The film is rather misshapen, particularly in the sections featuring William Holden, and the action that detonates the explosive finish isn't quite clear. However, Alec Guinness is compelling as the English Colonel Nicholson.

This gripping tale will keep you tied to your seat thanks to the brilliant effectiveness with which Director David Lean has tied together script, casting and technical demands.

The madness of war has never been shown more graphically than in this Pierre Boulle screenplay from his own novel, set and filmed on location in Ceylon.

There are very few examples each year of cinematic enterprises that are carried out with such intelligence and above all with such care. But the quality of this film must ultimately be put in its artistic place, and that place is not the highest.