Initially Alec Guinness had doubts about playing the role of Colonel Nicholson. Guinness had become a much-loved figure on screen, appearing in a series of popular comedies. The Colonel Nicholson character seemed humorless, unlovable and perhaps even dull. To remedy this, Guinness tried to interject some humor into his portrayal of the Colonel. David Lean was very much opposed to this idea, insisting that it be played straight. Thus began an argument between the two men that continued through shooting.
It was David Lean's suggestion to have the British soldiers march into the POW camp singing "Colonel Bogey" at the start of the film. Producer Sam Spiegel was opposed to including the song and felt it would have not meaning to most audiences. The song was in fact a British military march. At first, Spiegel tried to convince Lean that the song would cost too much money to license, but eventually Lean got his way.
It was Percy Herbert who suggested the idea of using Kenneth Alford's "Colonel Bogey March" to David Lean.
It was Jack Hawkins' suggestion that the film be shot in Ceylon, rather than Burma.
On the first take of the final bridge sequence, the explosions on the bridge didn't detonate. The train crossed over safely, only to crash down a hill on the other side.
Original novelist Pierre Boulle actually had been a prisoner of war in Thailand. His creation of Colonel Nicholson was an amalgam of his memories of various French officers who collaborated with his captors.
Prior to casting Alec Guinness, Sam Spiegel tried to persuade American actor Spencer Tracy to play the part of Colonel Nicholson. Tracy had read the book and told Spiegel emphatically that the part must be played by an Englishman.
Producer Sam Spiegel - in his efforts for securing rights, casting, locations, etc. - flew around the world 4 times in the 3 years it took to get the film from page to screen.
Producer Sam Spiegel brought David Lean and Carl Foreman together for a brief period of time to work on the screenplay. The tension between Lean and Foreman was apparent, much to Spiegel's delight. Spiegel felt that the best screenplays were born out of friction and discord. In this case, tensions became too great and Foreman left the project.
Producer Sam Spiegel wanted to release the movie by the December 31, 1957 deadline for the movie to be eligible for Academy Award consideration for that year, but by early-December 1957, the movie had yet no music score and no composer. Spiegel hired Malcolm Arnold to compose the score, which Arnold completed in a mere ten days. The movie was released prior to the 1957 Academy Award consideration deadline, and Arnold was rewarded with the 1957 Academy Award for Best Music Score for his speedy effort.
Production manager Cecil F. Ford transformed a local tea plantation house into the production unit headquarters. Located two miles from the bridge set, it consisted of one large main house and surrounding bungalows.
Screenwriters Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman were on the blacklist of people with accused Communist ties at the time the film was made, and went uncredited. The sole writing credit, and therefore the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, went to Pierre Boulle, who wrote the original French novel but did not speak English. Clearly Pierre had not written the English script and this became a long-running controversy between the Academy and the actual authors to achieve recognition for their work. In 1984 the Academy retrospectively awarded the Oscar to Wilson and Foreman. Sadly Wilson did not live to see this; Foreman died the day after it was announced. When the film was restored, their names were added to the credits.
Shooting in the jungles of Ceylon was not always a happy experience for cast and crew. Living conditions were uncomfortable due to intense heat and humidity. The unit also had to co-exist with snakes, leeches and other indigenous creatures of the area. Illness was rampant. Adding to the discomfort was David Lean's tendency to take many hours or even days to get a single shot.
The actual Major Saito, unlike the character portrayed in the film by Sessue Hayakawa, was said by some to be one of the most reasonable and humane of all of the Japanese officers, usually willing to negotiate with the POWs in return for their labor. Such was the respect between Saito and the real-life Lieutenant-Colonel Toosey that Toosey spoke up on Saito's behalf at the war-crimes tribunal after the war, saving him from the gallows. Ten years after Toosey's 1975 death, Saito made a pilgrimage to England to visit his grave.
The bridge cost $250,000 to build; construction began before anyone had been cast.
The construction of the bridge itself for the film was rumored to have cost $250,000 although the real figure was more likely to be in the region of $53,000 (producer Sam Spiegel was prone to some inventive figures).
The destruction of the bridge as depicted in the film is entirely fictional. In reality, two bridges were built, a temporary wooden one and a permanent steel and concrete one a few months later. Both bridges were used for two years until they were destroyed by Allied aerial bombings. The steel bridge was repaired and is still in use today.
The elephants employed in helping build the bridge would take breaks every 4 hours and lie around in the water - whether the crew wanted them to or not.
The film was edited in Paris as David Lean was facing punitive divorce costs from the dissolution of his marriage to Ann Todd at the time in his native England.
The film's eight months of shooting began in October 1956. A scouting expedition of the real river Kwai had shown that it was an unsuitable location for filming, as it appeared to be nothing more than a trickling stream. The production finally settled on a tiny village called Kitulgula in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The site was remote, so a compound of bungalows had to be built for the film crew.