This article is about the film. For the novel, see The Bridge over the River Kwai.
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Bridge on the River Kwai poster.jpg
British Theatrical release poster
Directed by David Lean
Produced by Sam Spiegel
Screenplay by
Carl Foreman
Michael Wilson
Based on The Bridge over the River Kwai
by Pierre Boulle
Starring
William Holden
Jack Hawkins
Alec Guinness
Sessue Hayakawa
James Donald
André Morell
Peter Williams
John Boxer
Percy Herbert
Harold Goodwin
Ann Sears
Geoffrey Horne
Music by Malcolm Arnold
Cinematography Jack Hildyard
Edited by Peter Taylor
Production
company
Horizon Pictures
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
2 October 1957 (United Kingdom)
14 December 1957 (United States)
Running time
161 minutes
Country United Kingdom
United States[1]
Language English
Budget $2.8 million[2]
Box office $30.6 million (initial release)[2]
The Bridge on the River Kwai is a British-American 1957 World War II epic film directed by David Lean and starring William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Alec Guinness, and Sessue Hayakawa. Based on the novel Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai (1952) by Pierre Boulle, the film is a work of fiction, but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–43 for its historical setting. The movie was filmed in Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka). The bridge in the film was near Kitulgala.
Carl Foreman was the initial screenwriter, but Lean replaced him with Michael Wilson. Both writers had to work in secret, as they were on the Hollywood blacklist. As a result, Boulle (who did not speak English) was credited and received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; many years later, Foreman and Wilson posthumously received the Academy Award.[3]
The film was widely praised, winning seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) at the 30th Academy Awards. In 1997 the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest films in history.[4][5]