British English: The Top 50 Most Beautiful British Insults, British Slang: Your Guide to British Police Slang for the Telly Watcher, British Slang: Tea Time British Words for Tea and Tea Related Culture, ltimate List of Funny British Place Names, 101 Budget Britain Travel Tips 2nd Edition, Great Britons Book: Top 50 Greatest Brits Who Ever Lived, Anglotopias Grand Adventure Lands End to John OGroats. Aerial reconnaissance photo of the Steel Bridge taken during a bombing raid. The film won seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) at the 30th Academy Awards. In reality, Japanese engineers proved to be just as capable at construction efforts as their Allied counterparts.[58][59]. The curved-shaped truss spans are the originals on the bridge (constructed by the Japanese military during WWII) while the two trapezoidal-shaped bridge spans were provided by Japan as war reparations after the war ended in 1945 (to replace two curved-shaped truss spans that fell into the river after the bridge was attacked and bombed by Allied aircraft. Thanks to the film, the Bridge, situated in the Thai town of Kanchanaburi a couple of hours drive from Bangkok, is one of Thailand . At its behest, Sam Spiegel asked David Lean to incorporate a love scene. The Bridge Over the River Kwai. They were soon sent to Thailand to begin labouring on the Death Railway. [9], The film was relatively faithful to the novel, with two major exceptions. [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 also won the BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay. During the cutting of Hellfire Pass, for example, 69 men were beaten to death across a twelve-week period. [40] Boulle had never been to the bridge. Dying, Nicholson stumbles toward the detonator and falls on the plunger, blowing up the bridge and sending the train hurtling into the river. Nicholson yells for help, while attempting to stop Joyce from reaching the detonator. 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." Top 10 Thailand River Cruises August 2024 - AffordableTours 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. The bridge depicted in the film is most definitely real. But the unusual move paid off for ABCthe telecast drew huge ratings with a record audience of 72 million[60] and a Nielsen rating of 38.3 and an audience share of 61%. c. 1945. Kanchanaburi, in Myanmar border, is home to the famous Bridge River Kwai. Burma-Siam Railway labourers and prisoners of war slept in rudimentary bamboo huts on filthy floors. 4. 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. 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. The movie garnered seven Academy Awards, including that for best picture, as well as three Golden Globe Awards and four BAFTA awards. Bridge on the River Kwai - Thaizer THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI: Honor, Duty, and Madness [Ronald Searle, To the Kwai and Back: War drawings 1939-45, London, Collins, 1986, 104] 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' is now the best-known site on the Burma-Thailand railway but its fame is due more to a fictional film than its significance in World War II. Starring Alec Guinness, it depicts the struggles and defiance of Japanese prisoners of war building the fictional Burma railway between 1943-44. Forced labourers were labourers taken from the populations of Japan-conquered territories. 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 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. Has only got one ball! [18] The bridge in the film was near Kitulgala. 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. [14][15], The film was an international co-production between companies in Britain and the United States. 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). 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. They were calling it the Death Railway. But whats the real story? Save up to 50% on Thailand River Cruises August 2024. [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 bridge they build will become a symbol of service and survival to one prisoner, Colonel Nicholson, a proud perfectionist. Spiegel, the producer, bought the film rights to the book (the English version of which was called The Bridge Over the River Kwai) and hired Carl Foreman to write the script. Starring Alec Guinness, William Holden, and Sessue Hayakawa, among others, it paints an . A picture of the actual bridge over the River Kwai in June 2004. Approximately 5 kilometres north of Kanchanaburi there were two bridges that were built by POWs during the war. 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]. To enjoy Thailand River cruises, you need to understand a little about the geography of Thailand and its river system. Real Bridge on the River Kwai. [40], The Bridge on the River Kwai was a massive commercial success. 7. Bridge on the River Kwai - silverfox175 Why visit the Bridge on the River Kwai | Audley Travel Thanbyuzayat continued to be used as a POW reception centre to reinforce work parties along the Burma-Siam Railway. 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. The Bridge on the River Kwai. See details. On 16 October 1943, the two ends of the Burma-Thailand railway were joined at Konkoita in Thailand. At one point during filming, David Lean nearly drowned when he was swept away by a river current. 19. 28 Fun And Interesting Facts About The Bridge On The River Kwai 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. 10. Just a stone's throw from the Menin Gate, visit our Information Centre to learn more about the CWGC. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. "[57], Some Japanese viewers have disliked the film's depiction of the Japanese characters and the historical background presented as being inaccurate, particularly in the interactions between Saito and Nicholson. The elephants employed in helping build the bridge would take breaks every four hours and lie around the water, whether the crew wanted them to or not. Both bridges stood for two years and were destroyed by bombers in 1945. Read the response of the CWGC to the findings of the Special Committee. 28. The two did not collaborate on the script; Wilson took over after Lean was dissatisfied with Foreman's work. 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. Major Warden of SOE invites Shears to join a commando mission to destroy the bridge just as it is completed. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Bridge On The River Kwai is an Epic war-based film. "[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. Ten Interesting Facts about The Bridge on the River Kwai - Anglotopia.net Himmler The Bridge on the River Kwai: Directed by David Lean. [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]. We worked at bayonet point and under bamboo lash, taking any risk to sabotage the operation whenever the opportunity arose. 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). 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. As it opens, two POWs, the American navy commander Shears (William Holden) and an Australian, are digging graves for their companions. Put on your marching boots and whistle a jaunty tune as we investigate some behind-the-scenes facts about this enduring war film. Instead, the Lt. Col would stand up for his men when necessary to try to alleviate some of their hardships. Laughton would die (of cancer) five years later, at the age of 63. So Spiegel hired another writer, Calder Willingham, to give it a crack. Lean liked that draft even less. He had basically retired when Lean approached him to play Colonel Saito in Kwai, a performance that earned Hayakawa an Oscar nomination. The majority of its smaller components are originals, while a few are post-war replacements. Nicholson is shocked by the poor job being done by his men and orders the building of a proper bridge, intending it to stand as a tribute to the British Army's ingenuity for centuries to come. Tonight, enjoy dinner at a hotel restaurant Overnight: Kanchanaburi 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. 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). [19], Guinness later said that he subconsciously based his walk while emerging from "the Oven" on that of his eleven-year-old son Matthew,[20] who was recovering from polio at the time, a disease that left him temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. Copyright 2020 Tons Of Facts. 22. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) is an epic World War II adventure/action, anti-war drama. 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. Kwai River Bridge - History and Facts | History Hit "The Bridge on the River Kwai" was set in 1942, shortly after the fall of Singapore. A photo of Kitulgala, Sri Lanka in 2004, where the bridge was made for the film. 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. It would be a massive undertaking. The march was written in 1914 by Kenneth J. Alford, a pseudonym of British Bandmaster Frederick J. Ricketts. 8. The casualties of the Burma-Siam railway were often buried in camp burial grounds located close to where they originally fell. 's working to build and/or destroy a bridge for the Japanese during World War II. He was listed as missing in action in June 1943. [35], Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey of the British Army was the real senior Allied officer at the bridge in question. The Suez Canal crisis of 1956 badly affected production. 15. [13], Many directors were considered for the project, among them John Ford, William Wyler, Howard Hawks, Fred Zinnemann, and Orson Welles (who was also offered a starring role). They included Chinese, Malayan, Burmese, Thai, Indonesian and Singaporean people. 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. However, cameraman Freddy Ford was unable to get out of the way of the explosion in time, and Lean had to stop filming. They were supported by an unknown number of Malaysian labourers. Ian Watts, longtime professor of English at Stanford and author of the landmark The Rise of the Novel, had actually been a prisoner in the camp and helped with the construction of the bridge. The Bridge on the River Kwai - Wikipedia Despite the nightmarish conditions, and equipped only with the most basic of tools, the POWs pulled off an amazing feat of engineering. In 1985, the Academy officially recognized Foreman and Wilson as the screenwriters and posthumously awarded the Oscar to them. Some of the Second World War's fiercest battles involved bridges and inspired some riveting accounts - capture of key bridges (Cornelius Ryan's "The Longest Day"; Stephen. Disease was a huge killer among railway workers, but so was brutality. [39], The major railway bridge described in the novel and film did not actually cross the river known at the time as the Kwai. 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. In the meantime, Shears manages to escape. The British Film Institute placed The Bridge on the River Kwai as the 11th greatest British film. Visiting The Bridge On The River Kwai, Kanchanaburi [31][32] Some consider the film to be an insulting parody of Toosey. Though he'd already earned five Oscar nominations (three for directing, two for adapting the Dickens novels) and would soon be widely celebrated for Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and Doctor Zhivago (1965), at this stage, Lean was in trouble. [66] The original negative for the feature was scanned at 4k (four times the resolution in High Definition), and the colour correction and digital restoration were also completed at 4k. 21. It is close to, but not over the country's border with Myanmar. Lambs sister received a letter from him in September 1943, saying he was in excellent health and being treated well by his captors. 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. The Bridge over the River Kwai - Wikipedia The Japanese did indeed force British, Dutch, Australian, and American prisoners to build the Burma Railway, resulting in some 13,000 POW deaths and at least 80,000 civilian deaths. 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. Mortally wounded, he falls onto the plunger, the bridge is blown up, and the train with the dignitaries falls into the river. [49] Mike Kaplan, reviewing for Variety, described it as "a gripping drama, expertly put together and handled with skill in all departments. "[50] Kaplan further praised the actors, especially Alec Guinness, later writing "the film is unquestionably" his. After the war, their remains were moved from these makeshift cemeteries and graveyards to purpose-built Commission sites. Nicholson forbids any escape attempts because they were ordered by headquarters to surrender, and escapes could be seen as defiance of orders. The Kwai River Bridge was part of the meter-gauge railway constructed by the Japanese during World War Two. Death Railway was bombed heavily by the Allies from 1943 onwards. But, what about the real men behind the real story of the construction of the Burma-Siam Railway? In 1941 the Japanese Army invaded Thailand. Explore the CWGC Archive through our online portal. Its estimated around 16,000 Allied prisoners of war were killed during construction of the Burma-Siam Railway. 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. Both bridges were used for two years, until they were destroyed by Allied bombing. Bandaranaike, then Prime Minister of Ceylon, and a team of government dignitaries. Has no balls 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. Initial estimates from Japanese engineers suggested it would take five years. The movie is best known for the "Colonel Bogey March", the song that is whistled by the POWs. ABC, sponsored by Ford, paid a record $1.8 million for the television rights for two screenings in the United States. Workers died at a rate of 20 men per day. The Mount Lavinia Hotel was used as a location for the hospital. International shipment of items may be subject to customs processing and additional charges. One of the biggest causes of ire was the treatment of Toosey. 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. By 1944, its operational capacity was being massively hampered by the damage caused by air raids. Sessue Hayakawa really did accidentally strike Alec Guinness hard enough to draw blood in one scene. 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 . And a bloke called George Siegatz[29] an expert whistlerbegan to whistle Colonel Bogey, and a hit was born.". He succumbed to malaria, dysentery, and malnutrition at Camp Kilo 101 in Thailand. What's your favorite? With William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa. It had previously belonged to an Indian maharajah and had seen 65 years of active service. While the story is fiction, the broader setting--including the construction of the Burmese railway--is based on historical events. Did he really want the enemy to come in across it? The movie was filmed in Ceylon, which is now Sri Lanka. 9. Lamb, as he was known, had been a politician before calling up, serving the state legislature in Victoria, Australia. Find out how you can apply to become a CWGC Volunteer. Thanbyuzayat is in Myanmar. During World War II, British soldiers added lyrics to the tune that went approximately along these lines: Hitler 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. A Cholera epidemic swept through Nieke Camp between May-June 1943. The movie garnered seven Academy Awards, including that for best picture, as well as three Golden Globe Awards and four BAFTA awards. Within 16 months the bridge was completed but it took another two years to complete the entire rail line. Use our search tools to explore our records and find out about those we commemorate. 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. See some of the commonly asked questions about the Special Committee. Nicholson suddenly realizes that his pride in the bridges construction has blinded him to his military duty. The Bridge on the River Kwai | Moviepedia | Fandom The Bridge on the River Kwai, Kanchanaburi 1942. The Bridge on the River Kwai was widely praised, winning seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, at the 30th Academy Awards. [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]. 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. Like thousands of other POWs, Lamb was kept in degrading conditions, refused medical treatment and barely fed. Kanchanaburi is served by a rail service from Bangkok Noi . 25 The Bridge on the River Kwai Trivia Questions & Answers

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