Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean

11. The Undefeated: The Bridge on the River Kwai

The฀Peak฀Years฀in฀Hollywood 224 to฀his฀nascent฀company฀as฀“Shit฀Creek฀Productions”฀at฀times—until฀he฀had฀ a฀hit฀with฀The฀Stranger฀(1946),฀a฀thriller฀directed฀by฀and฀starring฀Orson฀ Welles.1 Spiegel฀became฀an฀autocratic,฀bullying฀wheeler-dealer฀as฀he฀grew฀more฀ successful.฀ The฀ director฀ Fred฀ Zinnemann฀ (High฀Noon฀ [1952])฀ described฀ him฀to฀me฀as฀an฀impressive฀man,฀saying,฀“His฀eagle-like฀nose฀made฀him฀resemble ฀ a฀ Roman฀ emperor฀ in฀ profile;฀ all฀ prominent฀ men฀ have฀ prominent฀ noses.” It฀had฀been฀customary฀in฀the฀past฀for฀Hollywood฀producers฀to฀work฀for฀ one฀studio฀and฀simply฀carry฀out฀the฀orders฀of฀the฀top฀executives.฀Spiegel฀ came฀to฀epitomize฀the฀independent฀producer฀of฀his฀era.฀He฀was฀an฀entrepreneur ,฀packaging฀a฀limited฀number฀of฀projects฀and,฀usually,฀releasing฀them฀ through฀a฀major฀studio฀like฀Columbia.฀He฀engaged฀top฀directors฀and฀bigname ฀stars. Like฀Rank฀and฀Korda฀before฀him,฀Spiegel฀realized฀that฀rising฀production฀ costs฀and฀falling฀box฀office฀receipts฀meant฀that฀a฀picture฀could฀no฀longer฀recoup ฀its฀costs฀in฀the฀home฀market.฀Yet,฀as฀noted,฀so฀much฀of฀British฀cinema฀ at฀the฀time฀was฀parochial.฀Many฀films฀made฀for฀British฀audiences฀did฀not฀ translate฀ well฀ for฀ international฀ audiences.฀ So฀ Spiegel฀ aimed฀ at฀ producing฀ films฀for฀the฀world฀market.฀Hence,฀along฀with฀the฀main฀Horizon฀Pictures฀ office฀in฀New฀York,฀he฀maintained฀a฀branch฀office฀in฀London.฀He฀often฀said฀ that฀he฀had฀no฀real฀American฀roots,฀“only฀permanent฀refugee฀status”฀in฀the฀ United฀States.฀Consequently,฀he฀loved฀to฀roam฀the฀world;฀whenever฀he฀was฀ asked฀where฀his฀home฀was,฀he฀replied฀that฀it฀was฀“in฀a฀valise.”฀As฀a฀matter฀of฀ fact,฀Spiegel฀loathed฀Hollywood,฀calling฀it฀“a฀factory฀town฀in฀the฀sun.”฀He฀ returned฀to฀Hollywood฀only฀for฀short฀periods,฀to฀arrange฀the฀financing฀and฀ distribution฀of฀pictures฀that฀he฀was฀producing.฀He฀once฀said,฀“I฀never฀stay฀in฀ Hollywood฀more฀than฀five฀days฀[at฀a฀time].”2 By฀the฀time฀David฀Lean฀encountered฀Spiegel,฀the฀latter฀had฀already฀produced ฀some฀Oscar-winning฀blockbusters,฀like฀John฀Huston’s฀The฀African฀ Queen฀(1951)฀with฀Katharine฀Hepburn฀and฀Elia฀Kazan’s฀On฀the฀Waterfront฀ (1954)฀with฀Marlon฀Brando. Carl฀Foreman,฀a฀blacklisted฀expatriate฀American฀screenwriter฀who฀was฀ employed฀by฀Alexander฀Korda฀to฀find฀potential฀projects฀for฀filming,฀had฀ optioned฀Pierre฀Boulle’s฀Pont฀de฀la฀rivière฀Kwaï,฀or฀The฀Bridge฀on฀the฀River฀ Kwai,฀which฀deals฀with฀British฀soldiers฀in฀a฀Japanese฀prisoner-of-war฀camp.฀ But,฀we฀recall,฀Korda฀had฀rejected฀the฀proposed฀project,฀seeing฀the฀central฀ character,฀Colonel฀Nicholson,฀as฀an฀unstable฀officer฀who฀commands฀his฀men฀ to฀help฀the฀Japanese฀build฀a฀railway฀bridge.฀He฀assumed฀that฀British฀audiences ฀would฀be฀offended฀by฀the฀story.฀Spiegel฀disagreed. LeanChap11B.indd 224 9/21/06 2:58:04 PM The฀Undefeated 225 Spiegel,฀who฀read฀several฀European฀languages,฀had฀picked฀up฀a฀copy฀of฀ the฀novel฀in฀Paris฀and฀read฀it฀with฀interest.฀So,฀after฀contacting฀Boulle฀and฀ being฀directed฀to฀London฀Films,฀he฀purchased฀the฀screen฀rights฀from฀Korda.฀ He฀first฀solicited฀directors฀like฀Carol฀Reed฀and฀Fred฀Zinnemann฀to฀direct฀the฀ picture,฀sending฀them฀the฀recently฀published฀English฀translation฀of฀the฀novel ฀ by฀ Major฀ Xan฀ Fielding,฀ a฀ British฀ officer฀ who฀ saw฀ action฀ in฀ Crete฀ and฀ northern฀France฀during฀World฀War฀II.฀But,฀as฀they฀later฀told฀me,฀Reed฀found฀ the฀ending—in฀which฀most฀of฀the฀principal฀characters฀are฀killed—too฀much฀ of฀a฀downer,฀and฀Zinnemann฀too฀found฀it฀disappointing. Spiegel฀likewise฀mailed฀a฀copy฀of฀the฀book฀to฀Lean—by฀way฀of฀the฀London฀ office฀of฀Horizon฀Pictures—while฀he฀was฀still฀making฀Summertime.฀When฀ Lean฀expressed฀interest,฀Spiegel฀invited฀him฀to฀New฀York฀to฀discuss฀the฀project .฀Lean,฀who฀was฀renowned฀in฀the฀British฀film฀industry,฀was฀relatively฀unknown ฀in฀Hollywood,฀but฀Spiegel฀had฀heard฀of฀him฀through฀his฀London฀ office.฀He฀knew฀that฀Lean฀had฀codirected฀the฀successful฀World฀War฀II฀movie฀ In฀Which฀We฀Serve,฀which฀Spiegel฀thought฀reflected฀Lean’s฀keen฀grasp฀of฀the฀ military฀mind.฀He฀was฀also฀aware฀that฀Lean฀had฀recently฀won฀the฀New฀York฀ Film฀Critics฀Award฀as฀best฀director฀for฀Summertime.฀On฀February฀4,฀1956,฀ Spiegel฀officially฀asked฀Lean฀to฀direct฀Kwai.฀Lean฀agreed. The฀Bridge฀on฀the฀River฀Kwai฀฀(1957) Lean฀had฀no฀project฀on฀the฀front฀burner฀at฀the฀time;฀moreover,฀as฀we฀know,฀ he฀was฀down฀on฀his฀luck.฀Because...