IMDb > The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Bridge on the River Kwai
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The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) More at IMDbPro »

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The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) -- After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) -- Clip: What have I done
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) -- After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) -- ZuGuide.com - Trailer (Flash)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) -- Sinematurk - Trailer (Quicktime)

Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
David Lean
Writer (WGA):
Pierre Boulle (novel)
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Bridge on the River Kwai on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
2 October 1957 (UK) more
Genre:
Adventure | Drama | War more
Tagline:
It spans a whole new world of entertainment!
Plot:
After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Won 7 Oscars. Another 23 wins & 5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(16 articles)
Geek Deal: Columbia Best Picture Collection for $60
 (From Slash Film. 17 September 2009, 11:30 PM, PDT)

'Ryan's Daughter' sequel in the works (IrishCentral)
 (From IrishCentral. 4 August 2009, 5:54 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
KWAI -- NOW more (207 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

William Holden ... Shears

Alec Guinness ... Colonel Nicholson
Jack Hawkins ... Major Warden
Sessue Hayakawa ... Colonel Saito
James Donald ... Major Clipton
Geoffrey Horne ... Lieutenant Joyce
André Morell ... Colonel Green (as Andre Morell)
Peter Williams ... Captain Reeves
John Boxer ... Major Hughes
Percy Herbert ... Grogan
Harold Goodwin ... Baker
Ann Sears ... Nurse
Heihachiro Okawa ... Captain Kanematsu (as Henry Okawa)
Keiichiro Katsumoto ... Lieutenant Miura (as K. Katsumoto)
M.R.B. Chakrabandhu ... Col. Broome Yai
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
A Ponte do Rio Kwai (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Bron över floden Kwai (Finland: Swedish title) (Sweden) [sv]
Die Brücke am Kwai (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
El puente sobre el río Kwai (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Le pont de la rivière Kwai (Belgium: French title) (France) [fr]
Broen over floden Kwai (Denmark) [da]
De brug over de rivier Kwai (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
El pont sobre el riu Kwai (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Híd a Kwai folyón (Hungary) [hu]
Ha-Gesher Al Nahar Kwai (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
I gefyra tou potamou Kwai (Greece) [el]
Il ponte sul fiume Kwai (Italy) [it]
Kwai köprüsü (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Kwai-joen silta (Finland) [fi]
Most na reci Kvai (Serbia) [sr]
Most na rzece Kwai (Poland) [pl]
Most pres reku Kwai (Czech Republic) [cs]
The Bridge on the River Kwai (Hungary) [hu]
more
MPAA:
Rated PG for mild war violence. (1991 reissue)
Runtime:
161 min
Country:
UK | USA
Language:
English | Japanese | Thai
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.55 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (RCA Sound System) | Dolby SR (re-release) | Mono (35 mm prints)
Filming Locations:
Ambepussa, Sri Lanka more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
When this film was first aired on commercial TV in the USA, on Sunday night, Sept. 25, 1966, ABC-TV pre-empted its entire evening's schedule so the film could be aired in one night, as opposed to two parts on consecutive nights. This was considered a bold move at the time. It was the longest single network telecast of a film up to then (three hours and 10 minutes with commercials; Ford Motor Co. was the lone sponsor), beating the previous record set by Laurence Olivier's Richard III (1955), which was telecast by NBC over three hours on March 11, 1956. An estimated 60 million viewers watched the program. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: Japan was not a signatory of the Geneva Conventions until 1953, therefore there was no expectation by Allied prisoners of being treated in accordance with them. In fact, the Japanese treatment of prisoners let to the review and update of the conventions in 1949. more
Quotes:
Colonel Nicholson: Now, there's another important decision that can't be postponed. As most of the British soldiers will be working on the bridge, only a small number will be available for railway work. So, I must ask you, Colonel Saito, to lend us some of your own men to reinforce the railway gang, so that the final stretch of track can be completed as quickly as possible.
Colonel Saito: I have already given the order.
Colonel Nicholson: We must fix the daily work quota for your men. At first I thought of setting it at a yard and a half, so as not to overtire them, but don't you think it would be best if we make it the same as the British soldiers? That would also create a healthy competitive spirit.
[...]
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers (2006) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
For He's a Jolly Good Fellow more

FAQ

A NOTE REGARDING SPOILERS
What Does Warden (Jack Hawkins) Mean By "I Had To Do It"?
How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie
more
22 out of 39 people found the following comment useful.
KWAI -- NOW, 3 September 2002
Author: votarus4 from New York

Without belittling `Kwai,' it does seem, looking backwards at David Lean's career, to be a dress rehearsal for the more operatic, tightly controlled (and better written) `Lawrence of Arabia.' Alec Guiness's passionate, detailed performance as Colonel Nicholson, above all other factors, makes Kwai a still watchable and important experience. The screenplay, however, divides unevenly between those who must build the Bridge and those who must destroy it. Ebert, in his Great Movies article, correctly identifies William Holden's character in Kwai as undergoing an implausible transition from escaped POW to martini-guzzling playboy to selfless war hero. Verbatim: `Holden's character, up until the time their guerrilla mission begins, seems fabricated; he's unconvincing playing a shirker, and his heroism at the end seems more plausible.' That, I believe, is also Kwai's greatest weakness. Holden's relationship with Jack Hawkins (playing a parallel role to his General Allenby in Lawrence) seems pallid next to the mighty Guiness/Hayakawa standoff – in fact, it seems to be in another movie altogether. Also, Malcolm Arnold's score, which I loved when I was a kid, seems now jarringly inappropriate from start to finish. I am too much influenced, I suppose, by the rock and roll jungle menace of Coppola's `Apocalypse Now.' Lastly, it is many decades past 1957. Images of whistling soldiers, marching proudly after months of captivity, then putting on an `entertainment' more expected in the world of Rodgers and Hammerstein, may ring very false to today's viewer. But keep your eyes fastened tight to Alec Guiness. Kwai is the Everest of his career, and very few actors climb that high.

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Am i the only one who thinks that.... jenseyde
Major Warden's Retreat wrunge7-1
need help.. searching for name of movie similar to this one... Maquina_Muerte
The ending of the ending sucked...(spoiler) vespid23
The uncredited actors ? claude-rouyer
Greatest Last Lines in Movie History DD-931
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