The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Bridge on the River Kwai, British motion picture about British prisoners of war incarcerated by the Japanese army in Burma (now Myanmar) during World War II (1939-1945). Released in 1957, the film won Academy Awards for best picture, best actor, best director, best cinematography, best film editing, and best music. The British officer Colonel Nicholson (played by Alec Guinness) and his men build a bridge across the River Kwai for their Japanese captors. Meanwhile, a squadron of escaped prisoners led by Shears (William Holden) plots to destroy the bridge so that the Japanese can not use it to transport troops. The movie was based on a novel by Pierre Boulle.

Director

• David Lean

Cast

• William Holden (Shears)
• Alec Guinness (Colonel Nicholson)
• Jack Hawkins (Major Warden)
• Sessue Hayakawa (Colonel Saito)
• James Donald (Major Clipton)
• Geoffrey Horne (Lieutenant Joyce)
• Andre Morell (Colonel Green)
• Peter Williams (Captain Reeves)
• John Boxer (Major Hughes)
• Percy Herbert (Grogan)
• Harold Goodwin (Baker)
• Ann Sears (Nurse)
• Henry Okawa (Captain Kanematsu)
• K. Katsumoto (Lieutenant Miura)
• M. R. B. Chakrabandhu (Yai)
• Vilaiwan Seeboonreaung (Siamese girl)
• Ngamta Suphaphongs (Siamese girl)
• Javanart Punynchoti (Siamese girl)
• Kannikar Wowklee (Siamese girl)

Awards

• Academy Award for Best Picture (1957): Sam Spiegel—Producer
• Academy Award for Best Actor (1957): Sir Alec Guinness
• Academy Award for Best Director (1957): Sir David Lean
• Academy Award for Best Writing—Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (1957): Pierre Boulle, Michael Wilson—Writer blacklisted and considered ineligible under Academy by-laws. Awarded in 1985., Carl Foreman—Writer blacklisted and considered ineligible under Academy by-laws. Awarded in 1985.
• Academy Award for Best Cinematography (1957): Jack Hildyard
• Academy Award for Best Film Editing (1957): Peter Taylor
• Academy Award for Best Music—Score (1957): Malcolm Arnold
• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture—Drama (1958)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor—Drama (1958): Alex Guinness
• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Director (1958): David Lean
• Selected for Registry by the National Film Preservation Board (1997)

Trivia

• Although Pierre Boulle didn’t speak English, he was given credit for writing this film’s screenplay because the actual writers, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, were on the entertainment industry blacklist. The writers were given recognition and Academy Awards for their work after they died.

Quote

• Major Clipton (looking at the destroyed bridge, in the film’s final line): “Madness. Madness.”