The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Two Geeks and a GIT Classic Movie Reviews

The holiday shopping season has begun, so it's only fitting that we turn to War films for this pairing. Our first film is a true classic, and an absolutely favorite of one of the trio, "The Bridge on the River Kwai" from 1957! Directed by David Lean and starring Sir Alec Guinness (back before he was a "Sir"), William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Geoffrey Horne, and Andre Morell, the film follows a group of British POWs who have been sent to a work camp during World War II. The group is led by the upright Colonel Nicholson (Guinness) who demands of the camp's leader, Colonel Saito (Hayakawa) a strict observation of the Geneva Convention. Thus begins a war of wills between the two men. Meanwhile, American POW Shears (Holden) is thought dead after an escape attempt, but actually manages to get back to a British colony, and is persuaded to join a commando team bent on bringing down the bridge Nicholson and his men are building for Saito. A fantastic film, winning seven Academy Awards, and featuring a tune that will forever be stuck in your head, especially after you find out what the words to it were!