The Bridge on the River Kwai
An Anglo-American film in English based on the book appeared in 1957 and the name was changed slightly, to The Bridge on the River Kwai. The film portrays a group of British captives in a Japanese POW camp forced to build a railway bridge spanning the River Kwai in Thailand. It was filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and England. The story is based on a real event, the building in 1942 of a railway bridge over the Mae Klong (not the Kwai) in the Thai town of Kanchanaburi. This was part of a project to link existing Thai and Burmese railway lines to create a route from Bangkok, Thailand to Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) to support the Japanese occupation of Burma. About a hundred thousand conscripted Asian labourers and 16,000 prisoners of war died on the whole project, which was nicknamed the Death Railway. Primary cast:
The destruction of the bridge in the film was accomplished by blowing up a full-sized bridge as a real train drove over it. This may have been the first time such a scene had been attempted without model shots since the silent film era. (Buster Keaton's The General includes an almost identical scene.) One memorable feature of the movie is the tune that is whistled by the POW's—the "Colonel Bogey March"—and is now widely associated with the movie, and even sometimes referred to as the "River Kwai March." Besides serving as an example of British fortitude and dignity in the face of privation, it suggested (whether or not intended by the screenwriters) a specific symbol of defiance to many movie-goers of the period: WW II veterans (and many of their baby-boom sons) thought of the tune as that of a mockery of Japan's principal ally.
The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. See also AZON. This page about The Bridge on the River Kwai includes information from a Wikipedia article. Additional articles about The Bridge on the River Kwai News stories about The Bridge on the River Kwai External links for The Bridge on the River Kwai Videos for The Bridge on the River Kwai Wikis about The Bridge on the River Kwai Discussion Groups about The Bridge on the River Kwai Blogs about The Bridge on the River Kwai Images of The Bridge on the River Kwai |
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See also AZON. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. The Gold Rush is the 5th highest grossing silent film in cinema history, taking in more than $4,250,000 at the box office in 1925. At about the same time a new release of the film finally gave them proper screen credit. This has the side effect of making Chaplin's slapstick routines appear more frantic than before, a fact that had proably influenced Chaplin's decision to shoot Modern Times at silent speed. Only in 1984 did the Academy rectify the situation by awarding the Oscar to Foreman and Wilson retrospectively (and posthumously in both cases, although Foreman did live long enough to know that it was going to happen). Since the film was originally shot at 18 frames per second, the sound version, shown at 24 frames per second, is both shorter and faster than the original silent screenings. Pierre Boulle, who did not speak English, was given screen
credit for adapting his own novel, and the Oscar was awarded to him. Another major alteration is the ending, in which the
now-wealthy Tramp originally gave Georgia a lingering kiss; the sound version ends before this scene. One memorable feature of the movie is the tune that is whistled by the POW's—the "Colonel Bogey March"—and is now widely associated with the movie, and even sometimes referred to as the "River Kwai March." Besides serving as an example of British fortitude and dignity in the face of privation, it suggested (whether or not intended by the screenwriters) a specific symbol of defiance to many movie-goers of the period: WW II veterans (and many of their baby-boom sons) thought of the tune as that of a mockery of Japan's principal ally. One famous scene shows the Little Tramp, starving, having to eat his boot; another famous scene shows a house sliding off a cliff in the snow, with Chaplin inside. (Buster Keaton's The General includes an almost identical scene.). It also stars Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Henry Bergman, Malcolm Waite and Georgia Hale. The destruction of the bridge in the film was accomplished by blowing up a full-sized bridge as a real train drove over it. This may have been the first time such a scene had been attempted without model shots since the silent film era. He goes to the Klondike in order to find gold, and falls in love. The steel bridge has been repaired and is still in use. The Gold Rush is a 1925 silent film comedy written, directed, and starring Charlie Chaplin in his Little Tramp role. In reality, a parallel
steel bridge was added a few months after the wooden bridge was completed, and both were destroyed by Allied aerial bombing, the
steel bridge first. This was part of a project to link existing Thai and Burmese railway lines to create a route from Bangkok, Thailand to Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) to support the Japanese occupation of Burma. The story is based on a real event, the building in 1942 of a railway bridge over the Mae Klong (not the Kwai) in the Thai town of Kanchanaburi. It was filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and England. An Anglo-American film in English based on the book appeared in 1957 and the name was changed slightly, to The Bridge on the River Kwai. The film portrays a group of British captives in a Japanese POW camp forced to build a railway bridge spanning the River Kwai in Thailand.
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay - Pierre Boulle - Carl Foreman - Michael Wilson. Academy Award for Original Music Score - Malcolm Arnold. Academy Award for Film Editing - Peter Taylor. Academy Award for Best Cinematography - Jack Hildyard. New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Actor (Alec Guinness). Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama (Alec Guinness). Academy Award for Best Actor (Alec Guinness). New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Director (David Lean). Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture (David Lean). Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (David Lean, Assistants: Gus Agosti & Ted Sturgis). Academy Award for Directing (David Lean). New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Film. Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama. BAFTA Award for Best Picture. Academy Award for Best Picture. M.R.B. Chakrabandhu : Yai. Miura. Keiichiro Katsumoto : Lt. Kanematsu. Heihachiro Okawa : Capt. Ann Sears : Nurse at Ceylon hospital. Baker. Harold Goodwin : Pvt. Percy Herbert : Pvt. Grogan. John Boxer : Maj. Hughes. Green. André Morell : Col. Reeves. Peter Williams : Capt. Geoffrey Horne : Lt. Joyce. Clipton. James Donald : Maj. Warden. Jack Hawkins : Maj. William Holden : Shears. Saito. Sessue Hayakawa : Col. Alec Guinness : Colonel Nicholson. |