10 facts about the bridge on the river kwai

Brigadier Varley would survive the hellish building work along the Burma-Siam Railway but not the war. Spiegel had it refurbished completely and then had one mile of railway track laid for it. In particular, they objected to the implication presented in the film that Japanese military engineers were generally unskilled at their profession and lacked proficiency. The cemetery was established by the Army Graves Service to hold casualties made along the railways southern Bangkok to Nieke section. 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. 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 . In early 1943, a contingent of British prisoners of war, led by Lt. "[53], Among retrospective reviews, Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, noting that it is one of the few war movies that "focuses not on larger rights and wrongs but on individuals", but commented that the viewer is not certain what is intended by the final dialogue due to the film's shifting points of view. 20. The River Kwai, also known as Khwae Noi or Khwae Sai Yok is a river located in the western region of Thailand. [14][15], The film was an international co-production between companies in Britain and the United States. He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial, Malaysia. The steel bridge was repaired and is still in use today. Has no balls After the final scene was shot, producer Sam Spiegel shipped the movie footage on five different planes to minimize the risk of loss. Kanchanaburi is served by a rail service from Bangkok Noi . Toosey later defended him in his war crimes trial after the war, and the two became friends. 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. The Suez Canal crisis of 1956 badly affected production. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. Guinness had appeared in Lean's Dickens films but had since made a name for himself doing goofy comedies like The Lavender Hill Mob (1951). Its estimated around 16,000 Allied prisoners of war were killed during construction of the Burma-Siam Railway. A make-up man was also badly injured in the same accident. as for the bridge on the River Kwai, it crossed the river only in the imagination of its author. At one point during filming, David Lean nearly drowned when he was swept away by a river current. 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." As Ashton explained, it was so cheap because "we used local labor and elephants; and the timber was cut nearby.". Sessue Hayakawa (1889-1973) was a Japanese-born actor who came to Hollywood in the very early days of cinemahis first short, The Typhoon, was made in 1914and quickly became a matinee idol, playing exotic villains and such. In 1984 the Academy Board of Governors voted posthumous Oscars to Foreman and Wilson, and their names were included on prints of the film beginning in the 1990s. David Leans 1957 epic Bridge on the River Kwai is regarded as one of the all-time great war films. All Rights Reserved. Pay on the train. Allied soldiers had built a church and a hospital on the site where the cemetery now sits. Weill you be in London for the Coronation in 2023? 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. Cutting the base board 1190 x 160 x 12 mm. This meant that some of the British prisoners were actually natives of the region wearing make-up to appear Caucasian. Sessue Hayakawa considered his performance as Saito as the highlight of his career. But in 1966, the film aired on American . He was listed as missing in action in June 1943. [22], Lean nearly drowned when he was swept away by the river current during a break from filming.[23]. Vital equipment that would normally have been shipped through the canal had to be flown out to the location instead. The Japanese Railway Regiment forced thousands of allied POWs and natives to build the . The action of the movie takes place in a Japanese prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in Burma during World War II. He served as an adviser during the making of the movie. Bus Bangkok - Kanchanaburi $ 7.19 3h 30m. The Bridge over the River Kwai met its fate in 1945. When Columbia Pictures read the script for Kwai, it was concerned that the story was too much about men and had no love interest. It was set up at the beginning of the Burma-Siams construction. Tracy had read the book and told Spiegel emphatically that the part must be played by an Englishman. Both bridges were used for two years, until they were destroyed by Allied bombing. [38] Some Japanese viewers also disliked the film for portraying the Allied prisoners of war as more capable of constructing the bridge than the Japanese engineers themselves were, accusing the filmmakers of being unfairly biased and unfamiliar with the realities of the bridge construction, a sentiment echoed by surviving prisoners of war who saw the film in cinemas. 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. 2. 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. However, in 1943 a railway bridge was built by Allied POWs over the Mae Klong river renamed Khwae Yai in the 1960s as a result of the film at Tha Ma Kham, five kilometres from Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Chungkai was also a POW worker base camp. David Lean, director of such landmark epics as Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, didn't always make giant movies. Starring Alec Guinness, it depicts the struggles and defiance of Japanese prisoners of war building the fictional Burma railway between 1943-44. 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. Find the latest updates on the work of the Special Committee. The line passing through the scenic Three Pagodas Pass runs for 250 miles. Both writers had to work in secret, as they were on the Hollywood blacklist and had fled to England in order to continue working. [35], Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey of the British Army was the real senior Allied officer at the bridge in question. 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. The real Bridge on the River Kwai. Nicholson suddenly realizes that his pride in the bridges construction has blinded him to his military duty. [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. 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. Victory over the Japanese navy at Midway in June 1942 had created a turning point in the Far East and Pacific. Despite the discomfort the rest of the crew were experiencing, Lean was thrilled about the shoot and never complained about his living conditions. Cast the Expert: Percy Herbert, who played the role of a prisoner of war in the film, actually spent four . With William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa. The Bridge on the River Kwai, Kanchanaburi 1942. [56] Warren Buffett said it was his favorite movie. Bridge Over The River Kwai Address: Tha Makham, Kanchanaburi, Thailand. THE HEAD OF COLUMBIA PICTURES FORCED LEAN TO ADD A LOVE SCENE. 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. 19. But, what about the real men behind the real story of the construction of the Burma-Siam Railway? The film won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (Guinness), not to mention a handful of Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and even a Grammy nomination for its soundtrack. It stars Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa, Jack Hawkins and William Holden. While the story is fiction, the broader setting--including the construction of the Burmese railway--is based on historical events. Around 3,100 Commonwealth Burma war graves can be found at Thanbyuzayat, alongside roughly 620 Dutch burials. 16- "You make me sick with your heroics! Construction began before anyone had been cast. as soon as he signed, Lean borrowed $2,000 from Columbia Pictures to get his teeth fixed. At its behest, Sam Spiegel asked David Lean to incorporate a love scene. Lean only got $150,000 himself, but he always said Holden was worth it. Log in. After a few days, the British medical officer Major Clipton (James Donald) tries to persuade both Saito and Nicholson to compromise, but both are unyielding. 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.. 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. Civilian workmen suffered terribly too, with their casualties far outstripping the military personnel. An example of this is when commandos Warden and Joyce hunt a fleeing Japanese soldier through the jungle, desperate to prevent him from alerting other troops. Walk over the steel bridge at the River Kwai, one of the most famous rivers in the world, which gained international fame in the book and film, "Bridge on the River Kwai". During World War II, British soldiers added lyrics to the tune that went approximately along these lines: Hitler 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. In fact, the cemetery is the original burial ground started by the prisoners themselves. 14. 22. He described the music for The Bridge on the River Kwai as the "worst job I ever had in my life" from the point of view of time. The Bridge on the River Kwai is now widely recognized as one of the greatest films ever made. Image: Bridge 277 aka the real Bridge over the River Kwai, Image: The iconic poster of the 1957 classic. Over a muddy jungle river called Kwai, a Japanese colonel, Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), must complete a railroad bridge vital to Japan's war effort. Mitch Miller had a hit with a recording of both marches. He created the railroad. Wise: "I never heard it in Thailand. Tickets are 100 baht. As the train approaches, Nicholson frantically pulls up the wire, following it to find the detonator. 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. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle.Although the film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942-1943, the plot and characters of Boulle's novel and the screenplay are almost entirely fictional. 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. Return trains are 12.55 and 15.15. Like Chungkai and Kanchanaburi, Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery was originally part of the camp set up serving the Burma-Siams construction. 13. Real Bridge on the River Kwai. Copyright 2020 Tons Of Facts. Instead of the five year predicted completion, the bridge on river Kwai, was completed in 16 months. It is close to, but not over the country's border with Myanmar. 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. Mortally wounded, he falls onto the plunger, the bridge is blown up, and the train with the dignitaries falls into the river. The trials of Australian Army Lieutenant George Hamilton Lamb reflected the mens awful experience building the Burma-Siam Death Railway. . 14- "Be happy in your work.". In the film, Lt. Col Nicholson is seen collaborating with his captors, even under duress. Warden responds that he already knew and that the US Navy had agreed to transfer him to the British SOE with the simulated rank of Major to avoid embarrassment. 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. [12], William Holden's deal was considered one of the best ever for an actor at the time, with him receiving $300,000 plus 10% of the film's gross receipts. It was filmed in Kitulgala which is 60 . [3] Since it was not a documentary, there are many historical inaccuracies in the film, as noted by eyewitnesses to the building of the real Burma Railway by historians.[30][31][32][33]. Or maybe you have a story for us or would like to work together. The bridge in the movie was near Kitulgala. Prior to casting Alec Guinness, Sam Spiegel tried to persuade Spencer Tracy to play the part of Colonel Nicholson. 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. The Bridge on the River Kwai was actually one of the reasons movies started becoming prime-time television programming. Himmler It stretched from Japan, Korea, and China in the north all the way down to Indonesia. Just a stone's throw from the Menin Gate, visit our Information Centre to learn more about the CWGC. Check out where to stay in Kanchanaburi and book an accommodation of your choice. 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. Nicholson spots the wire and brings it to Saito's attention. In many tense, dramatic scenes, only the sounds of nature are used. 1957 World War II film directed by David Lean, This article is about the film. Boulle was given sole credit on the film and was awarded the Oscar for best screenplay. He joined up in 1940 and served in the Middle East with the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion before transferring back to the Dutch East Indies in early 1942. Carl Foreman was the initial screenwriter, but Lean replaced him with Michael Wilson. 23. Be the first one to write a review. You can also take a boat down the Kwai River . [34] According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission: The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications to support the large Japanese army in Burma. Death Railway was bombed heavily by the Allies from 1943 onwards. A photo of Kitulgala, Sri Lanka in 2004, where the bridge was made for the film. Kanburi wasnt a work camp as such. It was the highest-grossing film of 1957 and scooped up seven Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor. The Bridge Over the River Kwai won seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) in 1958. We want to hear from you! 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. 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]. It was the highest-grossing film of 1957 and received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. Check here to see our open positions and volunteer roles. Train crossing the wooden bridge which spanned the Mae Klong River (renamed Kwai Yai River in 1960). Under cover of darkness, Shears and Joyce plant explosives on the bridge towers. In the meantime, Shears manages to escape. [43] By October 1960, the film had earned worldwide box office revenues of $30 million. The Mount Lavinia Hotel was used as a location for the hospital. [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. 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.. Thanbyuzayat continued to be used as a POW reception centre to reinforce work parties along the Burma-Siam Railway. 25. "The Bridge on the River Kwai" was set in 1942, shortly after the fall of Singapore. 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. The Bridge On The River Kwai was the first of David Lean's five epic films and the third of six movies that he made with Alec Guinness. Drilled holes for the piers; and cut them to length. One of the biggest causes of ire was the treatment of Toosey. Assistant director John Kerrison was killed in a car crash on the way to one of the locations. The bridge cost $250,000 to build. Nicholson will not cooperate and finally insists that the bridge can be built only under his command. After Guinness was done with the scene, Lean said, "Now you can all fuck off and go home, you English actors. Has two but they are small. [3] The cast includes William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, and Sessue Hayakawa. 1. The camp commander, Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), informs the prisoners that they will all begin working on the building of a railway bridge the following day. [65], On 2 November 2010 Columbia Pictures released a newly restored The Bridge on the River Kwai for the first time on Blu-ray. Bought 4 and 6 mm dowel wood for bridge piers. . Its this structure, Bridge 277, that still stands and is a famous local tourist attraction. 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. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Bridge On The River Kwai Trivia: Fun And Interesting . Thanbyuzayat was originally a POW administration headquarters and base camp. Burma-Siam Railway labourers and prisoners of war slept in rudimentary bamboo huts on filthy floors. Begun in October 1942, using prisoner of war (POW) labour, it was completed and operational by early February 1943. British people of Anglotopia, what do you make of the whole anglophile thing ? The bridge construction is going badly, however, and Saito offers concessions to Nicholson in an effort to get the structure completed on schedule. He succumbed to malaria, dysentery, and malnutrition at Camp Kilo 101 in Thailand. The film is a work of fiction but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942-43 for its historical setting. Get information about our funding, our Customer Charter and our Strategic Plan. The building of Bridge 277, the eponymous bridge that gave Leans film its name, was overseen by 2,000 British and Dutch prisoners of war. Around 90,000 forced labourers are thought to have died building Death Railway. The year: 1943. There's a stench of death about you. This article is part of our Classic Film Throwback series - By Sam Hendrian - "Madness. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a British 1957 World War II film by David Lean based on the novel The Bridge Over the River Kwai by French writer Pierre Boulle. 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. His compassion and insistence on equality amongst the ranks ensured he protected his men as best he could. Nicholson advises Saito that the officers cannot be required to do manual labour according to the Geneva Convention. This page was last modified on 6 February 2023, at 06:05. [40] Boulle had never been to the bridge. British and American intelligence officers conspire . Take a look below for 28 more fun and interesting facts about The Bridge on the River Kwai. Bandaranaike, then Prime Minister of Ceylon, and a team of government dignitaries. 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?") Nicholson forbids any escape attempts because they were ordered by headquarters to surrender, and escapes could be seen as defiance of orders. Lamb, as he was known, had been a politician before calling up, serving the state legislature in Victoria, Australia. By Barry Fox. He didn't like the next draft of the screenplay, either, because it made Nicholson "a blinkered character." In reality, Japanese engineers proved to be just as capable at construction efforts as their Allied counterparts.[58][59]. 2023 Commonwealth War Graves Commission. A Cholera epidemic swept through Nieke Camp between May-June 1943. A sketch of that bridge was used as the basis for the fictional one. Pitted against the warden, Colonel . 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. Only minor damage was inflicted. When Joyce is wounded by Japanese fire, Shears swims across, but is himself shot. The Bridge on the River Kwai. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Toosey in fact did as much as possible to delay the building of the bridge. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, wining seven -- including Best Picture . Let's talk about British Food! (Spiegel got a British military adviser to help with that side of things, too.). Kanchanaburi town is located around 130 kilometres northwest of Bangkok. Cafes and tourist spots dot the banks of the Khwae Noi. Laughton was in his habitually overweight state, and was either denied insurance coverage, or was simply not keen on filming in a tropical location. 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. And a bloke called George Siegatz[29] an expert whistlerbegan to whistle Colonel Bogey, and a hit was born.". 7. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. John Coast, a young British officer who went on to become a successful filmmaker who spent three and half years as a Japanese POW, said: As nobody should ever have need telling, the picture is a load of high-toned codswallop.. 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. Have a question about us or our work? Although unconvinced of its merits, Lean agreed to include Shears affair with a British nurse. According to Columbia Pictures, they followed an all-new 4K digital restoration from the original negative with newly restored 5.1 audio.