(David Lean, UK 1957, 161 min.)
British POWs captured by the Japanese during WWII are forced to build a bridge that will assist the enemy. The peerless cast features William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, and in his Oscar®-winning performance as the Colonel who collaborates with the Japanese, Alec Guinness. “David Lean was the master of the thinking person’s epic, especially with this stunning film on the insanity of war”—Jack Garner.
Program Notes
French writer Pierre Boulle’s novel Le Pont de la Riviére Kwaï, (The Bridge Over the River Kwai) is a true chronicle of the hardships endured by 300,000 Asian laborers and allied POW’s in Burma during WWII. These prisoners were confronted with torture, starvation, disease, and death while constructing one of the greatest engineering feats during the war: the 250 mile-long Thailand-Burma Railway with a steel and concrete bridge over the Khwae Noi River. Their Japanese captors would utilize this “Death Railway” to conquer neighboring countries and move supplies from Bangkok to Rangoon. Producer Sam Spiegel was intrigued with Boulle’s novel and began orchestrating the fundamentals of a motion picture.
Spiegel hired Boulle along with notable screenwriters Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson to develop the screenplay. The only hitch was that both writers were blacklisted from Hollywood under the House Un-American Activities Committee, and could not officially take credit for the writing. Exclusive screen credit was given only to Pierre Boulle. However, Boulle couldn’t actually write English, let alone speak it; and it wasn’t until 1976 that Foreman and Wilson were recognized for their work.
Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) provided the setting for production. Construction on a wooden reproduction of the bridge began in 1956. The project took eight months to complete at the cost of $250,000.00.
Due to the complex and flawed persona of Colonel Nicholson’s character, Spiegel was confronted with the difficulty of casting an actor who wanted to play the part. Lawrence Olivier and Charles Laughton both turned the role. British actor Alec Guinness turned down the part three times, before accepting it, stating Nicholson seemed narrow-minded and the script was “rubbish” (Sinclair 79).
David Lean was chosen to direct the picture after both Howard Hawks and John Ford refused. Another decline came from Sessue Hayakawa who would act the part of Colonel Saito. However, upon learning about Lean’s employment as director, he accepted.
Despite all the doubts of the script, David Lean was able to strike a balance from the performances. The ethical uncertainty between Colonel Nicholson and Colonel Saito represent what every man of authority must endure during a time of war. The character of Commander Shears was an unconventional portrait of a hero for the era, and challenged the notion of a stereotypical “war hero.”
Audiences will likely recognize the catchy song known as the Colonel Bogey March, written in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts, often mistaken as the “River Kwai Song” and has occasionally been repeated in other films. During WWII, The march was inflicted with vulgar lyrics mocking Hitler and other Nazi officials. However, these lyrics were extracted for production and as a result, Nicholson and his men march into the labor camp proudly whistling the melody, a clever plot device signifying the disaffected attitude towards their Japanese captors.
New York Times film critic, Bosley Crowther said, “Brilliant is the word, and no other, to describe the quality of skills that have gone into the making of this picture”. The Bridge on the River Kwai won over 34 major awards including seven Oscars at the 1957 Academy Awards, including best musical score, editing, cinematography, and adapted screenplay. Charles Laughton was nominated for best actor in Witness for the Prosecution — the film he chose over The Bridge Over the River Kwai — and was up against Alec Guinness, who was nominated for the role Laughton declined. Ultimately, Guinness was awarded the Oscar, the film won Best Picture, and David Lean won Best Director, making him the first British director to do have that honor.
~Anne Smatla, Student, L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation
