POP ART, WHERE I FIND THE POP CULTURE IN ART AND THE ART IN POP CULTURE: CARRY ON CAMPING-The Bride on the River Kwai/King Rat

“What have I done?” People do it different ways. Some use sleeping bags under the stars. Some use tents. Some use air mattresses and bring along TVs. Some dress up in drag. Others do it spending time as POWs. Sounds like it’s time for Episode 71 of Pop Art, the podcast where we find the pop culture in art and the art in pop culture. On Pop Art, my guest chooses a movie from popular culture, and I’ll select a film from the more art/classic/indie side of cinema with a connection to it. For this episode, I am happy to welcome back as my guest, blogger and podcaster movierob, who has chosen as his selection the David Lean/Alec Guinness epic The Bridge on the River Kwai, while I have chosen the more cynical Bryan Forbes angry young man film, King Rat, both about prisoners in a Japanese internment camp during World War II.

And in this episode we answer such questions as: Who was the first actor considered for the Alec Guiness role in The Bridge on the River Kwai? What happened to George Segal’s career? What mistake did Pierre Boulle make about the location of the river and what did the government of Burma do in response? Where was King Rat filmed? Where did the Corporal Bogey march come from and how did it end up in the movie? Are both films about being at war, or are they really about the British class system? What did William Holden have to do to his body to take the role in …Kwai? What game show host appeared at the end of King Rat? What horror film did author James Clavell write that launched his screenwriting career?