The Bridge on the River Kwai

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The Bridge on the River Kwai ★★★★ 1957

Award-winning adaptation of the Pierre Bouelle novel about the battle of wills between a Japanese POW camp commander and a British colonel over the construction of a rail bridge, and the parallel efforts by escaped prisoner Holden to destroy it. Holden's role was originally cast for Cary Grant. Memorable too for whistling “Colonel Bogey March.” Because the writers were blacklisted, Bouelle (who spoke no English) was originally credited as the screenwriter. 161m/C VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc . GB William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Geoffrey Horne, Andre Morell, Ann Sears, Peter Williams, John Boxer, Percy Herbert, Harold Goodwin, Henry Okawa, Keiichiro Katsumoto, M.R.B. Chakrabandhu; D: David Lean; W: Carl Foreman, Michael Wilson; C: Jack Hildyard; M: Malcolm Arnold. Oscars '57: Actor (Guinness), Adapt. Screenplay, Cinematog., Director (Lean), Film Editing, Picture, Orig. Song Score and/or Adapt.; AFI '98: Top 100; British Acad. '57: Actor (Guinness), Film, Screenplay; Directors Guild '57: Director (Lean); Golden Globes '58: Actor—Drama (Guinness), Director (Lean), Film—Drama; Natl. Bd. of Review '57: Actor (Guinness), Director (Lean), Support. Actor (Hayakawa), Natl. Film Reg. '97; N.Y. Film Critics '57: Actor (Guinness), Director (Lean), Film.

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