News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Bob Necci & Carol Hrdlicka, Andi Wolos
(POW-MIA FaxNetwork)

Re: 'River Kwai' Film Banned In US

Date: July 28, 1997

Who owns the rights to the words, 'River Kwai?' Apparently Hollyweird thinks it does. A film based on the nearly 2,300 US POWs who died when the US Navy sunk a Japanese ship,unaware of the Prisoners on board, has been in litigation since 1988. Return From The River Kwai was shown abroad, but has been banned from distribution in North America. The reason? According to the distributioon companies, the people who made the original film, 'Bridge on the River Kwai', had not released the rights to use the words 'River Kwai.' Another reason? To not offend Japanese owned SONY, who now owns the film company. War is offensive. POWs being worked and beaten to death is offensive. And if ANYONE were to own the rights to those wrods... River Kwai... it should be the men who died there and those who survived. Once again the truth falls victim to politics. And it is always big business who has more rights and a right to exercise them, than anyone else.