[9], The film was relatively faithful to the novel, with two major exceptions. In a prison camp, British POWs are forced into labor. 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. The events depicted in the film, of a chaotic Commando raid and Lt. Col Nicholsons wounded body falling dramatically on the detonator and blowing the bridge up, are completely false. "[47] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". In early 1943, a contingent of British prisoners of war, led by Lt. When Columbia Pictures read the script for Kwai, it was concerned that the story was too much about men and had no love interest. Harry Cohn, the vulgar (but successful) man who ran Columbia Pictures at the time, was furious when he read the script and saw no . This was an entertaining story. From iconic memorials to local churchyards, there is unique heritage to explore across Great Britain. On another occasion, they argued over the scene where Nicholson reflects on his career in the army. Explore the CWGC Archive through our online portal. They were calling it the Death Railway. 17. ", The screenwriters, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, were on the Hollywood blacklist and, even though living in exile in England, could only work on the film in secret. Recognising Shears, Nicholson exclaims, "What have I done? 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. Only he survives, though he is wounded. 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. Written 20 October 2021. Bridge Over The River Kwai Address: Tha Makham, Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a British 1957 movie from Columbia Pictures, based on Pierre Boulle's 1952 book The Bridge over the River Kwai (French: Le Pont de la Rivire Kwai). [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. What's your favorite? Both the wooden and the adjacent steel bridge were subjected to numerous air raids between January and June 1945. The screenplay was instead credited to the novelist, Boullewhich was quite a feat, since he didnt speak or read English. They were supported by an unknown number of Malaysian labourers. Approximately 5 kilometres north of Kanchanaburi there were two bridges that were built by POWs during the war. 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. Their taskmasters were relentless. Initial estimates from Japanese engineers suggested it would take five years. 25. Tracy had read the book and told Spiegel emphatically that the part must be played by an Englishman. This was an incorrect assumption. 18. Guinness, however, had his own reservations. 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. The bridge depicted in the film is most definitely real. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. 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. The Bridge on the River Kwai was actually one of the reasons movies started becoming prime-time television programming. The movie was mainly filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and also in England. 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The Japanese Railway Regiment forced thousands of allied POWs and natives to build the . Some of the characters in the film use the names of real people who were involved in the Burma Railway. Lets find out. The place: Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Burma. 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. Find out how you can apply to become a CWGC Volunteer. Kanchanaburi town is located around 130 kilometres northwest of Bangkok. At their head was Lieutenant-Colonel Phillip Toosey. He succumbed to malaria, dysentery, and malnutrition at Camp Kilo 101 in Thailand. Both bridges were used for two years, until they were destroyed by Allied bombing. - Colonel Saito, 'The Bridge on the River Kwai '. Ironically, Allied bombing raids of the region between March and June 1943 contributed to casualties sustained around Thanbyuzayat. Tonight, enjoy dinner at a hotel restaurant Overnight: Kanchanaburi In reality, Japanese engineers proved to be just as capable at construction efforts as their Allied counterparts.[58][59]. Lean filmed the scene from behind Guinness and exploded in anger when Guinness asked him why he was doing this. They were soon sent to Thailand to begin labouring on the Death Railway. Explore the story of the CWGC, from our formation during the First World War to our work today. "[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. She spent most of the next 42 years working as a copy editor and editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica. Check here to see our open positions and volunteer roles. Supplying it by ship was the only practical solution. Please select which sections you would like to print: Pat Bauer graduated from Ripon College in 1977 with a double major in Spanish and Theatre. Highly competent work is also done by William Holden, Jack Hawkins and Sessue Hayakawa". 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. At all. . 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. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. 21. 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). The official credit was given to Pierre Boulle (who did not speak English), and the resulting Oscar for Best Screenplay (Adaptation) was awarded to him. Along with 1,250 other POWs, he died while in transit from Singapore to Japan aboard the Rakuyo Maro transport ship after it was torpedoed by a US submarine. 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 . Bandaranaike, then Prime Minister of Ceylon, and a team of government dignitaries. Servicemen who survived the death marches, appalling working conditions, and savage treatment by their guards thought the film nor book reflected the realities of their experience. The bridge in the movie was near Kitulgala. 28. The story is fictional but uses the construction of the Burma Railway, in 1942-1943, as its historical setting, and is partly based on Pierre Boulle's own life experience working in Malaysia rubber . 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. Warden tells the Siamese women that he had to prevent anyone from falling into enemy hands, and leaves with them. With William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa. Pitted against the warden, Colonel . Thanbyuzayat is in Myanmar. As Ashton explained, it was so cheap because "we used local labor and elephants; and the timber was cut nearby.". The movie is best known for the "Colonel Bogey March", the song that is whistled by the POWs. 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. Read more. Today, he rests alongside his fellow POWs in Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery in Burma (Myanmar). [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". 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. The cemetery was established by the Army Graves Service to hold casualties made along the railways southern Bangkok to Nieke section. Death Railway was bombed heavily by the Allies from 1943 onwards. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. He had basically retired when Lean approached him to play Colonel Saito in Kwai, a performance that earned Hayakawa an Oscar nomination. Instead of the five year predicted completion, the bridge on river Kwai, was completed in 16 months. The two did not collaborate on the script; Wilson took over after Lean was dissatisfied with Foreman's work. Kanburi wasnt a work camp as such. All the filming locations of The Bridge on the River Kwai are listed below. Thank God that I'm starting work tomorrow with an American actor (William Holden). [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. A sketch of that bridge was used as the basis for the fictional one. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Addeddate 2021-08-19 15:12:20 Identifier the-bridge-on-the-river-kwai_202108 Scanner Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.4. plus-circle Add Review. See details. Get information about our funding, our Customer Charter and our Strategic Plan. By the end, prisoners working on the rail route werent calling it the Burma-Siam Railway. Thanbyuzayat was originally a POW administration headquarters and base camp. By the way, the real Kwai River was just a trickle near Burma, where Boulle set his bridge; the actual bridge had been built 200 miles away, near Bangkok. Shears is enjoying his hospital stay in Ceylon unwittingly within a commando school referred to as "Force 316" (likely based on the real world Force 136 of the Special Operations Executive (SOE)). You carry it in your pack like the plague. Disease was a huge killer among railway workers, but so was brutality. In the movie the bridge is destroyed by commandos. He insisted that Lean add a scene where Shears, the American played by William Holden, cozies up to a nurse (Ann Sears). 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. Unique to this film, in some ways, were other issues related to poorly made optical dissolves, the original camera lens and a malfunctioning camera. We want to hear from you! You can also take a boat down the Kwai River . The bridge is still in everyday use as part of the Bangkok-Nam Tok line. The bridges were quickly repaired with the use of POW labour from the camp at Tha . [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. Surviving veterans consider Toosey one of the finest officers they ever served under. The Bridge of the River kwai It is a tourist attraction of Kanchanaburi. However, cameraman Freddy Ford was unable to get out of the way of the explosion in time, and Lean had to stop filming. Kanchanaburi is served by a rail service from Bangkok Noi . POWs and indentured labourers were worked to death while busy constructing the railway simultaneously. [3] The cast includes William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, and Sessue Hayakawa. Work on the bridge proceeds badly, due to both the faulty Japanese engineering plans and the prisoners' slow pace and deliberate sabotage. The process of adapting Pierre Boulle's French-language novel Le Pont de la Riviere Kwai was difficult (more on that later), but the two writers ultimately responsible for it were Carl Foreman (High Noon) and Michael Wilson (A Place in the Sun). The Bridge Over the River Kwai. Prisoners, including the sick, were marched to camps further along Death Railway. 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. In the meantime, Shears manages to escape. The Bridge on the River Kwai, Kanchanaburi 1942. The producer's press release, thoughwanting to emphasize that this was a Big Budget Hollywood Pictureclaimed the bridge had cost $250,000. They included Chinese, Malayan, Burmese, Thai, Indonesian and Singaporean people. The real Bridge on the River Kwai. The line passing through the scenic Three Pagodas Pass runs for 250 miles. 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. Despite the nightmarish conditions, and equipped only with the most basic of tools, the POWs pulled off an amazing feat of engineering. 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). In early 1943, World War II British prisoners arrive by train at a Japanese prison camp in Burma. Under cover of darkness, Shears and Joyce plant explosives on the bridge towers. Lambs sister received a letter from him in September 1943, saying he was in excellent health and being treated well by his captors. Laughton would die (of cancer) five years later, at the age of 63. Put on your marching boots and whistle a jaunty tune as we investigate some behind-the-scenes facts about this enduring war film. Clipton objects, believing this to be collaboration with the enemy. The movie is based on the novel Le Pont de la Riviere Kwai by Pierre Boulle. The River Kwai, also known as Khwae Noi or Khwae Sai Yok is a river located in the western region of Thailand. 3. Some 5,000 Commonwealth World War Two casualties are buried or commemorated in Kanchanaburi. 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. 20. A regiment of British prisoners arrives, whistling the Colonel Bogey March, under the command of Colonel Nicholson (Sir Alec Guinness). 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. The Bridge on the River Kwai is now widely recognized as one of the greatest films ever made. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, wining seven -- including Best Picture . The movie garnered seven Academy Awards, including that for best picture, as well as three Golden Globe Awards and four BAFTA awards. Check out where to stay in Kanchanaburi and book an accommodation of your choice. The Burma-Siam Railways construction necessitated construction of over 670 bridges and numerous cuttings. Following the raids, Thanbyuzayat was evacuated. Since it first graced the silver screen won the admiration of audiences everywhere and continues to do so. The trials of Australian Army Lieutenant George Hamilton Lamb reflected the mens awful experience building the Burma-Siam Death Railway. During WW II, Japan constructed the meter-gauge railway line from Ban Pong, Thailand to Thanbyuzayat, Burma. 's working to build and/or destroy a bridge for the Japanese during World War II. "The Bridge on the River Kwai" was set in 1942, shortly after the fall of Singapore. The railway ran for 250 miles from Ban Pong, Thailand to Thanbyuzayat, Burma and is now known as the Death Railway. During World War II, British soldiers added lyrics to the tune that went approximately along these lines: Hitler He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial, Malaysia. 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. The casualties of the Burma-Siam railway were often buried in camp burial grounds located close to where they originally fell. The movie was filmed in Ceylon, which is now Sri Lanka. Two labour forces, one based in Siam and the other in Burma, worked from opposite ends of the line towards the centre. 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. Guinness regarded this one tiny scene as some of the finest work he did throughout his entire career. Its this structure, Bridge 277, that still stands and is a famous local tourist attraction. It stretched from Japan, Korea, and China in the north all the way down to Indonesia. True Grit, Sanctum, Green Lantern and Superman. In fact, two bridges were built: a temporary wooden bridge and a permanent steel/concrete bridge a few months later. [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]. . The site's critical consensus reads, "This complex war epic asks hard questions, resists easy answers, and boasts career-defining work from star Alec Guinness and director David Lean. 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. 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]. This way, he remained oblivious to the real nature of his characters fate. Copyright 2020 Tons Of Facts. 6. This records the names of 11 Indian army men buried in Muslim cemeteries throughout Thailand whose graves could not be maintained. Nicholson forbids any escape attempts because they were ordered by headquarters to surrender, and escapes could be seen as defiance of orders. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI takes place in Japan-occupied Siam (later Thailand) in 1943, after the Imperial Japanese Empire has conquered vast territories of Asia. Reviews There are no reviews yet. The young soldier from Suffolk was dispatched to work on the bridge over the River Kwai, one of the railway's most daunting engineering projects. The action of the movie takes place in a Japanese prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in Burma during World War II. The Bridge Over the River Kwai won seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) in 1958. But Laughton, a fine actor with such credits as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) on his resume, was in poor physical shapegreat for playing the corpulent Henry VIII in Young Bess (1953), not so great for playing a British military officer in a prison camp. He created the railroad. Beijing Kwai Technology Co.'s app Kuaishou, or Kwai, is arranged for a photograph on a smartphone in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018.. Boulle drew on the experiences of Far East POWs building the now infamous Burma-Siam Railway, linking modern-day Myanmar and Thailand to create his work. Around 3,100 Commonwealth Burma war graves can be found at Thanbyuzayat, alongside roughly 620 Dutch burials. THE HEAD OF COLUMBIA PICTURES FORCED LEAN TO ADD A LOVE SCENE. [54] Slant magazine gave the film four out of five stars. He served as an adviser during the making of the movie. 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. Spiegel sent the screenplay to the Japanese government ahead of time, hoping to get their cooperation with the production. The Bridge on the River Kwai was widely praised, winning seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, at the 30th Academy Awards. c. 1945. (Spiegel got a British military adviser to help with that side of things, too.). Shears and two others escape. Within 16 months the bridge was completed but it took another two years to complete the entire rail line. As the train approaches, Nicholson frantically pulls up the wire, following it to find the detonator. 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. But poor old Goebbels 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.. 5. To keep costs down, producer Sam Spiegel decided not to hire any extras, using crew members and Ceylon locals instead. By daybreak, however, the river level has dropped, exposing the wire connecting the explosives to the detonator. The film was directed by David Lean and starred William Holding, Jack Hawkins and academy award winner Sir Alex Guinness. Thousands of Asian workers and POWs (prisoners of war) died while working on the project. British and American intelligence officers conspire . 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 . Use our search tools to explore our records and find out about those we commemorate. One of a number of Allied POW"s . Express 08:30, 10:30. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Forced labourers were labourers taken from the populations of Japan-conquered territories. Japanese guards were known for their cruelty and would frequently torture and assault their prisoners. Take a look below for 28 more fun and interesting facts about The Bridge on the River Kwai. 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 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. The bridge construction is going badly, however, and Saito offers concessions to Nicholson in an effort to get the structure completed on schedule. The film "The Bridge on the River Kwai" dramatized the WWII story of the Thailand-Burma Railway, yet it was largely fictional. [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. Moreover, Kanchanaburi has an annual "Bridge Over the River Kwai" week, which has a sound show to relive the moments of World War II. [63], The film was restored in 1985 by Columbia Pictures. Concurrently, Shears, after a harrowing journey in which he nearly loses his life more than once, is rescued by the British and then required to lead a group of commandoes headed by Major Warden (Jack Hawkins) back to the POW camp that he escaped from in order to blow up the bridge. Bangkok-Kanchanaburi, by train or private transport, for the Bridge on River Kwai; Kanchanaburi-Nam Tok, by train or private transport, for Death Railway and Hellfire Pass; You can book your bus tickets online and in advance here.
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