1957 Academy Awards® Winners and History Witness For the Prosecution (1957) Actor: ALEC GUINNESS in "The Bridge On The River Kwai" , Marlon Brando in "Sayonara" , Anthony Franciosa in "A Hatful of Rain", Charles Laughton in "Witness for the Prosecution", Anthony Quinn in "Wild Is the Wind" Actress: JOANNE WOODWARD in "The Three Faces of Eve", Deborah Kerr in "Heaven Knows, Mr.

Allison", Anna Magnani in "Wild is the Wind", Elizabeth Taylor in "Raintree County", Lana Turner in "Peyton Place" Supporting Actor: RED BUTTONS in "Sayonara" , Vittorio De Sica in "A Farewell to Arms", Sessue Hayakawa in "The Bridge On The River Kwai" , Arthur Kennedy in "Peyton Place", Russ Tamblyn in "Peyton Place" Supporting Actress: MIYOSHI UMEKI in "Sayonara" , Carolyn Jones in "The Bachelor Party", Elsa Lanchester in "Witness for the Prosecution", Hope Lange in "Peyton Place", Diane Varsi in "Peyton Place" Director: DAVID LEAN for "The Bridge On The River Kwai" , Joshua Logan for "Sayonara" , Sidney Lumet for "12 Angry Men" , Mark Robson for "Peyton Place", Billy Wilder for "Witness for the Prosecution" This awards ceremony, held on March 26, 1958 and broadcast live, was the first TV production to be produced by the motion picture industry itself.

The entire show was broadcast from Hollywood - there were no cut-ins from New York as in the previous five years. The number of competitive categories, which had grown to 30 in the previous year, was now downsized to 24. Unfortunately, the presentations were overshadowed by the recent death (March 22, 1958) four days earlier of the previous year's Best Picture producer/winner Michael Todd, husband of Elizabeth Taylor. And Columbia Pictures' legendary but often-despised boss Harry Cohn, one of the original founders of the studio that produced the Best Picture winner this year, also died a month before the ceremony, on February 27, 1958. The big winner in 1957 was David Lean's epic (almost three hour long) prison-war film based on Pierre Boulle's best-selling World War II novel The Bridge On The River Kwai (with eight nominations and seven Oscars - Best Picture (producer Sam Spiegel), Best Actor (Alec Guinness), Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Musical Score (including the catchy British whistling military march - 'Colonel Bogey's March'), and Best Film Editing).

The large-scale film was financed and distributed by Columbia Studios, but used a British cast and crew almost entirely. [The true screenwriters for the Best Picture winner were blacklisted Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman (who received no screen credit). They were posthumously awarded Oscars in 1984.] The war-time film centered on a battle of wills between an obsessed and rigid British colonel and a Japanese POW camp commander within a prison camp deep in an Asian jungle - with the theme of the folly of war. [Historically, this was the second Best Picture Oscar for a British film.] The Best Director Oscar was David Lean's first Oscar after three previous nominations ( Brief Encounter (1946) , Great Expectations (1947), and Summertime (1955)), and it was Lean's first sweeping epic picture - the kind of film for which he would became famous. He also became the first British film-maker to ever win Best Director. The only nomination that did not succeed for the film was veteran silent film actor Sessue Hayakawa's Best Supporting Actor nomination as the POW camp commandant Colonel Saito.

All five directors of the Best Picture nominees were also nominated for Best Director - the first time in Oscar history.

[It has also happened in 1964 and 1981.] Other films nominated for Best Picture included: Sayonara (with ten nominations and four wins, including Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, and Best Sound), the adaptation of James Michener's novel directed by Joshua Logan, another film set in occupied Tokyo about a soap-opera romance and marriage between West (Oscar-winning Red Buttons, an enlisted air force man named Joe Kelly) and East (Oscar-winning Miyoshi Umeki as Japanese girl Katsumi) and the ensuing bigotry and tragedy of their double suicide director Billy Wilder's engrossing courtroom murder mystery - an adaptation of Agatha Christie's story and hit stage play Witness for the Prosecution (with six nominations and no wins) director Sidney Lumet's debut film of a teleplay-turned-film 12 Angry Men (with three nominations and no wins) about an all-male jury's tense deliberations over a Puerto Rican boy suspected of pre-meditated murder of his father director Mark Robson's version of Grace Metalious's popular novel Peyton Place (with nine nominations and no wins), a shocking, trashy melodrama of lust, greed, scandal, deception and

 violence in a small New England town Alec Guinness (with his second acting nomination out of a career total of four acting nominations) brilliantly played the role of a rigid, stiff-lipped, militarist, humorless British officer Colonel Nicholson, who fought a by-the book, gentleman's war in the Best Picture winner.

The unparalleled Guinness had previously been known for his British Ealing comedies including Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1952), and The Man in the White Suit (1951). Now he would go on to make similar blockbusters such as Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965).] The Best Actor award was Guinness' sole acting Oscar in his career.

His Best Actor competitors included: Charles Laughton (with his third and last career nomination) as the crochety, obstinate barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts in Witness for the Prosecution [Laughton won his sole Oscar in 1932-3] Marlon Brando (with his fifth of eight career nominations) as air force officer Major Lloyd "Ace" Gruver in love with a beautiful Japanese dancer during the Korean War in Sayonara Mexican-born Anthony Quinn (with his third of four career nominations) as Italian immigrant/Nevada rancher Gino in director George Cukor's Wild is the Wind (with three nominations and no wins) Anthony Franciosa (with his sole career nomination) in a repeat of his successful Broadway role as Polo, the caring brother of a heroin addict in director Fred Zinnemann's A Hatful of Rain (the film's sole nomination) The Best Actress category included new and previous nominees including: Deborah Kerr (with the fourth of six unsuccessful career nominations) as nun Sister Angela - ship-wrecked and stranded on a Pacific island with Marine corporal Robert Mitchum in director John Huston's Heaven Knows, Mr.

Allison (with two nominations and no wins) Anna Magnani (with her second and last career nomination) as Italian mail-order bride Gloria in Wild is the Wind Elizabeth Taylor (with her first nomination) as Southern belle Susanna Drake in love with Indiana teacher Montgomery Clift during the Civil War in director Edward Dmytryk's costume drama Raintree County (with four nominations and no wins) Lana Turner (with her first and sole career nomination) as Constance MacKenzie - the sexually-repressed, small-town New Hampshire widowed mother of a teenage daughter in Peyton Place The Best Actress award was presented to a talented newcomer - Joanne Woodward (with her first nomination in her third film and first starring role) in her tour-de-force performance as a drab, plagued young housewife with multiple, tri-phasic personalities (Eve 'White', Eve 'Black' and 'Jane,' exhibiting characteristics of a housewife, flirt, and sophisticate). It was an authenticated representation of an actual psychiatric case recorded by two Georgia psychiatrists in director/writer Nunnally Johnson's The Three Faces of Eve (the film's sole nomination). [Now with four career nominations, it appears that Woodward's performance in the film would be her sole Academy Award.

Husband Paul Newman (who married 28 year-old Woodward on January 29, 1958, only two months before her Oscar win) wouldn't win his first Oscar until twenty-nine years later for The Color of Money (1986), a reprise of his role of pool shark Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler (1961) twenty-five years earlier.] The Best Supporting Actor and Actress awards were won by co-stars and first-time nominees: Red Buttons (with his sole career nomination and Oscar win) as the ultimately suicidal Sgt. Joe Kelly in Sayonara twenty-two year old Japanese-born Miyoshi Umeki (with her sole career nomination in her film debut) as Japanese war bride Katsumi who faces racial prejudice during the American Army's occupation of Tokyo, Japan in Sayonara .

Umeki was the first Asian actress to win an Oscar award Other actors in the Best Actor category included: Vittorio De Sica (with his sole career nomination) as Major Rinaldi in Selznick's re-make of the 1932 film titled A Farewell to Arms two co-stars in Peyton Place - Arthur Kennedy (with his fourth of five unsuccessful career nominations) as drunken school caretaker and rapist Lucas Cross - Russ Tamblyn (with his sole career nomination) as teenage Norman Page in love with Lana Turner's daughter (Diane Varsi) Japanese native Sessue Hayakawa as POW camp commandant Colonel Saito in The Bridge On The River Kwai Hope Lange (with her sole nomination) as rape victim and self-defense murderer Selena Cross (Arthur Kennedy's step-daughter) and Diane Varsi (with her sole nomination) as teenager Allison MacKenzie were nominated as Best Supporting Actresses for their tangled character roles in Peyton Place.

The other nominees were: the front-runner favorite Elsa Lanchester (with her second and last unsuccessful career nomination) as Charles Laughton's (her real-life husband) pesty nurse Miss Plimsoll in Witness for the Prosecution Carolyn Jones (with her sole career nomination) as a dark, 'Existentialist', Greenwich Village beatnik in another movie adapted from a TV play titled The Bachelor Party (the film's sole nomination) - an attempt by the director and writer of Marty (1955) to repeat their success of two years earlier Gilbert M.

"Broncho Billy" Anderson, famed silent cowboy star, and filmdom's first major Western hero (he briefly appeared in The Great Train Robbery (1903) and other silent westerns), was presented with an Honorary Academy Award as a "motion picture pioneer, for his contributions to the development of motion pictures as entertainment." Oscar Snubs and Omissions: Platinum blonde actress Lana Turner, with a film career of nearly twenty years in length, received her first and only Oscar nomination in 1957, although she had more exceptional, un-nominated roles in earlier films including The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) . About ten days after the awards ceremony, on April 4, 1958 (Good Friday), the Best Actress nominee was involved in a notorious Hollywood scandal, in which her 14 year-old daughter Cheryl Crane fatally stabbed Lana's mobster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato while he was beating up her mother in her Beverly Hills home (for not taking him with her to the awards ceremony!). Some rumored that there was a cover-up and/or speculated that Crane and Stompanato had been lovers.

The killing was later ruled a justifiable homicide. This event rejuvenated Lana's career more than her Oscar nomination - her next film Imitation of Life (1959) was a hit. And actress Elsa Lanchester, wife of Charles Laughton, received her second and last Best Supporting Actress nomination in 1957 (her only other nomination was for Come to the Stable (1949)) as co-star Laughton's nurse in Witness for the Prosecution, but she had more memorable, unnominated performances during her career, including her role as Anne of Cleves in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1932-33) and the title role as the Bride in Bride of Frankenstein (1935) . Marlene Dietrich deserved a nomination for her role as the murder suspect's wife Christine Helm/Vole (and in a second role as a mysterious Cockney-accented woman) in the plot-twisting Witness for the Prosecution.

There were three superb, powerful films without any nominations in 1957 - each could easily have won been nominated for Best Picture - or for numerous acting accolades: one of the greatest anti-war films of all-time - Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory with Kirk Douglas as French Col. Dax (who defended three innocent WWI soldiers scapegoated and executed unjustly for cowardice) and George Macready as the despicable, glory-seeking French General Mireau Alexander MacKendrick's film noirish Sweet Smell of Success featured Tony Curtis in a breakthrough role as venal, ambitious, success-seeking, hustling, slick, unethical and smarmy, PR press agent Sidney Falco, and Burt Lancaster as power-hungry gossipy newspaper columnist J.J. Hunsecker Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd with Andy Griffith in his remarkable screen debut as the vicious, ambitious and power-hungry hillbilly philosopher Lonesome Rhodes, and Patricia Neal as journalist Marcia Jeffries None of the actors in the jury in Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men (Henry Fonda as Mr. Davis (liberal, stoic and compassionate Juror No. 8), E.G.

Marshall, Ed Begley, or Lee J. Cobb) received an acting Oscar nomination. And William Holden was neglected in the oft-nominated Best Picture winner The Bridge On The River Kwai as American POW Shears. Stanley Donen's Funny Face, a delightful musical romantic comedy with Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, and Gershwin tunes, received only four minor nominations (and didn't win any of them): Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design (Edith Head), and Best Original Screenplay. The Best Original Screenplay award was undeservedly presented to George Wells for Designing Woman, when it should have been given instead to either Federico Fellini (and fellow authors Ennio Flaiano and Tullio Pinelli) for their Best Foreign Language film winner Nights of Cabiria, or to un-nominated director/screenwriter Ingmar Bergman for The Seventh Seal.

Toshiro Mifune was snubbed for his performance (with his memorable death scene from archers' arrows) as increasingly-insane, ruthless feudal lord General Taketori Washizu, as was Isuzu Yamada's Noh-influenced Lady Macbeth role as his wife Lady Asaji, in Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood (Jp.), an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, and released in the US in 1961. View All Critic Reviews (53) Audience Reviews for The Bridge on the River Kwai An excellent war movie focused on characters rather than on battles, with an intense Oscar-winning performance by Alec Guinness. The cinematography is not flawless, with some scenes visibly filmed during the day and darkened to appear as night, but this is compensated by a suspenseful climax that is unforgettable. Carlos Magalhães Super Reviewer A battalion of British POWs are forced to build a bridge while an American soldier is charged with blowing it up. Exquisitely plotted, this film is remarkably compelling from beginning to end.

At almost three hours, the film's run time is typical of David Lean, who doesn't care how long a film is; he cares how long it's good. The performance by Alec Guinness is the strongest, as he's able to convey his character's journey subtly, and William Holden is as charmingly surly as William Holden has always been. The film's themes of ambition and the need for purpose come through, and the cinematography is beautiful. Overall, this film is a classic for good reason. Jim Hunter Super Reviewer Powerful film about an aspect of WWII not many people learn about any more. Excellent performances all around, but particularly striking performance from the idealistic martinet Guinness. Christian C Super Reviewer The Bridge on the River Kwai is a near flawless war drama based on the fiction book by French author Pierre Boulle. I thought that this was a great film, but it wasn't as flawless as many critics have said it was. I found myself enjoying the film, but at times I felt that the film could have been a lot more authentic and showed what life was really like in the POW camps.

Directed by director David Lean, The Bridge on the River Kwai is a well made film that does have great performances, but is not without its flaws. Alec Guinness is wonderful as the insane Col. Nicholson and the movie displays his downward spiral into madness, and he delivers in his role. The plot itself is wonderful, and has something to offer classic war film fans. Like I said, this is not a perfect film, and it could have been better in some areas. David Lean would go on to direct Lawrence of Arabia, a far more superior drama and it would be a much grander picture in scope and execution. This is nonetheless a great film, but compared to The Great Escape, and Lawrence of Arabia, it really isn't as strong due to its portrayal of the lead characters being in league with the Japanese, and that's something that disturbed me. This is a brilliant film and it is a must see classic for fans of old War drama films. Like I said, the film is not perfect, but is a necessary film to watch if you're a fan of cinema. Alec Guinness is great, and he plays the character in such a way that you don't know whether to like him or not, which is a nice touch.

The Bridge on the River Kwai is a flawed, but very good film, and if you've enjoyed this film or not, you definitely should check out David Lean's other war drama, Lawrence of Arabia, which is filmmaking at its finest. If you love David Lean's work, then give this one a shot, one of the classic war films that have had a profound impact on the genre for years to come. Alex roy The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - News NEWS Netflix giveth, and Netflix taketh away. Although September will yield a ton of fun additions to the streaming platform, there are quite a few titles that will go away throughout the month. So if you're not done sobbing over A Walk to Remember or quoting Zoolander, you better get cracking. Time is ticking. Expiring Sept.

1 2 Fast 2 Furious A Walk to Remember Anywhere but Here Avengers Confidential: Black Widow and Punisher The Bridge on the River Kwai Call Me Crazy: A Five Film The Color Purple Crocodile Dundee Days of Thunder Defending Your Life Double Jeopardy Everybody Loves Raymond , seasons one to nine Exporting Raymond Flight of the Intruder Girl Rising Hachi: A Dog's Tale Hardball The Haunting Nick Cannon : Mr. Showbiz Our Man in Tehran Primal Fear Roboshark ￼￼Roman Holiday S.W.A.T. Sins of My Father Spanglish Traffic The Weather Man The Wood Zoolander Expiring Sept. 4 Melissa and Joey, » - Ryan Roschke 29 August 2016 10:19 AM, PDT | The Film Stage | See recent The Film Stage news » The trick, William Potter , is not minding that it cuts. Maestro director David Lean is renowned for his remarkable skills as a director, helming massive feats of cinema such as Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai . What seems to be less remarked upon regarding the director, it seems, is his knack for the edit.

A video essay by Andrew Saladino delves into the often seamless, don’t-focus-on-it-and-you-won’t-notice-it style of editing that often runs throughout Lean’s work. Fond of audio bridges, Lean would often seamlessly blend a transition with music, diegetic sound(s), or a combination of the two. These make for effortless flow throughout the narrative, guiding audiences through his worlds. However, he was just as good at jarring the audience when needed: building sounds in a particular scene and then dropping all of them on the cut. This style of edit the audience feels more viscerally, » - Mike Mazzanti 18 July 2016 9:55 AM, PDT | The Film Stage | See recent The Film Stage news » While the film that had the most direct influence on the forthcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII is certainly J.J. Abrams ‘ The Force Awakens, director Rian Johnson has shared some key inspiration when it comes to the tone and themes of his upcoming sci-fi sequel. While he previously stated two inspirations for the Star Wars saga’s next installment, that list has expanded, thanks his talk at Star Wars Celebration Europe.

The list includes six titles that Johnson encouraged the story group of Lucasfilm to watch before filming began, a thematic lookbook that features a mixture of beloved classics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai and lesser-known gems such as 1943’s Sahara . However, Twelve O’Clock High still stands as Johnson’s top pick for most influential. The most recent film on this list is from 1960, suggesting Johnson’s cinematic influences are less peer-based than deeply embedded in a more classical style. » - Mike Mazzanti 1. Star Wars Rogue One is not a traditional Star Wars movie It is safe to say with the trailer, sizzle reel, and an interview from the cast is that this movie does not have a happy ending to it. Expect a lot of casualties in this movie. A lot more speculation has come about since the panel for Rogue One finished. The biggest buzz came from Mads Mikkelson who confirmed that he is playing Galen who is Jyn Erso’s father. He also revealed that his character is a scientist who has created something that was initially to be beautiful and amazing.

So now it starting to make sense that » - Michael Connally 10 June 2016 5:00 AM, PDT | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news » On this day in history as it relates to the movies... 323 BC Alexander the Great dies of an unknown illness. Colin Farrell plays him in a movie centuries and centuries later and it's suggested that it's a combo of Typhus, Bad Wigs, and Loving Jared Leto that does him in. Who could survive that combo? (Remember when Baz Luhrmann was going to make an Alexander movie, too, but Oliver Stone beat him to it? We wish it had been the other way around.) 38 Ad Julia Drusilla dies in Rome. In the infamous Bob Guccione movie Caligula (1979) her brother Caligula ( Malcom McDowell ) is shown licking her corpse. Somehow that's not remotely the most perverted thing in the movie!

1692 Bridget Bishop is executed for "Detestable Arts called Witchcraft & Sorceries." She's the first victim of the notorious Salem Witch Trials that will claim many lives and inspire many works of art including The » - NATHANIEL R 3 May 2016 6:59 AM, PDT | The Film Stage | See recent The Film Stage news » With editors and cinematographers chiming in on the best examples of their craft in cinema history, it’s now time for directors to have a say. To celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Directors Guild of America, they’ve conducted a poll for their members when it comes to the 80 greatest directorial achievements in feature films since the organization’s founding in 1936. With 2,189 members participating, the top pick went to Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather , one of three films from the director making the top 10.

Even with films from nonmembers being eligible, the male-dominated, America-centric choices are a bit shameful ( Kathryn Bigelow is the only female director on the list, and the first foreign film doesn’t show up until number 26), but not necessarily surprising when one looks at the make-up of its membership. As with any list, there’s bound to be disagreements (Birdman besting The Bicycle Thief , » - Jordan Raup Synopsis: Fictionalized story of British aerospace engineers solving the problem of supersonic flight. The Sound Barrier , directed by David Lean midway through one of greatest runs in film history, is the story of the bid to achieve supersonic flight told through a fictionalised conflation of true events. In Lean’s account, it’s Brit aircraft magnate Sir John Ridgefield ( Ralph Richardson ), aided by his test pilot son-in-law Tony ( Nigel Patrick ), who through obsessive single-mindedness shatters the perceived limits of jet engine technology. In reality it was Usaf pilot Chuck Yeager , not any British airman, who first broke the sound barrier, but to Lean this detail is inconsequential. For his picture is not really about who shattered the record first at all.

The Sound Barrier is rather a tale of Man’s » - Amie Cranswick 19 February 2016 3:34 PM, PST | Cinelinx | See recent Cinelinx news » The best picture doesn’t always win Best Picture. Sometimes the best film of the year gets robbed. Cinelinx looks at the movies which should have won Best Picture but didn’t. Whenever the Best Picture winner is announced at the Oscars, sometimes we say, “Yeah, that deserved to win,” but then again, sometimes we say, “Huh? Are they kidding me?!” There are a lot of backstage politics and extenuating factors in Hollywood that can determine which film wins the big trophy. The worthiest film doesn’t always take the statue home. Going back over the 88-year history of the Academy Awards, we look at which films didn’t really deserve to win and the ones which rightfully should have won.

The Best Pictures and the Better Pictures: 1927-8: The Winner-Wings What should have won: Sunrise (Sunrise was given a special award for Artistic Quality of Production, but it » - feeds@cinelinx.com (Rob Young) 17 February 2016 12:03 PM, PST | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news » Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has a chance to make history in about ten days. The Mexican filmmaker is nominated for Best Picture and Best Director at the 88th Academy Awards for “The Revenant,” just twelve months after he won both prizes for “Birdman.” While both races remain wide open, with “ The Big Short ” and “Spotlight” providing a strong challenge, and George Miller proving to be more than a dark horse in the directing category, there’s a strong possibility that Inarritu could take both for the second year in a row. No director has won an Oscar for Best Director two years in a row since John Ford (for “ The Grapes Of Wrath ” in 1940 and “ How Green Was My Valley ” in 1941).

No director’s successive films have won Best Picture since David Lean (“ The Bridge On The River Kwai ” in 1957 and “ Lawrence Of Arabia ” in 1962). And no filmmaker has pulled off » - Oliver Lyttelton 8 February 2016 8:03 AM, PST | Cinelinx | See recent Cinelinx news » With the Oscars quickly approaching, here are some fun facts about the Academy Awards throughout the years. Oscar Facts: Q) Which films have won the most academy awards? A) It was a three-way draw between Ben Hur , Titanic and Lord of Rings: Return of the King at 11 each. Q) Which films have the most Oscar nominations? A) All About Eve and Titanic are tied for the most nominations, with 14 each. A) Gone With the Wind at 3 hours and 56 minutes. Q) Which was the shortest Best Picture winner? A) Marty at 90 minutes. Q) Which sequels have won Best Picture? A) The Godfather Part 2, and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

A) Wings (1928), Grand Hotel (1931), Driving Miss Daisy (1989) and Argo (2012) 1 February 2016 10:33 PM, PST | Alt Film Guide | See recent Alt Film Guide news » ' Ben-Hur ' 1959 with Stephen Boyd and Charlton Heston: TCM's '31 Days of Oscar.' '31 Days of Oscar': 'Lawrence of Arabia' and 'Ben-Hur' are in, Paramount stars are out Today, Feb. 1, '16, Turner Classic Movies is kicking off the 21st edition of its “31 Days of Oscar.” While the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is being vociferously reviled for its “lack of diversity” – more on that appallingly myopic, self-serving, and double-standard-embracing furore in an upcoming post – TCM is celebrating nearly nine decades of the Academy Awards. That's the good news. The disappointing news is that if you're expecting to find rare Paramount, Universal, or Fox/20th Century Fox entries in the mix, you're out of luck.

So, missing from the TCM schedule are, among others: Best Actress nominees Ruth Chatterton in Sarah and Son , Nancy Carroll in The Devil's Holiday , Claudette Colbert in Private Worlds . Unofficial Best Actor » - Andre Soares By Patrick Shanley Managing Editor The Big Short , which won the PGA Awards’ best picture prize over the weekend, may earn Plan B Entertainment founder, and the film’s star, Brad Pitt and co-presidents Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner their second best picture Oscars in just three years. The trio collaborated on 2014’s best picture winner, 12 Years a Slave, and Plan B also produced last year’s best picture nominee, Selma , earning Kleiner and Gardner Oscar noms, as well. Founded in 2001 by Pitt alongside then-wife Jennifer Aniston and Brad Grey , Plan B has become one of the most successful production companies in Hollywood today, and nominations have been stacking up for its members. After Aniston and Pitt’s divorce in 2006, and Grey’s departure to Paramount, Pitt became the sole owner of the company and enlisted Gardner to be his president.

Both Gardner and Pitt also earned best picture nominations » - Patrick Shanley 6 January 2016 12:09 PM, PST | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news » Dolby Laboratories is quick to the table with the burgeoning drive toward 4K Ultra HD, the next-generation viewing format with four times the resolution of HD and the much-ballyhooed high dynamic range (Hdr), which produces brilliant highlights, vibrant colors and greater contrast on compatible displays. The company announced deals at CES with Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures and MGM to enhance their Ultra HD releases. The company and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Sphe) on Jan. 6 announced a collaboration to release Sphe titles in Dolby Atmos over the coming years, including Sphe’s first films to be released in the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc format. Dolby Atmos, according to a press release, “delivers captivating audio that places and moves specific sounds anywhere in the room, including overhead, to bring entertainment alive all around the audience.” The studio’s first films to be released in the new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc » - Thomas K.

Arnold ‎The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) directed by David Lean • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd 17 ”There are times when suddenly you realize you're nearer the end than the beginning. And you wonder, you ask yourself, what the sum total of your life represents. What difference your being there at any time made to anything.” According to Letterboxd this was my 1000th movie so to mark this occasion I decided to visit a renowned work of one of my favorite filmmakers of all time: Sir David Lean and his majestic, impossible to resist and superb The Bridge on the River Kwai. And unsurprisingly it turned out to be a true absorbing classic. Just timeless. David Lean is famous for the grandeur and epic scale of his films, it didn’t matter if it was the vast boiling… 2 There's a lot to admire about The Bridge on the River Kwai. It's a grand production put together amazingly well by David Lean & benefits greatly from his composed direction, some wonderful performances as well as its expertly executed third act. Yet when compared to its near-unanimous praise, it turned out to be slightly underwhelming experience for me.

The story of The Bridge on the River Kwai is set in a Japanese prison camp during the Second World War where the newly arrived British prisoners of war are ordered to construct a railway bridge; a task which is later overseen by their senior officer after his conditions are accepted but he's completely oblivious of the allies' plan to destroy it. Directed… 4 **Part of the Best Picture Project** David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai is a film about men and their principles. To each man, their principles are a thing of valor, and something that defines them. Nicholson (Guiness) believes in the book, and cooperating with the Japanese to make the best of things. Warden too, believes in the book, but in a vastly different way, and only seeks to get the job done. Shears, meanwhile, values no book but his own, the one of survival. Then there is Saito, who is stuck to his own Japanese code of honor. It's ultimately fascinating to watch all these principles come into conflict over the title bridge built by British prisoners.

For… 2 The first of many epics directed by David Lean, The Bridge on the River Kwai is a POW (more precisely, of WWII) film based on Pierre Boulle's world famous novel that tells the story of the destruction of a railway bridge over the river Kwai, which was built by the British prisoners in the occupied Burma. Counting with a spetacular production, this war epic won the hearts of the audience and eventually won 7 Academy Awards, including best picture, best writing, best actor and best director. As I expected, it didn't take me long to fall in love with the film on a technical level, as it's composed of a beautiful cinematography handled by David Lean's regular Jack Hildyard in… 5 This is one of those films that I can watch at any time (despite the long runtime) and be completely enthralled. I also have a soft spot for David Lean, despite only having seen 5 of his films. That being said, both Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai are masterpieces (Doctor Zhivago is close to that status as well).

The story works on multiple levels - as a character study, a spectacular war film, and a gripping drama. All aspects are brilliant and always captivating and engaging. The film flies by, in what seems like an hour. The characters are great as well, memorable as ever. All the acting is fantastic, and feels especiallu modern for… 5 The Bridge on the River Kwai is an English war drama directed by the king of epics, David Lean and is only one of his many collaborations with the legendary and knighted actor Alec Guinness. Most of the film takes place inside a Japanese POW camp during WW2 and follows captured soldiers who are ordered to build a bridge for a Japanese railway that passes over the river Kwai in Burma. A duel of wills is sparked when the highest ranking Brittish officer, Lieteunant Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) and the Japanese camp commander Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) disagree regarding the treatment of prisoners. I was immediately struck by the films magnificent visual beauty and the enormousness of it all.

The… OSCARS GO TO WRITERS FOR 'KWAI' - NYTimes.com OSCARS GO TO WRITERS FOR 'KWAI' By ALJEAN HARMETZ Published: March 16, 1985 HOLLYWOOD, March 15— An epilogue will be written this week to the blacklist that Hollywood directed against Communists, suspected Communists and their supporters in the movie community almost three decades ago. On Saturday, in a public ceremony in the theater of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the widows of the screenwriters Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson will be given the Oscars withheld from their husbands 27 years ago for the screenplay of ''The Bridge on the River Kwai.'' ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' won seven Oscars in March 1958, including best picture of 1957. The man credited with the screenplay was Pierre Boulle, who had written the novel ''The Bridge Over the River Kwai.'' Mr. Boulle, a Frenchman who could neither read nor write English, was not at the 1958 Oscar ceremony. Mr. Foreman and Mr.

Wilson - who had actually written the award- winning screenplay - were not at the ceremony, either. They were living in Europe. In 1951, they each had appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and had cited the Fifth Amendment. Like dozens of other young actors and screenwriters, both men had been members of the Communist Party. Between 1947 and 1957 several hundred actors, writers and directors had been put on a blacklist circulated by Hollywood studios in response to pressure from Congress during the height of the cold war. According to his widow, Mr. Wilson, who had been a Marine officer in the South Pacific during World War II, wrote a statement, which HUAC did not allow him to read, that he was opposed to the Korean War and that his political views were his own private opinion. Mr. Foreman was willing to admit that he had been a Communist and, disillusioned, had dropped out of the Communist Party in 1942. HUAC, however, demanded that he name other Communists. ''The day Carl testified, I drove him to the station,'' says his friend John Weaver. ''He said they offered a deal.

They'd hand him a list of names of people who had been named over and over and he could pick five or six and that way he couldn't do those people any harm. Carl said he answered, 'No, but I destroy myself.' '' Both Had Other Nominations By the time Michael Wilson died of a heart attack in 1978, the lost Oscar was something that disturbed and amused him in almost equal measure. At least he had once won a golden statuette, in 1951 - before the effects of the Hollywood blacklist became prevalent - for ''A Place in the Sun.'' ''I think Mike took a rather sardonic view of Pierre Boulle blandly accepting the honor,'' says his widow, Zelma Wilson.

''I'm sorry he's not here to appreciate this.'' Carl Foreman had been nominated as a writer five times: in 1949 for ''Champion,'' in 1950 for ''The Men,'' in 1952 for ''High Noon'' - just prior to his being blacklisted - and, after a hiatus of nine years, in 1961 for ''The Guns of Navarone'' and in 1972 for ''Young Winston.'' But he had never won. Fifteen months ago, he learned he was dying. ''During the time he was very ill, lots of his films were on television,'' says his widow, Eve Foreman, ''and it hurt to see somebody else's name on the screenplay for 'Bridge on the River Kwai.' '' ''What can you do for a friend who's dying?'' asks Mr. Weaver. ''Last March we were walking down a street in Beverly Hills together and Carl said there was one thing I could do - help get him the Oscar.'' Everyone had known for decades that Mr. Foreman and Mr. Wilson were responsible for the movie. But knowing is not proving. Nor were Mr. Foreman's interests and Mr.

Wilson's identical. Each considered himself the most important collaborator and, to some extent, resented the other's contributions to the script. In the end, the documentation was acquired by Mr. Weaver, acting for Mr. Foreman, and the petition was created by Mr. Levitt, another blacklisted writer and a friend of both men. In 1954, Mr. Foreman was living in London and writing under pseudonyms - the usual fate of blacklisted writers until Dalton Trumbo broke the blacklist by putting his own name on ''Exodus'' and ''Spartacus'' in 1960. With the British producer Zoltan Korda, Mr. Foreman optioned Mr. Boulle's story of British officers and soldiers in a prisoner-of-war camp. Mr. Foreman changed Mr. Boulle's novel by adding an American character that he hoped would be played by Humphrey Bogart. Sir Carol Reed was first choice to direct. Ultimately, the movie starred William Holden and Alec Guinness, who won an Academy Award as best actor for his role as the British colonel whose warped sense of honor leads him to help his Japanese captors build a bridge.

The film was directed by David Lean, who also won an Academy Award, and produced by Sam Spiegel. Disagreements Over Script By May 1956, Mr. Foreman was fighting with Mr. Lean because of Mr. Lean's demand that the script more closely follow the construction of the book. After writing two or three drafts of the script, he had to leave ''Kwai'' to return to America because Columbia, which prized him, would give him a contract if his lawyer Sidney Cohn could work out an unusual deal with HUAC. In a letter to Mr. Lean on Sept. 21, Mr. Foreman wrote that he had recommended Mr. Wilson to do the final drafts of the screenplay because ''he is one of the finest American screenwriters today.'' Mr. Foreman testified privately before HUAC's chairman and was cleared without naming names. Meanwhile, Mr. Wilson was more amenable to Mr. Lean's ideas than Mr. Foreman had been. ''Mike Wilson, he's the one,'' Mr. Lean says today. ''Thank goodness he's got the Oscar at last!'' In 1957, the Academy had written a new bylaw.

No person who admitted he was a Communist or refused to answer before ''any duly constituted Federal legislative committee'' would be eligible for an Oscar. In the three Academy seasons the bylaw was in effect, Dalton Trumbo won under a pseudonym for ''The Brave One,'' Ned Young won under a pseudonym for ''The Defiant Ones'' and Michael Wilson had his name kept off both ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' and ''Friendly Persuasion.'' ''In the light of the blacklist, it was decided to put Pierre Boulle's name on the script,'' says Sam Spiegel. ''At least he supplied the basic material, and there's quite a difference of view as to who made the bigger contribution - Mike Wilson or Carl Foreman or David Lean.'' Mr. Weaver found a dated copy of Mr. Foreman's first-draft screenplay in Mr. Wilson's papers, which had been deposited at U.C.L.A. ''A cold chill ran up my spine,'' he says. ''I brought it to Carl and he clutched it with tears in his eyes.'' On June 25, 1984, the board of the Writers Guild of America heard Mr.

Levitt's petition and unanimously agreed that the credit for ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' belonged to Mr. Wilson and Mr. Foreman. After the meeting, Mr. Foreman was told that he would get his Oscar. At 10 the next morning, he died. On Dec. 11, 1984, the Academy unanimously resolved ''that the names of Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman be added to that of Pierre Boulle on the credit for best screenplay based on material from another medium for the film 'Bridge on the River Kwai.' '' phpto of Michael Wilson; photo of Carl Foreman The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Pages: ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) Background The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), the memorable, epic World War II adventure/action, anti-war drama, was the first of director David Lean's major multi-million dollar, wide-screen super-spectaculars (his later epics included Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965)). The screenplay was based upon French author Pierre Boulle's 1954 novel of the same name.

[Boulle was better known for his screenplay for Planet of the Apes (1963).] Although he received sole screenplay credit, other deliberately uncredited, blacklisted co-scripting authors (exiled Carl Foreman - who scripted High Noon (1952) - and Michael Wilson) had collaborated with him, but were denied elibigility. They were post-humously credited years later, in late 1984, in a special Academy ceremony. [When the film was restored, the names of Wilson and Foreman were added to the credits.] [The film's story was loosely based on a true World War II incident, and the real-life character of Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey. One of a number of Allied POW's, the senior British officer Toosey was in charge of his men from late 1942 through May 1943 when they were ordered to build two Kwai River bridges in Burma (first a temporary one made of wood completed in February 1943 and a permanent one of steel/concrete completed a few months later), to help move Japanese supplies and troops from Bangkok to Rangoon.

In reality, the actual bridge for the Burma Railway - depicted in the film - spanned the Mae Khlung River, not the Kwai River. It took 8 months to build (rather than two months). The two bridges were actually used until they were destroyed two years after their construction by Allied bombings - in late June, 1945. The memoirs of the 'real' Colonel Nicholson were compiled into a 1991 book by Peter Davies entitled The Man Behind the Bridge: Colonel Toosey and the River Kwai. Today, the steel/concrete bridge has been rebuilt and is used by passenger trains - the river was renamed Kwae Yai ('Big Kwae') to accommodate tourists searching for the bridge from the film.] The film was the number one box-office success of the year (the highest grossing film) and it won critical acclaim as well - eight Academy Award nominations and seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Alec Guinness), Best Director, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Pierre Boulle), Best Cinematography, Best Score, and Best Film Editing.

Only Sessue Hayakawa, a former silent screen star and one of the first important Asian stars, who was nominated for his Best Supporting Actor role as the hot-tempered Japanese colonel, lost. The film created an additional stir when it debuted on ABC television on September 25, 1966. The date was dubbed "Black Sunday" due to the loss of business at movie theatres on account of its popular airing. Shot on location in the steamy, colorful, dense tropical jungles of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the story's theme is the futility and insanity of war, and the irony of British pride, viewed through the psychological, confrontational struggle of imperialistic wills between a proud and rigid British and Japanese Colonel. The two protagonists are symbols of different, opposing cultures, but actually they share much in common - egotistical pride, dedication, a belief in saving "face," and stubborn, inflexible obedience to their class, military codes and rules. With an all-male lead cast, themes of heroism, pride, military tradition, hierarchy, and power are masterfully interwoven into a plot that is ambiguous enough to allow for various viewpoints and perspectives.

The Story Before and during the title credits, an evocative opening shows a single soaring, circling hawk, free from restraints. The aerial camera view pulls back to reveal a vast, green, and steamy tropical jungle (from the hawk's point of view), then descends into the teeming, chattering, and dense underbrush of the forest to pan by a row of crude graveyards (in the jungle and next to train tracks), marked with makeshift wooden crosses. A train with a machine-gunner on top whistles as it roars past the graves, coming upon POWs in a World War II Japanese prisoner of war camp. The camp inhabitants are building one link in the infamous Bangkok-Rangoon "death railway." A newly arrived regiment of defeated British POWs is marched into the camp from the Southeast Asian Burmese/Siamese jungle - it is 1943. Two current, long-time prisoners, one of whom is handsome American Navy sailor "Commander" Shears (William Holden), are digging graves to bury comrades.

[In the original novel, Shears was a dedicated officer, but here, he's a typical Hollywood hunk character.] Sweltering, Shears notices the new arrivals and jokes: Shears: Those new prisoners see us diggin' graves, they might all run away. Japanese overseer Captain Kanematsu (Henry Okawa): No time for jokes. Finish work...Dig dig. Shears and his Australian companion Weaver are placed on the sick list after bribing the Japanese Captain with a cigarette lighter (taken from one of the corpses). Shears lacks a commitment or adherence to any specific code or ideal other than to himself - and toward his own survival. His cynically-stated goals are to stay alive and eventually escape, as he turns and brashly offers a mocking eulogy for one of his compatriots just interred: Here lies Corporal Herbert Thompson, serial number 01234567, valiant member of the King's own, and Queen's own, or something, who died of beriberi in the year of our Lord 1943. For the greater glory of...(pause) what did he die for?...I don't mock the grave or the man.

May he rest in peace. He found little enough of it while he was alive. The camp's dutiful Japanese commandant, Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), is interrupted and told of the arrival of the battalion. In his bamboo hut, Saito is kneeling and dressed in a traditional kimono, with a Japanese print behind him. He hears the distant, insidious whistling, the tune of the "Colonel Bogey March," [which became one of the year's hit records] as the British troops approach closer to the camp, insolently announcing their arrival, swelling the sound to a rousing, defiant crescendo by the time of their appearance. Now uniformed and wearing his ceremonial sword, Saito emerges from his hut, salutes, and walks up to the newly-arrived, stiff-lipped ranking British commandant, Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) in the open, dirt yard. He orders the British prisoners (including all the officers) to build a bridge - beginning the next day after a day of rest. He also offers the inmates a motto: 'Be happy in your work'.

[This scene was referenced, in homage, in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), in the speech of the Klingon Commander (William Morgan Sheppard) of a high-security work/prison camp on the ice world of planetoid Rura Penthe. Rura Penthe was itself a reference to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne - the name of the slave labor camp that inspired Captain Nemo's rage against society and that was the location of his death.]: Nicholson: My name is Nicholson. Saito: I am Colonel Saito. (He steps up on a box to view the prisoners and address them.) In the name of his Imperial Majesty, I welcome you. I am the commanding officer of this camp, which is Camp 16 along the great railroad which will soon connect Bangkok with Rangoon. You British prisoners have been chosen to build a bridge across the River Kwai. It will be pleasant work requiring skill, and officers will work as well as men. The Japanese Army cannot have idle mouths to feed. If you work hard, you will be treated well. But if you do not work hard, you will be punished!

A word to you about escape. There is no barbed wire, no stockade, no watchtower. They are not necessary. We are an island in the jungle. Escape is impossible. You would die. Today you rest. Tomorrow you will begin. Let me remind you of General Yamashita's motto: 'Be happy in your work.' Dismissed! In brief cutaways to Shears from the side, the chief 'know-it-all' gravedigger watches with a mixture of amusement and disgust. He condescendingly mocks the scene from the open-air hospital hut at a distance. Brave, proud, and determined, but obstinate, ramrod British officer Colonel Nicholson refuses to surrender full command of his regiment. Maintaining an iron-clad fixed position, he immediately locks horns with Saito by arguing that according to the Geneva Convention, officers are not permitted to do manual labor alongside enlisted men: Nicholson: I heard your remarks just now sir. I can assure you, my men will carry on in the way one expects of the British soldier. And naturally, my officers and I will be responsible for their conduct. Now sir, you may have overlooked the fact that the use of officers for manual labor is expressly forbidden by the Geneva Convention.

Saito: Is that so? Nicholson: I happen to have a copy of the Convention with me and would be glad to let you glance through it if you wish. Saito: That will not be necessary. (Saito turns and walks into his hut, as lightning claps are heard from tropical storm clouds overhead - a brief storm passes through.) The malingering "Commander" Shears, shaving in the medical hut, has lied about his rank to get preferential treatment reserved for officers. He tells the touring Nicholson that he and the Australian are the only remaining survivors of the original POWs who built the camp: "Mostly Aussies, some Lime, some British, Indians, Burmese, Siamese...They died, of malaria, dysentery, beriberi, gangrene. Other causes of death: famine, overwork, bullet wounds, snake bites, Saito. And then there were some who just got tired of living." As Shears is examined by Army POW Doctor Major Clipton (James Donald) on a cot, he tells Nicholson: "Don't bother about me, Colonel.

I'm not anxious to get off the sick list." After Nicholson marches off - thinking Saito is 'a reasonable type' and sympathetic to his point of view about manual labor, Shears is amused: I can think of a lot of things to call Saito, but reasonable, that's a new one. In a late-night meeting between Nicholson and his officers, attended also by Shears and Clipton, the men contemplate the odds of successful escape and survival. Nicholson determines that escape is not only impossible but not permitted: Shears: Oh, I'd say the odds against a successful escape are about 100 to 1...But may I add another word, Colonel...The odds against survival in this camp are even worse. You've seen the graveyard. There you realize. You give up hope of escape. To even stop thinking about it is like accepting a death sentence. Nicholson: Why haven't you tried to escape, Commander? Shears: Oh, I've been biding my time, waiting for the right moment, the right company. Nicholson: I understand how you feel. Of course, it's normally the duty of a captured soldier to attempt escape.

But my men and I are involved in a curious legal point of which you are unaware. In Singapore, we were ordered to surrender by Command Headquarters, ordered, mind you. Therefore, in our case, escape might well be an infraction of military law. Interesting? Dr. Clipton: Yes, interesting point. Shears: I'm sorry sir. I didn't quite follow you. You mean you intend to uphold the letter of the law, no matter what it costs. Nicholson: Without law, Commander, there is no civilization. Shears: You just took my point. Here, there is no civilization. Nicholson: Then, we have the opportunity to introduce it. I suggest that we drop the subject of escape. As an English gentleman, Nicholson insists that his men be treated as soldiers and that the officers serve only in supervisory capacities, according to the military code of behavior: "I want everything to go off without a hitch starting first thing tomorrow morning. And remember this: our men must always feel they are still commanded by us and not by the Japanese. So long as they have that idea to cling to, they'll be soldiers and not slaves." Shears knows better through experience: "I hope they can remain soldiers, Colonel.

As for me, I'm just a slave, a living slave." Both commanders blindly follow their own rigid military codes, soon coming to an impasse. The next morning, Saito orders "the English prisoners" to finish the bridge by a rigid deadline - the 12th day of May, working under the direction of a Japanese engineer. As commanding warden, Saito insists that all the men work without regard to rank: All men will work. Your officers will work beside you. This is only just. For it is they who betray you by surrender. Your shame is their dishonor. It is they who told you: 'Better to live like a coolie than die like a hero.' It is they who brought you here, not I. Therefore, they will join you in useful labor. That is all. Stoically and stubbornly, Nicholson keeps his men standing in the hot sun, rather than letting his officers work side-by-side in physical labor with the enlisted men. He cites Article 27 of the Geneva Convention to defend his principles. Equally determined in the stand-off with his armed men behind him, Saito slaps Nicholson across the face with the tattered book, drawing blood from his nose.

Saito: You speak to me of code. What code? The coward's code. (He throws the book away to the ground.) What do you know of the soldier's code? Of bushido? Nothing. You are unworthy of command. (He breaks Nicholson's commander's stick in two and throws it to the ground.) Nicholson: Since you refuse to abide by the laws of the civilized world, we must consider ourselves absolved from our duty to obey you. My officers will not do manual labor. Saito: We shall see. (He steps to the side and addresses the prisoners.) All English present prisoners to work! (All the prisoners, excluding the officers, are marched away toward work.) When Nicholson still refuses to give the order for his officers to begin work, and his men obey him, Saito persuasively calls for a jeep with a machine-gun in the back, pulling it up in front of the British commander and his officers. From the hospital hut, Shears tells the doctor, Major Clipton that he fears the worst about Saito's threat: "He's going to do it. Believe me.

He's really going to do it." Before Saito reaches the count of three, Clipton runs out and interrupts the tense stand-off: Colonel Saito. I've seen and heard everything. So has every man in the hospital. There are too many witnesses. You'll never get away with calling it a mass escape. Most of those men can't walk...Is this your soldier's code? Murdering unarmed men? (Saito looks up at the blistering hot sun, and slowly walks into his hut. Flies are heard buzzing on the soundtrack as the men remain at attention.) Hours later at the end of the work day as the roasting sun is finally setting, the work detail of enlisted men are marched back to the prison yard. The defiant officers are still standing at attention in their same places (all holding fast to their positions - except for one who dropped to the ground from the intense heat). All officers are ordered to "the punishment hut" (or "the hole"), while Nicholson is summoned into Saito's headquarters. Hands raised, the men shout their support for their Colonel when he disappears inside.

A few moments later, his legs limp, Nicholson is dragged to a corrugated metal-encased sweat box (called "the oven" by Shears) to be tortured under the blazing sun so that he will change his mind. The men pick up the tune: "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" and then offer three cheers. Taking advantage of the situation, Shears successfully manages to escape from the camp into the almost impenetrable jungle (his two companions from the hospital, the Aussie Corporal Weaver and British Lieutenant Jennings are not so lucky), but he is shot and falls into a rushing river. Down-river, he manages to swim to safety. [Scenes of Shears' escape and struggles are alternatingly cross-cut with scenes back at the camp.] Construction resumes on the bridge, but progress is slow, ineffectual and behind schedule, fouled by accidental mishaps and engineering failures - without the presence of the morale-boosting commander. After three days, Clipton, the British medical officer, is granted an audience with Saito.

On the wall in Saito's quarters, behind a scale model of the bridge, hangs an American pin-up calendar showing the month of February ("Joey's Garage, Elk City, Ohio"). Clipton pleads to him that Nicholson's health is deteriorating, and that he is only following the rules of the Geneva Treaty Accord. Clipton learns that the Japanese commandant blames Nicholson (still in the oven) for delays in the bridge construction: "Because of your colonel's stubbornness, we are far behind schedule." When Saito accuses the workers of sabotage and threatens shooting them, Clipton points out to Saito how gunning the soldiers down would violate his own set of principles, illustrating how the Japanese colonel is caught in a no-win dilemma - he will lose face if the bridge is not completed by the rigid deadline, and he will also lose face if he accedes to Nicholson's demands: Saito: Enlisted prisoners sabotaged the work. I have seen it. I could have them all shot. Clipton: Then, who would build your bridge? Besides, are you sure it is sabotage? Perhaps the men don't work well without their own officers to direct them. Saito: My officers will direct them.

Your officers will work beside them. Clipton: That's for Colonel Nicholson to decide. As he pointed out, it's against the rules. Saito: Do not speak to me of rules. This is war. This is not a game of cricket. He's mad, your Colonel. Quite mad. Clipton is allowed five minutes in the oven to speak with Nicholson during his severe punishment. The imprisoned, highly-principled commander also believes that Saito is mad. In parallel fashion, he refuses to give in: Nicholson: That man's [Saito] the worst commanding officer I've ever come across. Actually, I think he's mad...Blackmail... Clipton: I know, sir. He means it. I'm sure he does. It's a question of face, pure and simple. He can't give in. Nicholson: It's still blackmail. Clipton: Sir, you can't stand much more of this. And wouldn't the officers be better off working than suffocating in that hole? The men are doing a wonderful job. They're going as slow as they dare. But Saito has cut their food rations.

And if he makes the sick men work, well, they're going to die. That's all there is to it. Nicholson: Yes Clipton, I understand, truly. But don't you see. It's a matter of principle. If we give in now, there'll be no end to it. No...I'm adamant. I will not have an officer from my battalion working as a coolie! Clipton wonders to himself after having witnessed both colonels calling each other mad: "Are they both mad or am I going mad? Or is it the sun?" He gazes upwards into the blinding sun. Into the searing sun elsewhere walks a weakened and dehydrated Shears. Vultures begin to gather above him as he crawls through a parched wilderness. A vulture's shadow turns into a colorful kite (of a red-headed bird), the playtoy of some local village boys - he is rescued. In the camp, Saito addresses the enlisted men about a lack of progress in the bridge's construction - there are only three months remaining until the deadline. Saito announces that chief engineer Lt. Miura (K.

Katsumoto) is "unworthy of command" and has been removed from his post. The men are given a day's rest ("All work and no play make Jack a dull boy," rationalizes the ingratiating Saito) and mail (and Red Cross packages) are delivered to them. However, they will begin all over again the next day with Saito personally in charge of the bridge construction. Instant Video Play: Bridge on the River Kwai Trailer Bridge on the River Kwai Trailer Details Bridge on the River Kwai Trailer Go to for more great classic films. Bridge on the River Kwai Trailer - Watch Bridge on the River Kwai Movie trailer for the 1957 Columbia Pictures film directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel . Bridge on the River Kwai stars William Holden as Shears, Alec Guinness as Colonel Nicholson, Jack Hawkins as Major Warden, Sessue Hayakawa as Colonel Saito, James Donald as Major Clipton, and Geoffrey Horne as Lieutenant Joyce. The screenplay was written by Michael Wilson and and Carl Foreman from the novel "Le Pont de la Rivière Kwaï" by Pierre Boulle.

Cinematography is by Jack Hildyard and music is by Malcolm Arnold. Bridge on the River Kwai won seven Oscars (Best Picture; Best Director - David Lean; Best Actor in a Leading Role - Alec Guinness; Best Cinematography - Jack Hildyard; Best Film Editing - Peter Taylor; Best Music, Scoring - Malcolm Arnold; and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium - Pierre Boulle, Carl Foreman, and Michael Wilson). Sessue Hayakawa received an additional Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Question: Who directed the 1957 Oscar winning film Bridge on the River Kwai
Answer: David Lean