BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE 51
near Mahara, eight miles northeast of Colombo, the capital city, was chosen for
the site of the POW camp (in the film, it is adjacent to the bridge). In 1956 hun-
dreds of Sinhalese workers, assisted by 48 elephants, built the camp’s numerous
bamboo huts and then undertook the construction of the wooden trestle bridge
itself. An enormous structure 425 feet long and 90 feet high, built from locally
harvested timber, the bridge was completed in January 1957 at a cost of $52,085.
In the end, after five months of troubled collaboration on the script, Lean fired
Foreman in late June 1956. Sam Spiegel then brought in screenwriter Calder
Willingham (Paths of Glory), but after just two weeks of trying to work with Lean,
Willingham quit. In early September Spiegel sent a third screenwriter to Ceylon:
Michael Wilson (Friendly Persuasion). The third time was the charm; Wilson and
Lean began to produce a workable script but then another prob lem emerged. Lean
initially wanted Charles Laughton for the key role of British Lt. Col. Nicholson but
Laughton was in poor shape— simply too fat to play a half- starved POW. After
much cajoling by Lean, Alec Guinness took the part. Spiegel wanted Cary Grant
to play Shears but Lean, who preferred William Holden, prevailed. A big star after
his Oscar win for St a lag 17 (1953), Holden commanded top dollar; he signed a
$300,000 contract that also guaranteed 10 percent of the box office receipts, a
payout that ultimately amounted to $3.9 million ($34 million in 2017 dollars). For
the role of Col. Saito, the Japa nese camp commandant, Lean coaxed 68- year- old
Sessue Hayakawa out of retirement. Both British and Japa nese military advisors
were also hired to ensure a reasonable degree of authenticity.
Production
After a 10- month pre- production phase, principal photography took more than 8
months (November 1956– May 1957) in the jungle in high heat and humidity— a
grueling shoot made even more unpleasant by Lean’s imperious directorial methods
that alienated most of the cast and crew, especially Alec Guinness. The crucial
moment of the production— the filming of the bridge being blown up— was sup-
posed to take place on Sunday, 10 March 1957. Unfortunately, cameraman Freddy
Ford forgot to signal that he had made it to safety after setting his camera, forcing
Lean to abort the take. With the explosion called off, the train (a steam locomotive
and six cars) proceeded across the bridge unimpeded. It ended up bursting through
a sand barrier and then crashing into a generator on the far side of the bridge. The
train was not damaged but it was derailed. Put back on the tracks with the assis-
tance of elephants, the train was soon returned to its starting point. The next morn-
ing the bridge was successfully blown sky high, pitching the train into the river, as
planned— a spectacular scene witnessed by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Prime Minister
of Ceylon, and other government dignitaries. Afterward, a second near- catastrophe
occurred when all the film footage of the bridge explosion dis appeared in transit
from Ceylon to London. Ordinarily, the film would have been sent to London by
sea, but the Suez Crisis necessitated air freight shipment instead. When the film
canisters failed to arrive in London, a frantic worldwide search was undertaken. A
week later the film was discovered, sitting in the sun on an airport tarmac in Cairo.
Almost miraculously, none of the footage had been damaged by the intense heat.