River Kwai facts
While investigating facts about River Kwai Bridge and River Kwai Jungle Rafts, I found out little known, but curios details like:
Pierre Boulle, author of "Planet of the Apes" and "The Bridge over the River Kwai", won an Oscar for the later movie adaptation. Not speaking English and not having actually written the screenplay, Boulle gave the shortest acceptance speech in Academy Award history, the single word "Merci".
how true is the bridge over the river kwai?
After the release of the film The Bridge on the River Kwai, tourists came to Thailand to see the fictional bridge. Since there never was a bridge on the Kwai, the Thai renamed a portion of the Mae Klong river containing a bridge to satisfy the tourists.
What is the song from the bridge over the river kwai?
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what happened to the bridge over the river kwai. Here are 14 of the best facts about River Kwai Resotel and River Kwai Thailand I managed to collect.
what is the true story of the bridge on the river kwai?
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When the Academy Awards honored the screenplay for "The Bridge on the River Kwai," they gave the Oscar to Pierre Boulle, who did not actually write the screenplay, but the book it's based on. The real screenwriters, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, were blacklisted.
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The Bridge on the River Kwai' is on American Film Institute's list of best American films ever made and also is the 11th greatest British film of the 20th Century according to the British Film Institute.
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About Sir Philip Toosey, the man who inspired the character of lt. Nicholson in the movie "The Bridge on the River Kwai". After the war he saved the life of sergeant Saito, one of his captors. Saito said that "He showed me what a human being should be and he changed the philosophy of my life"
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Two of the most acclaimed -- and least alike -- films of the 20th century, The Bridge on the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes, were both based on novels by the same man, Pierre Boulle.
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Film from the production of The Bridge on the River Kwai, which was supposed to go to London via air freight for editing, went missing while being delivered. It was found a week later sitting in the hot sun in Cairo and while it should've been ruined, it turned out okay and made the final cut.
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After making 'The Bridge on the River Kwai', David Lean and Sam Spiegel planned to make a movie about Gandhi starring Alec Guinness as Gandhi. The project was abandoned to make 'Lawrence of Arabia'.
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In 1980, a Canadian military band mistakenly played Colonel Bogey March (the theme song of The Bridge on the River Kwai) during a visit by the Japanese Prime Minister. Since the movie depicts the brutality suffered by the POWs, it nearly caused a diplomatic row.
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The theme song of The Bridge on the River Kwai was sung by British soldiers in WWII with lyrics that started with "Hitler has only got one ball". Director David Lean wanted to use the lyrics in the movie but figured it won't be approved by the censors, opted with the whistling instead.
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The real-life bridge on the River Kwai was destroyed by the future co-star of "The Untouchables," who was a bombardier during the war
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About Alistair Urquart, the luckiest man in World War 2. He was a Japanese POW, built the bridge over the River Kwai, survived for 5 days on a raft after the ship he was on was torpedoed and was blasted by the Nagasaki Atomic bomb. He is now 97 years old.
Why was the bridge over river kwai built?
You can easily fact check why was the bridge over the river kwai blown up by examining the linked well-known sources.
Laurence Olivier turned down a role in The Bridge on the River Kwai to direct The Prince and the Showgirl. He later said it was a sensible decision to do love scenes with Marilyn Monroe rather than duke it out in the jungle of Ceylon with David Lean.
When filming "The Bridge on the River Kwai", American director David Lean was so annoyed at his English actors, he told Alec McGuinness "Now you can all fuck off and go home, you English actors. Thank God that I'm starting work tomorrow with an American actor." - source
