One of the stand-out films in David Lean's glittering canon, The Bridge on the River Kwai gave Alec Guinness an Oscar for Best Actor. Not surprising really, as Guinness turns in a stand-out, tour-de-force performance as stiff upper-lipped Colonel Nicholson, who complies with the Japanese in the Second World War to build a jungle railroad bridge, using his own troops as forced labour.
Nicholson - who may or may not be going completely off his chump in the heat of the jungle - views the back-breaking project as a useful exercise in keeping up his troops' morale, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the bridge is vital to the Japanese war effort. Unknown to Nicholson, escaped American Shears (William Holden) returns to blow up the bridge.
While the last few scenes lack focus, and the climax is a little confusing, the film, released in 1957, stands proud as a true classic. Paul Strange
(1957) (UK / USA) 
(5 Star)
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