The Bridge on the River Kwai in the context of "Malcolm Arnold"

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⭐ Core Definition: The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the novel The Bridge over the River Kwai, written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screenplay are almost entirely fictional but use the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943 as its historical setting. It stars William Holden, Alec Guinness, and Jack Hawkins, with Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Ann Sears, and Geoffrey Horne in supporting roles.

The film was initially scripted by screenwriter Carl Foreman, who was later replaced by Michael Wilson. Both writers had to work in secret since they were on the Hollywood blacklist and had fled to the UK to continue working. 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.

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👉 The Bridge on the River Kwai in the context of Malcolm Arnold

Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold CBE (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer and conductor. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music for brass band and wind band. His style is tonal and rejoices in lively rhythms, brilliant orchestration, and an unabashed tunefulness. He wrote extensively for the theatre, with five ballets specially commissioned by the Royal Ballet, as well as two operas and a musical. He also produced scores for more than a hundred films, among these The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), for which he won an Oscar.

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The Bridge on the River Kwai in the context of David Lean

Sir David Lean CBE (25 March 1908 – 16 April 1991) was an English filmmaker and editor, widely considered one of the most important figures of British cinema. He directed the large-scale epics The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970), and A Passage to India (1984). He also directed the film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), as well as the romantic drama Brief Encounter (1945).

Originally a film editor in the early 1930s, Lean made his directorial debut with 1942's In Which We Serve, which was the first of four collaborations with Noël Coward. Lean began to make internationally co-produced films financed by the big Hollywood studios, beginning with Summertime in 1955. The critical failure of his film Ryan's Daughter in 1970 led him to take a fourteen-year break from filmmaking, during which he planned a number of film projects which never came to fruition. In 1984, he had a career revival with A Passage to India, adapted from E. M. Forster's novel. This was a hit with critics, but it proved to be the last film that Lean directed.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Malcolm Arnold ← David Lean
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Epic film → War film → David Lean → The Bridge over the River Kwai → Pierre Boulle → Burma Railway → William Holden → Alec Guinness → Jack Hawkins → Sessue Hayakawa → James Donald → Geoffrey Horne → Carl Foreman → Michael Wilson (writer) → Hollywood blacklist → Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay →