The Colonel Bogey March on This Day in History

 

This day in history: The movie "The Bridge on the River Kwai" was released on this day in 1957. What I mainly remember from this movie is the whistling song, the Colonel Bogey March. The movie was set in World War 2, but the song was actually written at the beginning of World War 1. The sheet music was a million-seller, and the march was recorded many times. In World War 2, the British sang the tune to the words "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball." This was the first song to be played on a computer (1951), and it was whistled in the 1985 teenage movie "The Breakfast Club."

Empire magazine included it in their list, 25 of Cinema's Catchiest, alongside "Axel F", The Oompa Loompa song, Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life from Monty Python's Life Of Brian (1979), Chim Chim Cher-ee from Mary Poppins, and I Like To Move It from Madagascar.

RollingStone included the Colonel Bogey March as one of the top 15 whistling songs of all time, along with ‘The Fishin’ Hole (theme to The Andy Griffith Show)’ (1960), ‘Centerfold’ by the J. Geils Band and the ‘Winds of Change’ by the Scorpions.