interesting Facts About The Bridge On The River Kwai: Fascinating Facts About The Bridge on the River Kwai - Kindle edition by Randolph, Amanda. Ironically, Allied bombing raids of the region between March and June 1943 contributed to casualties sustained around Thanbyuzayat. Lets find out. [54] Slant magazine gave the film four out of five stars. Imperial Japanese Army Command deemed this unacceptable. Some 5,000 Commonwealth World War Two casualties are buried or commemorated in Kanchanaburi. Search by location, regiment, nationality, and more fields to find the war dead involved in building the blood-soaked Burma-Siam Railway. Visiting The Bridge On The River Kwai, Kanchanaburi As the train approaches, they hurry down to the riverbank to investigate. 15- "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.". When he asks for Saitos help in cutting the wires, the hidden commando, Lieutenant Joyce (Geoffrey Horne), leaps up and kills Saito. 9. During the cutting of Hellfire Pass, for example, 69 men were beaten to death across a twelve-week period. Bridge on the River Kwai; the true story - Digger History Starring Alec Guinness, it depicts the struggles and defiance of Japanese prisoners of war building the fictional Burma railway between 1943-44. Ian Watts, longtime professor of English at Stanford and author of the landmark The Rise of the Novel, had actually been a prisoner in the camp and helped with the construction of the bridge. [26], A memorable feature of the film is the tune that is whistled by the POWsthe first strain of the "Colonel Bogey March"when they enter the camp. The bridges were quickly repaired with the use of POW labour from the camp at Tha . Starring Alec Guinness, William Holden, and Sessue Hayakawa, among others, it paints an . The two did not collaborate on the script; Wilson took over after Lean was dissatisfied with Foreman's work. Tooseys men stated this never happened. The Bridge on the River Kwai, Kanchanaburi 1942. Lets examine the history behind the film and the men who made it. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 World War II POW film directed by David Lean, about the construction of the bridges over the River Kwai, although it's heavily fictionalised.It's based on the French novel The Bridge over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle, of Planet of the Apes fame; Boulle, who could neither read nor write English, was also credited for the screenplay adaptation due to . Carl Foreman was the initial screenwriter, but Lean replaced him with Michael Wilson. What's your favorite? During World War II, British soldiers added lyrics to the tune that went approximately along these lines: Hitler Madness!" So go the tragic final words of David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), a spectacular and deeply-moving WWII adventure film that still entertains and challenges over sixty years later. Their roles and characters, however, are fictionalised. What is it that makes the film 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' such an For the novel, see, American theatrical release poster, "Style A", A transcript of the interview and the documentary as a whole can be found in the new edition of John Coast's book, Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, 11th greatest British film of the 20th century, the highest-grossing film of 1957 in the United States and Canada, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures, Best Sound Track Album, Dramatic Picture Score or Original Cast, AFI's 100 Years 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition), "Complete National Film Registry Listing", "New to the National Film Registry (December 1997) - Library of Congress Information Bulletin", "Columbia Earns as It Holds Coin Due Bill Holden on 10% of 'Kwai', "Flashback: A look back at this day in film history (, "Sri Lanka to rebuild bridge from River Kwai movie", "Film locations for David Lean's The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957), in Sri Lanka", "How Father Brown Led Sir Alec Guinness to the Church", "sic - correct spelling is Siegertsz. 25. Wise: "I never heard it in Thailand. The bridge, several museums, and cemeteries have respectfully preserved the history and memorialized the dead. Spiegel finally sent Michael Wilson to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where Lean was in pre-production, and the two worked together to hammer out the final version. 14. The Bridge on the River Kwai, Kanchanaburi, Thailand - Travel : 1942: Boldly advancing through Asia, the Japanese need a train route from Burma going north. When Joyce is wounded by Japanese fire, Shears swims across, but is himself shot. See details. The movie was mainly filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and also in England. They built a railway to link Bangkok to Rangoon. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. It also won the BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay. Workers died at a rate of 20 men per day. Neither of them got credit, though, as The Bridge on the River Kwai was released during the three-year period when people who'd ever been Communists (or who refused to answer questions about it before Congress) were ineligible for Academy Awards. The Bridge Over the River Kwai: A Novel - Google Books The movie, based on the novel Le Pont de la rivire Kwa (1952) by French novelist Pierre Boulle, was adapted for the screen by Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman, who were both at the time on the Hollywood blacklist. [19], Guinness later said that he subconsciously based his walk while emerging from "the Oven" on that of his eleven-year-old son Matthew,[20] who was recovering from polio at the time, a disease that left him temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. David Lean's classic 1957 World War II movie Bridge on the River Kwai depicted the horrors endured by the Allied prisoners of war (POWs) forced to build the Thailand-Burma railway by the Japanese Imperial Army. Around 3,100 Commonwealth Burma war graves can be found at Thanbyuzayat, alongside roughly 620 Dutch burials. Read our FAQs or send a question to our customer service team. As shown in the movie, Guinness played the scene without flinching. Spiegel had it refurbished completely and then had one mile of railway track laid for it. At its behest, Sam Spiegel asked David Lean to incorporate a love scene. But poor old Goebbels Or maybe you have a story for us or would like to work together. The Bridge on the River Kwai, British-American war film, released in 1957 and directed by David Lean, that was both a critical and popular success and became an enduring classic. Has two but they are small. The action of the movie takes place in a Japanese prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in Burma during World War II. Leadership Lessons from The Bridge Over the River Kwai - LinkedIn But in 1966, the film aired on American . Shears and two others escape. Death Railway was bombed heavily by the Allies from 1943 onwards. The bridge depicted in the film is most definitely real. The story about this bridge has also been made into a Hollywood movie such as "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957), which is based on the novel of the same name and another movie . Get information about our funding, our Customer Charter and our Strategic Plan. It was set up at the beginning of the Burma-Siams construction. The Bridge on the River Kwai (Film) - TV Tropes 25 The Bridge on the River Kwai Trivia Questions & Answers As it opens, two POWs, the American navy commander Shears (William Holden) and an Australian, are digging graves for their companions. Bridge On The River Kwai, The (original Version) - Trailer - YouTube By this time, the United States and its naval and industrial might had entered the war. Thailand: Bangkok, Krabi, Pattaya, Kanchanaburi, Koh Samui (since 2005 The casualties of the Burma-Siam railway were often buried in camp burial grounds located close to where they originally fell. American casualties were repatriated back to the United States. Nicholson will not cooperate and finally insists that the bridge can be built only under his command. Thank God that I'm starting work tomorrow with an American actor (William Holden). California Doubling: The film is set in Thailand, but was filmed in Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), a distinction the publicity of the time didn't see fit to make clear.Instead, it raved about the movie being shot in Ceylon in a way which implied the real-life River Kwai was located there. You carry it in your pack like the plague. This records the names of 11 Indian army men buried in Muslim cemeteries throughout Thailand whose graves could not be maintained. The film originally made thirty million dollars over its three million dollar budget and was rereleased in theaters just after Lean and Spiegel's Lawrence of Arabia came out. There's a stench of death about you. The British Film Institute placed The Bridge on the River Kwai as the 11th greatest British film. Lean wanted Charles Laughton (who'd starred in his 1954 film Hobson's Choice) to play Colonel Nicholson, the role that ultimately went to Alec Guinness. The river is the Mae Klong River which passes through a valley of the Khwae Noi River (little tributary). By the end, prisoners working on the rail route werent calling it the Burma-Siam Railway. Did he really want the enemy to come in across it? Bought 4 and 6 mm dowel wood for bridge piers. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. In fact, there were two: one a wooden railway bridge and the other a ferroconcrete structure built using imported bridge sections from Japanese-controlled Java. Desperate, he uses the anniversary of Japan's 1905 victory in the Russo-Japanese War as an excuse to save face; he announces a general amnesty, releasing Nicholson and his officers and exempting them from manual labour. Approximately 5 kilometres north of Kanchanaburi there were two bridges that were built by POWs during the war. A photo of Kitulgala, Sri Lanka in 2004, where the bridge was made for the film. The Bridge on the River Kwai, commonly referred to as the Railroad of Death or Death Railway, which stands in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, was one of only eight steel bridges of the estimated 688 that were built. Disease was a huge killer among railway workers, but so was brutality. This page was last modified on 6 February 2023, at 06:05. The actual name of "Bridge on the River Kwai", on the 258 mile long Burma Railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma, built from 1940-1944, was called Bridge 277. 4. The rest were made of wood and local materials. 28 Fun And Interesting Facts About The Bridge On The River Kwai See some of the commonly asked questions about the Special Committee. The Bridge on the River Kwai - IGN The Bridge on the River Kwai / Trivia - TV Tropes David Lean was completely at home in the hot and humid Ceylon jungle. The railway ran for 250 miles from Ban Pong, Thailand to Thanbyuzayat, Burma and is now known as the Death Railway. Work on the bridge proceeds badly, due to both the faulty Japanese engineering plans and the prisoners' slow pace and deliberate sabotage. "[52] Harrison's Reports described the film as an "excellent World War II adventure melodrama" in which the "production values are first-rate and so is the photography. "The Bridge on the River Kwai" was set in 1942, shortly after the fall of Singapore. Read more. After the final scene was shot, producer Sam Spiegel shipped the movie footage on five different planes to minimize the risk of loss. Nicholson's obsession with the bridge eventually drives him to allow his officers to volunteer to engage in manual labor. At the end of the day, the officers are imprisoned, and Nicholson is thrown into the ovena small box made of corrugated metal. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. With William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa. Goering The Bridge On The River Kwai was the first of David Lean's five epic films and the third of six movies that he made with Alec Guinness. Tonight, enjoy dinner at a hotel restaurant Overnight: Kanchanaburi He served as an adviser during the making of the movie. Nicholson advises Saito that the officers cannot be required to do manual labour according to the Geneva Convention. Toosey in fact did as much as possible to delay the building of the bridge. He, Shears, and Joyce reach the river in time with the assistance of Siamese women bearers and their village chief, Khun Yai. In 1984 the Academy Board of Governors voted posthumous Oscars to Foreman and Wilson, and their names were included on prints of the film beginning in the 1990s. [50] William Holden was also credited for his acting for giving a solid characterization that was "easy, credible and always likeable in a role that is the pivot point of the story". Like Chungkai and Kanchanaburi, Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery was originally part of the camp set up serving the Burma-Siams construction. Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson have written the screenplay for this film. Its a charming, idyllic spot, belying the intense horror and suffering the men who built it went through. Two bridges were built, the first made of wood. The movie is best known for the "Colonel Bogey March", the song that is whistled by the POWs. According to Columbia Pictures, they followed an all-new 4K digital restoration from the original negative with newly restored 5.1 audio. The Bridge On The River Kwai Film Facts. Lean only got $150,000 himself, but he always said Holden was worth it. Both writers had to work in secret, as they were on the Hollywood blacklist and had fled to the UK in order to continue working. Sign-up for free daily emails with the latest news about British culture, heritage, and history! Mitch Miller had a hit with a recording of both marches. After the war, their remains were moved from these makeshift cemeteries and graveyards to purpose-built Commission sites. Unlike the other two, it is not located in Thailand. Some of the characters in the film use the names of real people who were involved in the Burma Railway. Starring Alec Guinness, it depicts the struggles and defiance of Japanese prisoners of war building the fictional Burma railway between 1943-44. What I Learned From Watching: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957 Last survivor of the Bridge On The River Kwai Japanese railway On 16 October 1943, the two ends of the Burma-Thailand railway were joined at Konkoita in Thailand. It was 425 feet long, 90 feet high, and cost $52,085 out of the film's $2 million budget. The Bridge on the River Kwai Ceylon Guide He was a huge star, drawing a weekly salary of $5000 in 1915 (adjusted for inflation: $119,000) and appearing in more than 60 films between 1914 and 1924. [31] He strongly denied the claim that the book was anti-British, although many involved in the film itself (including Alec Guinness) felt otherwise.[36]. Bus Bangkok - Kanchanaburi $ 7.19 3h 30m. The commandoes arrive for their mission as the finishing touches are being put on the bridge. No visit to the Western Front is complete without a trip to The CWGC Visitor Centre. Within 16 months the bridge was completed but it took another two years to complete the entire rail line. [43] By October 1960, the film had earned worldwide box office revenues of $30 million. POWs and indentured labourers were worked to death while busy constructing the railway simultaneously. The elephants employed in helping build the bridge would take breaks every four hours and lie around the water, whether the crew wanted them to or not. Lean liked that draft even less. He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial, Malaysia. [10], Although Lean later denied it, Charles Laughton was his first choice for the role of Nicholson. After the enlisted men are marched to the bridge site, Saito threatens to have the officers shot, until Major Clipton, the British medical officer, warns Saito there are too many witnesses for him to get away with murder. [11] Guinness admitted that Lean "didn't particularly want me" for the role, and thought about immediately returning to England when he arrived in Ceylon and Lean reminded him that he wasn't the first choice. Nicholson yells for help, while attempting to stop Joyce from reaching the detonator. Bridge on the River Kwai - silverfox175 Kanburi wasnt a work camp as such. Lean insisted that Laughton could lose weight before shooting began, but Columbia Pictures' insurance underwriters refused to cover him, saying he was too unhealthy to endure several months on location in the jungles of Ceylon. The actual bridge on the River Kwai is located in Thailand, and stretches over a part of the Mae Klong river, which was renamed Khwae Yai (Thai for big tributary). The steel bridge was repaired and is still in use today. But he'd never made anything on an epic scale, wasn't well known outside of England, and wouldn't have been considered for The Bridge on the River Kwai if it weren't for Katharine Hepburn, the star of his 1955 film Summertime. On another occasion, they argued over the scene where Nicholson reflects on his career in the army.
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