The Wind Cannot Read

In 1955 David Lean agreed to film Richard Mason's novel The Wind Cannot Read, the story of a romance between a British officer and a Japanese girl in India during World World Two. He completed a script and cast Kishi Keiko as the girl, but disagreed with Alexander Korda, and the project fell through. Lean had already entered into discussions with Sam Spiegel, regarding a film version of Pierre Boule's novel The Bridge on the River Kwai. After Korda's death in 1956 the rights to Mason's novel were sold to Rank Film Productions, who successfully realised the film in 1958, using the script Lean had written with Mason. Betty Box produced and Ralph Thomas directed this version, which starred Dirk Bogarde and Yoko Tani.

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David Lean's
unrealised films