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) | |
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Peter Williams | ... | Captain Reeves |
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John Boxer | ... | Major Hughes |
Percy Herbert | ... | Grogan | |
Harold Goodwin | ... | Baker | |
Ann Sears | ... | Nurse | |
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Heihachirô Ôkawa | ... | Captain Kanematsu (as Heihachirô 'Henry' Ôkawa) |
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Keiichirô Katsumoto | ... | Lieutenant Miura (as Keiichiro Katsumoto) (as K. Katsumoto) |
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M.R.B. Chakrabandhu | ... | Yai |
During WW II, allied POWs in a Japanese internment camp are ordered to build a bridge to accommodate the Burma-Siam railway. Their instinct is to sabotage the bridge, but under the leadership of Colonel Nicholson they're persuaded the bridge should be built to help morale, spirit. At first, the prisoners admire Nicholson when he bravely endures torture rather than compromise his principles for the benefit of Japanese Commandant Colonel Saito, but soon they realise it's a monument to Nicholson, himself, as well as a form of collaboration with the enemy. Written by alfiehitchie
I recently saw The Bridge on the River Kwai at the Cinerama Dome, and it was quite spectacular. Unlike some of today's grand adventure films, you get to know the characters along with seeing great scenes of acting and cinematography. Alec Guinness is at the top of his form as the single minded Colonel Nicholson. The scene between Nicholson and Saito in Saito's hut is remarkable. Nicholson still will not concede defeat, he even takes offense that other officers of different armies gave in and worked alongside the enlisted men. Saito can't understand Nicholson's acceptance of his punishment, and it drives him crazy. The film's plot has two stories that are beautifully intertwined. Shears' return to the bridge is his only way to escape the bridge. In the film's final act, the tension is turned up as the British commandos try to blow up the bridge, and a train, and only then does Nicholson realise what the bridge really is. The Bridge on the River Kwai is one film that is hard to top, the only film able to do that is Lawrence of Arabia, both directed by the meticulous eye of David Lean. One director who could put intimacy in epic circumstances.