Bridge on the River Kwai

The story in this film was loosely based on a true World War II incident, and the real-life character of Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey.  Toosey was one of a number of Allied POW’s, that was in charge of his men from late 1942 through May 1943 when they were ordered to build two Kwai River bridges in Burma (one of steel, one of wood), to help move Japanese supplies and troops from Bangkok to Rangoon.  The film was the number one box-office success of the year (the highest grossing film) and it won critical acclaim as well as receiving eight Academy Award nominations and seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Alec Guinness), Best Director, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (French novelist Pierre Boulle), Best Cinematography, Best Score, and Best Film Editing.

The largely fictitious plot describes the mistreatment of prisoners in the POW camp and…