Work on the bridge proceeds badly, due to both the faulty Japanese engineering plans and the prisoners' slow pace and deliberate sabotage. Lean liked that draft even less. Kwai's composer, Malcolm Arnold, wove the march into his Oscar-winning score so seamlessly that modern viewers may assume it was original to the film. Get information about our funding, our Customer Charter and our Strategic Plan. But, what about the real men behind the real story of the construction of the Burma-Siam Railway? 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. Imperial Japanese Army Command deemed this unacceptable. The movie is based on the novel Le Pont de la Riviere Kwai by Pierre Boulle. Sri Lanka Filming Locations: The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) Posted on July 17, 2017 by tokyofox. 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. Where Is the River Kwai Located? - The Bridge on the River Kwai Its a charming, idyllic spot, belying the intense horror and suffering the men who built it went through. Witnessing the carnage, Clipton shakes his head and mutters, "Madness! The Bridge on the River Kwai, Kanchanaburi 1942. Kwai River Bridge - History and Facts | History Hit The Bridge on the River Kwai, Kanchanaburi, Thailand - Travel According to one biographer, he was "broke and needed work; he had even pawned his gold cigarette case." Tooseys men stated this never happened. 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. Both writers had to work in secret, as they were on the Hollywood blacklist and had fled to England in order to continue working. The film"s story was loosely based on a true World War II incident, and the real-life character of Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey. Saito is expected to commit ritual suicide if he fails to meet the rapidly approaching deadline. At its behest, Sam Spiegel asked David Lean to incorporate a love scene. We want to hear from you! 1. Starring Alec Guinness, it depicts the struggles and defiance of Japanese prisoners of war building the fictional Burma railway between 1943-44. Nicholson objects, informing Saito the Geneva Convention exempts officers from manual labour. Mortally wounded, he falls onto the plunger, the bridge is blown up, and the train with the dignitaries falls into the river. This was an incorrect assumption. This page was last modified on 6 February 2023, at 06:05. The movie has been included on the American Film Institutes list of best American films ever made. The real Bridge over the River Kwai is bridge 277 of the Burma-Siam Railway. Lean wanted to use the tune in Kwai, figured those lyrics wouldn't pass the censors (or the approval of the composer's widow), and opted to have the troops whistle it instead. The bridge in the movie was near Kitulgala. Although unconvinced of its merits, Lean agreed to include Shears affair with a British nurse. POWs and indentured labourers were worked to death while busy constructing the railway simultaneously. Nicholson suddenly realizes that his pride in the bridges construction has blinded him to his military duty. Within 16 months the bridge was completed but it took another two years to complete the entire rail line. [13], Many directors were considered for the project, among them John Ford, William Wyler, Howard Hawks, Fred Zinnemann, and Orson Welles (who was also offered a starring role). At all. The Bridge on the River Kwai was a smash hit on release. Explore the story of the CWGC, from our formation during the First World War to our work today. All Rights Reserved. Why visit the Bridge on the River Kwai | Audley Travel The bridges were quickly repaired with the use of POW labour from the camp at Tha . The Bridge On The River Kwai Film Facts. You can also take a boat down the Kwai River . The Burma-Siam Railroad and the Bridge over the River Kwai Guide Lean had a lengthy row with Guinness over how to play the role of Nicholson; the actor wanted to play the part with a sense of humour and sympathy, while Lean thought Nicholson should be "a bore." THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KHWAI - FACT, FICTION AND FANCY - Diwerent - Colonel Saito, 'The Bridge on the River Kwai '. 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. The Suez Canal crisis of 1956 badly affected production. A Smith article describes bridge on River Kwai, near Kanchanaburi, Thailand, built by Allied POWs during Japanese occupation of Thailand in World War II and subject of famous film The Bridge on . [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. 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. After the war, their remains were moved from these makeshift cemeteries and graveyards to purpose-built Commission sites. Thousands of Asian workers and POWs (prisoners of war) died while working on the project. The railway route, which ran through Burma and Thailand, had been planned by the British. : 1942: Boldly advancing through Asia, the Japanese need a train route from Burma going north. 19. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. It was the highest-grossing film of 1957 and scooped up seven Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor. His compassion and insistence on equality amongst the ranks ensured he protected his men as best he could. These issues, running throughout the film, were addressed to a lesser extent on various previous DVD releases of the film and might not have been so obvious in standard definition.[67]. In the film, a Colonel Saito is camp commandant. Aerial reconnaissance photo of the Steel Bridge taken during a bombing raid. The Bridge on the River Kwai - Wikipedia The Bridge On The River Kwai is the World War II Oscar winner about an Army colonel (Alec Guinness) obsessed with proving British superiority over his Japanese captors by showing that his . Take a look below for 28 more fun and interesting facts about The Bridge on the River Kwai. Victory over the Japanese navy at Midway in June 1942 had created a turning point in the Far East and Pacific. One of the biggest causes of ire was the treatment of Toosey. 16. This article is part of our Classic Film Throwback series - By Sam Hendrian - "Madness. 23. He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial, Malaysia. does not fall onto the plunger, and the bridge suffers only minor damage. As the train approaches, Nicholson frantically pulls up the wire, following it to find the detonator. When, the next morning, Saito orders all the British prisoners to begin building the bridge under the command of a Japanese engineer, Nicholson and the other officers refuse, even when Saito threatens to kill them. Bridge on the River Kwai | touristbangkok.com | Kanchanaburi in Thailand An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died in the course of the project, chiefly forced labour brought from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma. [50] Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times claimed the film's strongest points were for being "excellently produced in virtually all respects and that it also offers an especially outstanding and different performance by Alec Guinness. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . To counter the Allies tightening grip on supply lines, the Japanese army resurrected an old idea first mooted by regional powers in the late 19th century: to build a railway between Myanmar and Siam. A small tourist train offers rides across the bridges span, while pedestrians can also travel over it on foot. Before the US began rolling up Japanese possessions throughout the Pacific, and the British really started gaining momentum in Burma, Japan had carved out a large empire. The Burma-Siam Railway was 250 miles of railway constructed by Allied prisoners of war alongside forced Asian labourers. This film is produced by Sam Spiegel, and the music is composed by Malcolm Arnold for . 25. [31][32] Some consider the film to be an insulting parody of Toosey. Please note the delivery estimate is greater than 10 business days. Its this structure, Bridge 277, that still stands and is a famous local tourist attraction. Corrections? A regiment of British prisoners arrives, whistling the Colonel Bogey March, under the command of Colonel Nicholson (Sir Alec Guinness). Despite the discomfort the rest of the crew were experiencing, Lean was thrilled about the shoot and never complained about his living conditions. It spans crosses the lazily winding Khwae Noi at Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Boulle nonetheless enjoyed the film version though he disagreed with its climax. 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. British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it. It had previously belonged to an Indian maharajah and had seen 65 years of active service. BANGKOK TO BRIDGE ON RIVER KWAI: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW - A Million Travels Join us in an act of virtual remembrance and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. 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). They would work in appalling conditions, given minuscule amounts of food, snatches of sleep, and little to no medical treatment. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a work of fiction, but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942 to 1943 for its historical setting. The Bridge on the River Kwai - IGN Its estimated around 16,000 Allied prisoners of war were killed during construction of the Burma-Siam Railway. Further afield, and appealing to my military family war history, is Kanchanaburi with its war cemetery and bridge over the Kwai river which is made famous by the Oscar winning film The Bridge on the River Kwai. [40] Boulle had never been to the bridge. 22. It was repaired in time to be blown up the next morning, with Bandaranaike and his entourage present. 10 Day Central Thailand with River Kwai & Pattaya Family Tour Since it first graced the silver screen won the admiration of audiences everywhere and continues to do so. "[47] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". The movie was mainly filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and also in England. The key sites containing Thailand and Burma war graves related to Death Railway and the Bridge on the River Kwai are: Kanchanaburi War Cemetery is located a short distance from the former Kanburi POW camp. The British soldiers were slaves; they did not help the Japanese. Instead, the Lt. Col would stand up for his men when necessary to try to alleviate some of their hardships. 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. 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. Wrote Guinness: "I felt like turning around and getting back on the plane and paying my own fare home!" [citation needed], Julie Summers, in her book The Colonel of Tamarkan, writes that Boulle, who had been a prisoner of war in Thailand, created the fictional Nicholson character as an amalgam of his memories of collaborating French officers. What is it that makes the film 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' such an The movie was mainly filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and also in England. Prisoners, including the sick, were marched to camps further along Death Railway. Of course, he could not save many of his men from expiring, but he did their best to make conditions more comfortable. The place: Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Burma. For example, a Sergeant-Major Risaburo Saito was in real life second in command at the camp. The rest were made of wood and local materials. The Real Story Behind 'The Bridge On The River Kwai' - Coffee or Die "[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. Lambs sister received a letter from him in September 1943, saying he was in excellent health and being treated well by his captors. Showing the impact of disease on the workforce, Kanchanaburi contains two graves holding the ashes of 300 Cholera victims. He was contracted for $150,000 to be paid in installments. Toosey later defended him in his war crimes trial after the war, and the two became friends. The Bridge on the River Kwai - filming locations - SCEEN IT Updates? The Bridge on the River Kwai. The real River Kwai, and its bridge, is in what was then Siam, now Thailand.The name 'River Kwai' refers to the Khwae Noi and Khwae Yai rivers in western Thailand, which converge to become the Mae Klong river at Kanchanaburi, about 70 miles northwest of Bangkok, and it was across the Mae Klong that the infamous bridge was built. [49] Mike Kaplan, reviewing for Variety, described it as "a gripping drama, expertly put together and handled with skill in all departments. Lean only got $150,000 himself, but he always said Holden was worth it. Just two months later, Lieutenant Lamb was dead. Also, the dense surrounding jungle renders escape virtually impossible. The Bridge on the River Kwai Facts for Kids. ", Warden fires a mortar, killing Shears and Joyce and fatally wounding Nicholson. Only in 1984 did the Academy rectify the situation by retroactively awarding the Oscar to Foreman and Wilson, posthumously in both cases. 15- "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.". The destruction of the bridge as depicted in the film is also entirely fictional. As a result, Boulle, who did not speak English, was credited and received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; many years later, Foreman and Wilson posthumously received the Academy Award.[4]. [65], On 2 November 2010 Columbia Pictures released a newly restored The Bridge on the River Kwai for the first time on Blu-ray. Sessue Hayakawa edited his copy of the script to contain only his lines of dialog. Read our FAQs or send a question to our customer service team. Commonwealth war graves commission Caring for the fallen, Commonwealth war graves foundation Our charity site. [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. On another occasion, they argued over the scene where Nicholson reflects on his career in the army. The bridge, several museums, and cemeteries have respectfully preserved the history and memorialized the dead. We worked at bayonet point and under bamboo lash, taking any risk to sabotage the operation whenever the opportunity arose. [44], The film was re-released in 1964 and earned a further estimated $2.6 million at the box office in the United States and Canada[45] but the following year its revised total US and Canadian revenues were reported by Variety as $17,195,000. To enjoy Thailand River cruises, you need to understand a little about the geography of Thailand and its river system. The Bridge on the River Kwai was actually one of the reasons movies started becoming prime-time television programming. But poor old Goebbels [60] The 167-minute film was first telecast, uncut, in colour, on the evening of 25 September 1966, as a three hours-plus ABC Movie Special. Leadership Lessons from The Bridge Over the River Kwai - LinkedIn ABC, sponsored by Ford, paid a record $1.8 million for the television rights for two screenings in the United States. - Colonel Saito, 'The Bridge on the River Kwai '. The Hitchhiker's Guide has this to say about John Rabon: When not pretending to travel in time and space, eating bananas, and claiming that things are "fantastic", John lives in North Carolina. In a 1988 interview with Barry Norman, Lean confirmed that Columbia almost stopped filming after three weeks because there was no white woman in the film, forcing him to add what he called "a very terrible scene" between Holden and a nurse on the beach. A photo of Kitulgala, Sri Lanka in 2004, where the bridge was made for the film. He shows a rare sense of humor and a feeling for the poetry of situation; and he shows the even rarer ability to express these things, not in lines but in lives. Shears, who is a British commando officer like Warden in the novel, became an American sailor who escapes from the POW camp. The majority of its smaller components are originals, while a few are post-war replacements. The deaths of the Asian workers and the prisoners were real events, but most of the book and the movie are not true. The movie is best known for the "Colonel Bogey March", the song that is whistled by the POWs. When Joyce is wounded by Japanese fire, Shears swims across, but is himself shot. Full scale plan drawing for the main cantilever bridge design. The movie was filmed in Ceylon, which is now Sri Lanka. David Lean, a British director then in his late forties, had made 11 films, including well-received adaptations of Charles Dickens (Great Expectations, Oliver Twist) and Noel Coward (Blithe Spirit, Brief Encounter). The screenplay was instead credited to the novelist, Boullewhich was quite a feat, since he didnt speak or read English. The film was based on the 1952 novel Bridge over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle. Nicholson yells for help, while attempting to stop Joyce from reaching the detonator. With William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa. This Week's Toybox is . [10], Although Lean later denied it, Charles Laughton was his first choice for the role of Nicholson. The documentary itself was described by one newspaper reviewer when it was shown on Boxing Day 1974 (The Bridge on the River Kwai had been shown on BBC1 on Christmas Day 1974) as "Following the movie, this is a rerun of the antidote."[37]. Moreover, Kanchanaburi has an annual "Bridge Over the River Kwai" week, which has a sound show to relive the moments of World War II. 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 . By this time, the United States and its naval and industrial might had entered the war. The film won seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) at the 30th Academy Awards. 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. Japanese guards were known for their cruelty and would frequently torture and assault their prisoners. 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. It is also known as the "River Kwai March". The cemetery was established by the Army Graves Service to hold casualties made along the railways southern Bangkok to Nieke section. Has something sim'lar This story is retold in: Anecdotal Tit Bits: Making "The Bridge on the River Kwai", "links for research, Allied POWs under the Japanese", "The Colonel of Tamarkan: Philip Toosey and the Bridge on the River Kwai", "The Colonel of Tamarkan: Philip Toosey and the, "Once-Stupendous-Now-Modest $2,700,000 Budget Kept Secret; 'River Kwai's' Sockfull Gross", "Screen: 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' Opens", "Film Reviews: The Bridge on the River Kwai", "Balu Mahendra, who made his visuals speak, dies at 74", "Warren Buffett carries an American Express card and about $400 in cash", "How Cartrivision's 1972 VCR ForesawAnd ForfeitedThe Time-Shifted Future", "Movies | Disc & Digital | Sony Pictures", "Wayne and Shuster Show, The Episode Guide (19541990) (series)", Lost and Found: The Story of Cook's Anchor, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Drama, National Board of Review Award for Best Film, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Bridge_on_the_River_Kwai&oldid=1138405911, Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award-winning performance, Films featuring a Best Drama Actor Golden Globe winning performance, Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award, Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography Academy Award, Films whose director won the Best Directing Academy Award, Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Globe, Films whose editor won the Best Film Editing Academy Award, Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award, Films with screenplays by Michael Wilson (writer), United States National Film Registry films, World War II films based on actual events, Short description is different from Wikidata, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Best DVD Original Retrospective Documentary/Featurette, Online Film & Television Association Awards, This page was last edited on 9 February 2023, at 14:21. Nicholson forbids any escape attempts because they were ordered by headquarters to surrender, and escapes could be seen as defiance of orders. She retired Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Disease was a huge killer among railway workers, but so was brutality. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - IMDb The weather is good, not hot The train passes at 10 AM and the train returns at 4 PM. [54] Slant magazine gave the film four out of five stars. 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.
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