10 facts about the bridge on the river kwai 10 facts about the bridge on the river kwai

Although the film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 19421943, the plot and characters of Boulle's novel and the screenplay are almost entirely fictional. 23. 13 Fascinating Facts About 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' | Mental Floss Young: "Donald, did anyone whistle Colonel Bogey as they did in the film?" Nicholson will not cooperate and finally insists that the bridge can be built only under his command. Lean wanted Holden, a big star and recent Oscar winner (for Stalag 17), to play American prisoner Major Shears, over the objections of producer Spiegel, who wanted Cary Grant. The Bridge on the River Kwai was selected in 1997 for preservation in the National Film Registry. Everywhere in the jungle, the graveyards made their appearance; starting in a small way they gradually grew bigger, until when the railway was completed at the end of the year, thousands of bodies lay in the jungle from one end to the other.. Lean only got $150,000 himself, but he always said Holden was worth it. Wise: "I never heard it in Thailand. Ten Interesting Facts about The Bridge on the River Kwai - Anglotopia.net Cast the Expert: Percy Herbert, who played the role of a prisoner of war in the film, actually spent four . They built a railway to link Bangkok to Rangoon. A picture of the actual bridge over the River Kwai in June 2004. American casualties were repatriated back to the United States. He didn't like the screenplay because it reduced Nicholson to secondary status. Its construction came about because Japan needed another supply route to link Singapore and Malaysia to its possessions in Burma following Singapores fall in February 1942. 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. As the train approaches, they hurry down to the riverbank to investigate. Explore the CWGC Archive through our online portal. Prior to casting Alec Guinness, Sam Spiegel tried to persuade Spencer Tracy to play the part of Colonel Nicholson. Disease was a huge killer among railway workers, but so was brutality. The movie garnered seven Academy Awards, including that for best picture, as well as three Golden Globe Awards and four BAFTA awards. On another occasion, they argued over the scene where Nicholson reflects on his career in the army. Victims were cremated and their remains are buried in the aforementioned graves. The Bridge on the River Kwai Ceylon Guide 6. 1. The film won seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) at the 30th Academy Awards. It was initially scripted by screenwriter Carl Foreman, who was later replaced by Michael Wilson. Begun in October 1942, using prisoner of war (POW) labour, it was completed and operational by early February 1943. does not fall onto the plunger, and the bridge suffers only minor damage. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI: Honor, Duty, and Madness Thousands of Asian workers and POWs (prisoners of war) died while working on the project. To learn more about the men behind the real story of the Bridge on the River Kwai, and to discover the casualties, please use our Find War Dead tool. In the movie the bridge is destroyed by commandos. - Colonel Saito, 'The Bridge on the River Kwai '. "[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. Leadership Analysis: The Bridge On The River Kwai | MBA Skool The Colonel Bogey March" was composed in 1914 by Kenneth Alford, a military band conductor. Prisoners, including the sick, were marched to camps further along Death Railway. Lean liked that draft even less. On 16 October 1943, the two ends of the Burma-Thailand railway were joined at Konkoita in Thailand. They would work in appalling conditions, given minuscule amounts of food, snatches of sleep, and little to no medical treatment. [56] Warren Buffett said it was his favorite movie. When Joyce is wounded by Japanese fire, Shears swims across, but is himself shot. (He didn't attend the Oscars, either.) 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 adventure war film The Bridge on the River Kwai may have swept the board of awards and attracted acclaim as one best films of the 20th century, but the War Office was very nervous "it would . A train carrying important dignitaries and soldiers is scheduled to be the first to cross the bridge the following day, and Warden wants to destroy both. 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. During the cutting of Hellfire Pass, for example, 69 men were beaten to death across a twelve-week period. 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. Japanese engineers had been surveying and planning the route of the railway since 1937, and they had demonstrated considerable skill during their construction efforts across South-East Asia. During WW II, Japan constructed the meter-gauge railway line from Ban Pong, Thailand to Thanbyuzayat, Burma. The separate dialogue, music and effects were located and remixed with newly recorded "atmospheric" sound effects. 7. [48], Bosley Crowther of The New York Times praised the film as "a towering entertainment of rich variety and revelation of the ways of men". Use our postcode search tool to discover more about the war dead from your local area. Some sections, such as the infamous Hellfire Pass, required carving through tough sheer rock. It was repaired in time to be blown up the next morning, with Bandaranaike and his entourage present. When Columbia Pictures read the script for Kwai, it was concerned that the story was too much about men and had no love interest. 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. This is now known as the Death Railway. Image: British troops surrender at Singapore. See some of the commonly asked questions about the Special Committee. The weather is good, not hot The train passes at 10 AM and the train returns at 4 PM. Lets examine the history behind the film and the men who made it. 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. A regiment of British prisoners arrives, whistling the Colonel Bogey March, under the command of Colonel Nicholson (Sir Alec Guinness). 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Or maybe you have a story for us or would like to work together. Answer (1 of 7): David Lean made some excellent films His Dickens films of the 1940's are classic black and white versions of OLIVER TWIST and GREAT EXPECTATIONS He discovered color and the wide screen in the 1950's and 1960's Besides BRIDGE, Lean also did LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and DR ZHIVAGO Peo. Instead, the Lt. Col would stand up for his men when necessary to try to alleviate some of their hardships. . Its estimated around 16,000 Allied prisoners of war were killed during construction of the Burma-Siam Railway. Once Spiegel relented, he realized Holden was a box office draw and offered him a great deal: $300,000 salary (about $2.5 million in 2016 dollars), plus 10 percent of the gross. 60,000 or so Allied prisoners of war, including British, Australian, Dutch and some US troops, alongside more than 200,000 civilian labourers were pressed into service. Written 20 October 2021. After the final scene was shot, producer Sam Spiegel shipped the movie footage on five different planes to minimize the risk of loss. Why visit the Bridge on the River Kwai | Audley Travel Realising he has no choice, Shears volunteers. He, Shears, and Joyce reach the river in time with the assistance of Siamese women bearers and their village chief, Khun Yai. He also didn't like hearing that he was Lean's second choice for the role, a fact made more awkward when he arrived in Ceylon and Lean greeted him with, "Of course, you know I really wanted Charles Laughton." It was the highest-grossing film of 1957 and received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. While the British prisoners celebrate their accomplishment that night, the commandoes wire the bridge with explosives to be detonated by a plunger operated by a hidden soldier, timed to collapse the bridge just as an inaugural train carrying Japanese dignitaries is crossing it. 2. The Bridge On The River Kwai Photos and Premium High Res Pictures The bridge in the movie was near Kitulgala. Only in 1984 did the Academy rectify the situation by retroactively awarding the Oscar to Foreman and Wilson, posthumously in both cases. rainy day Therefore, there are not many people. But poor old Goebbels Shears tries to get out of the mission by confessing that he impersonated an officer, hoping for better treatment from the Japanese. 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. It was the highest-grossing film of 1957 and scooped up seven Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor. Alec Guiness, William Holden, and Jack Hawkins in front of bridge they built in a scene from the film 'The Bridge On The River Kwai', 1957. Highly competent work is also done by William Holden, Jack Hawkins and Sessue Hayakawa". The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - IMDb Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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]. 12. 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. Also, the dense surrounding jungle renders escape virtually impossible. Writers: Pierre Boulle (novel), Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson (screenplay), Academy Award nominations (* denotes win), https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Bridge-on-the-River-Kwai-film-by-Lean, Filmsite - The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), BFI Screenonline - The Bridge on the River Kwai, Turner Classic Movies - The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). Put on your marching boots and whistle a jaunty tune as we investigate some behind-the-scenes facts about this enduring war film. Also, in the novel, the bridge is not destroyed: the train plummets into the river from a secondary charge placed by Warden, but Nicholson (never realising "what have I done?") Is Bridge on River Kwai a true story? - IronSet Thanbyuzayat was originally a POW administration headquarters and base camp. That evening, the officers are placed in a punishment hut, while Nicholson is beaten and locked in an iron box. With William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa. This, plus the fact that he loved to travel, plus the fact that shooting a film in Southeast Asia would be good for him tax-wise, motivated him to accept a project that was bound to be grueling. Approximately 5 kilometres north of Kanchanaburi there were two bridges that were built by POWs during the war. This Oscar-winning epic is part of movie folklore and widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever so I really wanted to see the area where director David Lean shot it way back in 1957. Save up to 50% on Thailand River Cruises August 2024. [31][32] Some consider the film to be an insulting parody of Toosey. Has only got one ball! 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. One of a number of Allied POW"s . This Week's Toybox is . Over a muddy jungle river called Kwai, a Japanese colonel, Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), must complete a railroad bridge vital to Japan's war effort. In 1997, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress. ", Warden fires a mortar, killing Shears and Joyce and fatally wounding Nicholson. By Barry Fox. The deaths of the Asian workers and the prisoners were real events, but most of the book and the movie are not true. The Bridge on the River Kwai was actually one of the reasons movies started becoming prime-time television programming. The finished screenplay had significant contributions from both Wilson and Foreman, though each went to his grave insisting he was the more important contributor. Starring Alec Guinness, William Holden, and Sessue Hayakawa, among others, it paints an . It is close to, but not over the country's border with Myanmar. "[47] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". After the war, their remains were moved from these makeshift cemeteries and graveyards to purpose-built Commission sites. Only he survives, though he is wounded. Copyright 2020 Tons Of Facts. Check here to see our open positions and volunteer roles. The Mount Lavinia Hotel was used as a location for the hospital. Starring Alec Guinness, it depicts the struggles and defiance of Japanese prisoners of war building the fictional Burma railway between 1943-44. Updates? In early 1943, World War II British prisoners arrive by train at a Japanese prison camp in Burma. The Bridge on the River Kwai: The explosive bridge (HD CLIP) The line passing through the scenic Three Pagodas Pass runs for 250 miles. Rather than draw on their own corps of manpower, which was busy fighting an eventual losing battle against encroaching Allied forces, it would put its legions of POWs and local forced labourers to work. The Bridge on the River Kwai Facts for Kids - Kiddle Find the latest updates on the work of the Special Committee. Check out where to stay in Kanchanaburi and book an accommodation of your choice. Warden tells the Siamese women that he had to prevent anyone from falling into enemy hands, and leaves with them. The film is a work of fiction but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942-43 for its historical setting. A small tourist train offers rides across the bridges span, while pedestrians can also travel over it on foot. Construction began before anyone had been cast. Nicholson objects, informing Saito the Geneva Convention exempts officers from manual labour. 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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. He insisted that Lean add a scene where Shears, the American played by William Holden, cozies up to a nurse (Ann Sears). [55] Slant stated that "the 1957 epic subtly develops its themes about the irrationality of honor and the hypocrisy of Britain's class system without ever compromising its thrilling war narrative", and in comparing to other films of the time said that Bridge on the River Kwai "carefully builds its psychological tension until it erupts in a blinding flash of sulfur and flame. (Lean denied ever wanting Laughton for the role, despite abundant documented evidence to the contrary.). Just two months later, Lieutenant Lamb was dead. Although the Death Railway has never again reached the Myanmar border, a shorter stretch was reopened by Thailand's railway authorities between 1949 and 1958, and trains on this modern-day line cross the infamous Bridge on the River Kwai. However, cameraman Freddy Ford was unable to get out of the way of the explosion in time, and Lean had to stop filming. A sketch of that bridge was used as the basis for the fictional one. A photo of Kitulgala, Sri Lanka in 2004, where the bridge was made for the film. Death Railway: History of the Bridge on The River Kwai Nicholson desperately tries to keep Joyce from depressing the plunger, while Shears and Warden try to kill Nicholson. The movie won seven Academy Awards, one for Best Picture. Roger Ebert focused on the symbolism of the bridge in this 1999 description: "[The war] narrows down to a single task, building a . The commandoes arrive for their mission as the finishing touches are being put on the bridge. This way, he remained oblivious to the real nature of his characters fate. Lamb, as he was known, had been a politician before calling up, serving the state legislature in Victoria, Australia. Use our search tools to explore our records and find out about those we commemorate. 14. Persuaded that the film would be about the horror and folly of war, the Japanese government sent a military adviser to help with the camp scenes. Commonwealth war graves commission Caring for the fallen, Commonwealth war graves foundation Our charity site. This film is taken from a popular novel written by Pierre Boulle in 1952. As Ashton explained, it was so cheap because "we used local labor and elephants; and the timber was cut nearby.". Workers died at a rate of 20 men per day. Allied soldiers had built a church and a hospital on the site where the cemetery now sits. Bought 4 and 6 mm dowel wood for bridge piers. The place is regarded as "The Symbol of Peace". True Grit, Sanctum, Green Lantern and Superman. Two bridges were built; one was made of wood, one was made of concrete and steel. Assistant director John Kerrison was killed in a car crash on the way to one of the locations. Rather than start building at two ends and meet in the middle, as per normal railway construction, the Japanese created hundreds of camps across its lengths. [23], British composer Malcolm Arnold recalled that he had "ten days to write around forty-five minutes worth of music" much less time than he was used to. [65], On 2 November 2010 Columbia Pictures released a newly restored The Bridge on the River Kwai for the first time on Blu-ray. 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 is still in everyday use as part of the Bangkok-Nam Tok line. In many tense, dramatic scenes, only the sounds of nature are used. 25 The Bridge on the River Kwai Trivia Questions & Answers David Lean himself also claimed that producer Sam Spiegel cheated him out of his rightful part in the credits since he had had a major hand in the script. Part of this project was building bridges over Thailand's Kwai Yai, at a place named Tamarkan, which is near a town named Kanchanaburi. 21. 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. [18] The bridge in the film was near Kitulgala. The Bridge over the River Kwai (French: Le Pont de la rivire Kwa) is a novel by the French novelist Pierre Boulle, published in French in 1952 and English translation by Xan Fielding in 1954. Sessue Hayakawa edited his copy of the script to contain only his lines of dialog. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 British-American epic war movie directed by David Lean and starring William Holden, Jack Hawkins, and Alec Guinness, featuring Sessue Hayakawa. 18. The trials of Australian Army Lieutenant George Hamilton Lamb reflected the mens awful experience building the Burma-Siam Death Railway. Saito is expected to commit ritual suicide if he fails to meet the rapidly approaching deadline. The Bridge On The River Kwai Film Facts. 16. By the end, prisoners working on the rail route werent calling it the Burma-Siam Railway. The movie was mainly filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and also in England. Showing the impact of disease on the workforce, Kanchanaburi contains two graves holding the ashes of 300 Cholera victims. It was the highest-grossing film of 1957 in the United States and Canada and was also the most popular film at the British box office that year. What's your favorite? Sri Lanka Filming Locations: The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) Posted on July 17, 2017 by tokyofox. In 1997, the movie was deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress. Toosey was very different from Nicholson and was certainly not a collaborator who felt obliged to work with the Japanese. 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. Victory over the Japanese navy at Midway in June 1942 had created a turning point in the Far East and Pacific. Some 5,000 Commonwealth World War Two casualties are buried or commemorated in Kanchanaburi. There are tourist trains to Nam Tok stopping at stations in between daily from the River Kwai Bridge station at 06.05, 11.00 and 14.30. Bridge On The River Kwai, The (original Version) - Trailer - YouTube All Rights Reserved. One of the iconic war films of its time, the Bridge on the River Kwai has shone a spotlight on POWs suffering. Sam Spiegel bought the railroad train from the Ceylonese government. In fact, two bridges were built: a temporary wooden bridge and a permanent steel/concrete bridge a few months later. Some of the characters in the film use the names of real people who were involved in the Burma Railway. The bridges were quickly repaired with the use of POW labour from the camp at Tha . His compassion and insistence on equality amongst the ranks ensured he protected his men as best he could. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. Colonel Saito, the camp commandant, informs the new prisoners they will all work, even officers, on the construction of a railway bridge over the River Kwai that will connect Bangkok and Rangoon. The Bridge on the River Kwai: Fact and fiction - Sentinelassam What I Learned From Watching: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957 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). 7. Best time to visit Bridge Over The River Kwai (preferred time): 09:00 am - 01:00 pm. Boulle based his novel, published in 1952, on his own experiences as a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II, and on an infamous construction project that he wasn't involved with. For the scenes where William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Geoffrey Horne and the native girls had to wade through swamps, they were wading through specially created ones. The Bridge On The River Kwai | Film Locations 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. POWs and indentured labourers were worked to death while busy constructing the railway simultaneously. By this time, the United States and its naval and industrial might had entered the war. BRIDGE ON RIVER KWAI - Shore Leave - Model Ship World Both the wooden and the adjacent steel bridge were subjected to numerous air raids between January and June 1945. To keep costs down, producer Sam Spiegel decided not to hire any extras, using crew members and Ceylon locals instead. It was more of a transit hub where prisoners were moved to other work areas along the railway route. Interested in advertising on the world's largest website dedicated to all things Britain? It was 425 feet long, 90 feet high, and cost $52,085 out of the film's $2 million budget. Two bridges were built, the first made of wood. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. The Bridge over the River Kwai - Wikipedia "[50] Kaplan further praised the actors, especially Alec Guinness, later writing "the film is unquestionably" his. The Bridge on the River Kwai poses complex interpretive issues about the vagaries of war and military behavior as conveyed by the Japanese soldiers, Commander Saito, Lt. Col. Nicholson, and the British captives. Vital equipment that would normally have been shipped through the canal had to be flown out to the location instead. Harry Cohn, the vulgar (but successful) man who ran Columbia Pictures at the time, was furious when he read the script and saw no . Thanbyuzayat continued to be used as a POW reception centre to reinforce work parties along the Burma-Siam Railway. Lean and his production designer, Donald Ashton, were in Ceylon months ahead of time to construct the film's title character (the bridge, not the river). Lean filmed the scene from behind Guinness and exploded in anger when Guinness asked him why he was doing this.