THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI

title: THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI

year: 1957

cast: Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins, James Donald

rating: ***1/2

The best moments are the mind games between British Colonel Nicholson, played with gallant flavor by Alec Guinness, and the Japanese Colonel, who heads a jungle-surrounded prison camp where British and America soldiers are treated as slaves to build an important bridge. Guinness, in refusing himself and fellow officers to do any grunt work, is punished until his stubbornness wins over: it's apparent the bridge can only be made on time if British officers command their own troops. William Holden, a rogue American whose escape is much too easy, winds up aiding Jack Hawkins in the breezy b-story: a counter-mission to blow up the bridge that Guinness takes pride in building. Although many of the scenes fade-out before developing completely, and the end, while looking fantastic, feels a bit rushed, it's still a very good film by director David Lean... one step away from his true masterpiece, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA.