Editing The Bridge on the River Kwai (section)

===Filming===
[[File:Kitulgala-bridge.jpg|thumb|right|The bridge at [[Kitulgala]], [[Sri Lanka]], before the explosion seen in the film.]]
[[File:SL06kitulgala.jpg|thumb|right|A photo of [[Kitulgala]], [[Sri Lanka]] in 2004, where the bridge was made for the film.]]
Many directors were considered for the project, among them [[John Ford]], [[William Wyler]], [[Howard Hawks]], [[Fred Zinnemann]], and [[Orson Welles]] (who was also offered a starring role).<ref name=KwaiDirector>Baer, William. [http://www.crisismagazine.com/2007/film-the-bridge-on-the-river-kwai "Film: The ''Bridge on the River Kwai''"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925110256/http://www.crisismagazine.com/2007/film-the-bridge-on-the-river-kwai |date=25 September 2015 }}, ''Crisis Magazine'', published 09-01-2007. Retrieved 09-24-2015.</ref><ref name=KwaiDirector2>[http://www.focusfeatures.com/flashback?article_url=_em_the_bridge_on_the_river_kwai__em__released "Flashback: A look back at this day in film history (''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' released)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925131120/http://www.focusfeatures.com/flashback?article_url=_em_the_bridge_on_the_river_kwai__em__released |date=2015-09-25 }}, ''www.focusfeatures.com'', published 09-23-2015. Retrieved 09-24-2015.</ref>

The film was an [[international co-production]] between companies in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Monaco, Paul|title=A History of American Movies: A Film-by-film Look at the Art, Craft, and Business of Cinema
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tgnKY6k5tHYC&pg=PA149|year=2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=349|isbn=9780810874336
}}</ref>

Director David Lean clashed repeatedly with his cast members, particularly Guinness and James Donald, who thought the novel was anti-British. Lean had a lengthy row with Guinness over how to play the role of Nicholson; the actor wanted to play the part with a sense of humour and sympathy, while Lean thought Nicholson should be "a bore." On another occasion, they argued over the scene where Nicholson reflects on his career in the army. Lean filmed the scene from behind Guinness and angrily exploded when Guinness asked him why he was doing this. After Guinness was done with the scene, Lean said, "Now you can all fuck off and go home, you English actors. Thank God that I'm starting work tomorrow with an American actor (William Holden)."<ref>(Piers Paul Read, ''Alec Guinness'', 293)</ref>

The film was made in [[Dominion of Ceylon|Ceylon]] (now Sri Lanka).<ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-08-29 |title=Sri Lanka to rebuild bridge from River Kwai movie |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28984104 |access-date=2022-03-01 |archive-date=1 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301101755/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28984104 |url-status=live }}</ref> The bridge in the film was near [[Kitulgala]]. The [[Mount Lavinia Hotel]] was used as a location for the hospital.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Film locations for David Lean's The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957), in Sri Lanka. |url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/b/Bridge-On-The-River-Kwai.php |access-date=2022-03-01 |website=The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations |archive-date=1 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301102220/http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/b/Bridge-On-The-River-Kwai.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

Guinness later said that he subconsciously based his walk while emerging from "the Oven" on that of his eleven-year-old son [[Matthew Guinness|Matthew]],<ref name=GuinnessWalkscene>Jason, Gary. [http://www.libertyunbound.com/node/641 "Classic Problem, Classic Films"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925132451/http://www.libertyunbound.com/node/641 |date=25 September 2015 }}, ''www.libertyunbound.com'', published 09-19-2011. Retrieved 09-24-2015.</ref> who was recovering from [[polio]] at the time, a disease that left him temporarily paralyzed from the waist down.<ref name=Guinnesspolio>Reichardt, Rita. [https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=6679 "How Father Brown Led Sir Alec Guinness to the Church"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925090052/https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=6679 |date=25 September 2015 }}, ''www.catholicculture.org'', published May/June, 2005. Retrieved 09-24-2015.</ref> Guinness later reflected on the scene, calling it the "finest piece of work" he had ever done.<ref name=Tollestrup>Tollestrup, Jon. [http://oscarwinningfilms.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-bridge-on-river-kwai-1957.html "''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' - 1957"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925113059/http://oscarwinningfilms.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-bridge-on-river-kwai-1957.html |date=25 September 2015 }}, ''www.oscarwinningfilms.blogspot.co.uk'', published 12-08-2013. Retrieved 09-24-2015.</ref>

Lean nearly drowned when he was swept away by the river current during a break from filming.<ref name=PurbeckFestival>[http://www.purbeckfilm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=672:the-bridge-on-the-river-kwai&catid=24:film-notes&Itemid=86 "''The Bridge on the River Kwai''(disasters on the film set)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925114341/http://www.purbeckfilm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=672:the-bridge-on-the-river-kwai&catid=24:film-notes&Itemid=86 |date=25 September 2015 }}, ''Purbeck Film Festival'', published 08-24-2014. Retrieved 09-24-2015.</ref>

In a 1988 interview with Barry Norman, Lean confirmed that Columbia almost stopped filming after three weeks because there was no white woman in the film, forcing him to add what he called "a very terrible scene" between Holden and a nurse on the beach.

The filming of the bridge explosion was to be done on 10 March 1957, in the presence of [[Solomon Bandaranaike|S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike]], then [[Prime Minister of Ceylon]], and a team of government dignitaries. However, cameraman Freddy Ford was unable to get out of the way of the explosion in time, and Lean had to stop filming. The train crashed into a generator on the other side of the bridge and was wrecked. It was repaired in time to be blown up the next morning, with Bandaranaike and his entourage present.<ref name=PurbeckFestival/>
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The producers nearly suffered a catastrophe following the filming of the bridge explosion. To ensure they captured the one-time event, multiple cameras from several angles were used. Ordinarily, the film would have been taken by boat to London, but due to the [[Suez Crisis]], this was impossible; therefore the film was sent by air freight. When the shipment failed to arrive in London, a worldwide search was undertaken. To the producers' horror, the film containers were found a week later on an [[Cairo International Airport|airport]] tarmac in [[Cairo]], sitting in the hot sun. Although it was not exposed to sunlight, the heat-sensitive colour film stock should have been hopelessly ruined; however, when processed the shots were perfect and were used in the film.<ref name=GoldsteinC>Goldstein, Carly. [https://fromthecouchblog.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/the-bridge/ "''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' review"], ''www.fromthecouchblog.wordpress.com'', published 09-10-2013. Retrieved 09-24-2015.</ref> !-->