The Bridge on the River Kwai The Bridge on the River Kwai The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 British-American epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the novel "Le Pont de la Rivière Kwaï" (1952) by Pierre Boulle. The film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943. The cast included William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Alec Guinness, and Sessue Hayakawa. It was initially scripted by screenwriter Carl Foreman, who was later replaced by Michael Wilson. Both writers had to work in secret, as they were on the Hollywood blacklist and had fled to England in
Alec Guinness characterisation of Smiley in subsequent novels on Guinness. One of Guinness's last appearances was in the BBC drama "Eskimo Day" (1996). Guinness won the Academy Award for Best Actor and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in 1957 for his role in "The Bridge on the River Kwai" after having been unsuccessfully nominated for an Oscar in 1952 for his performance in "The Lavender Hill Mob". He was nominated in 1958 for the Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, for his screenplay adapted from Joyce Cary's novel "The Horse's Mouth". He was nominated for