George Rupesinghe in Sydney has kindled a return to the THUPPAHI interest in that iconic film “Bridge on the River Kwai” by adding pertinent tit-bits of information about its making –prior to another item that describes more recent developments in the principal arena where the film was made.
Rupesinghe-Michael Roberts, 31 March 2022
Hello Michael,
I saw the anecdote about the making of Bridge on the River Kwai in Sri Lanka in the 1950s in the-Lanka newsletter. My colleague at Lake House, Nihal Ratnaike (recently deceased), had a feature in either the Daily News or the Observer about the whistler and how this came to be the theme tune in the film.
The name George Siegertsz rings a bell but for the life of me I really cannot recall with any precision. I will contact you again if my recall springs up!
When the movie was being made many Burgher boys queued up at the Savoy each morning. I happened to be passing and noticed one of my classmates Bevis Nicholas (whose mother taught music in Royal Primary School). When I spotted Bevis and asked him what was going on he said they were being hired as extras for the movie and asked me to join him. I had other things to do and declined.
The Savoy was Lean’s office during the production and he checked all the cuts and takes there, courtesy of C. V. de Silva, the owner. In return the Savoy screened the movie exclusively in Ceylon.
You probably know that David Lean was not the producer but the director.
Regards, George Rupesinghe, Sydney
***** ****
SIDELIGHTS from the Recent Past and THUPPAHI PRESENTATIONS
Shona Roberts at the pontoon hotel on the River Kwai during our holiday in Thailand in the 1980s
the bridge spanning the Kwai today
THUPPAHI BIBLIOGRAPHY re the Film and Its Making
Michael Roberts: “Anecdotal Tit-Bits: Making ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’,” 17 August 2021, https://thuppahis.com/2021/08/17/anecdotal-tit-bits-making-the-bridge-on-the-river-kwai/
Thuppahi: “Travails in Filming the Bridge on the River Kwai,” 26 August 2021, https://thuppahis.com/2021/08/26/travails-in-filming-the-bridge-on-the-river-kwai-and-the-locations/
Michael Roberts: “Kitulagala and the Classic Movie’Bridge on the River Kwai’,” 2 August 2021, https://thuppahis.com/2021/08/02/kitulgala-and-the-classic-movie-bridge-on-the-river-kwai/
