The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Review

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

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My Review

The Best Picture of 1957 is…..”The Bridge on the River Kwai.” This epic World War II film tells the story of British POWs, held in Thailand, ordered by their Japanese captors to construct a bridge of strategic importance. However, the British are happy to delay and sabotage the process until their commanding officer orders them to complete the bridge unhindered. Some soldiers consider him to be collaborating with the enemy, and some not. The drama proceeds from there, superbly directed by David Lean (“Oliver Twist” 1948), from an excellent screenplay by Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson.

The talented cast includes Alec Guinness as the British commander, William Holden as the lone American in the area, Sessue Hayakawa as the Japanese commander, as well as Jack Hawkins, James Donald, Andre Morell, Peter Williams, John Boxer, Percy Herbert, Harold Goodwin, Henry Okawa, and Geoffrey Horne. It was the top grossing film of 1957 for producer Sam Spiegel, Horizon Pictures, and Columbia Pictures.

The production values on this film were of the highest order, which is why “The Bridge on the River Kwai” won seven Academy Awards. This includes Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Guinness), Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Musical Score (Malcolm Arnold), and Best Cinematography (Jack Hildyard). Only Hayakawa lost out for Best Supporting Actor. The memorable whistling tune, “The Col. Bogey March,” written by Kenneth J. Alford in 1914, was actually a World War I marching song.

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