Three Came Home (
1950) is a wartime film made by
Twentieth Century-Fox, based on the
memoirs of the same name by writer
Agnes Newton Keith. It depicts Keith's
life in
North Borneo in the period
immediately before the
Japanese invasion in 1942, and
her subsequent internment and suffering, separated from her husband
Harry, and with a young son to care for.
Keith was
initially interned at Berhala
Island near Sandakan
, but spent
most of her captivity at Batu Lintang
camp at Kuching
, Sarawak
.
Adapted and produced by
Nunnally
Johnson, directed by
Jean
Negulesco, the film starred
Claudette Colbert in the lead role. The
New York Times reviewer
said,
"It will shock you, disturb you, tear your heart
out. But it will fill you fully with a great respect for a
heroic soul."
The film is now in the
public domain
and so is available to watch in its entirety online at no
charge.
Plot outline
Florence Desmond and Claudette
Colbert
American-born Agnes Keith (Colbert) and her British husband
(portrayed by
Patric Knowles) live a
cushioned colonial life in
North Borneo
with their young son in 1942. After the Japanese invasion, they are
interned and then taken to separate prison camps, one for men, the
other for women and children.
Amid the brutality of the internment camp,
the camp commander Lieutenant-Colonel
Suga (played by Sessue Hayakawa,
who in 1958 was nominated for an Oscar
for a similar role in The Bridge on the River Kwai
) is respectful to Mrs Keith because he is
familiar with her work, and is shown to be kind to the children
even when his own family has died in Hiroshima.
Cast
Critical reception
In August 1976,
Leslie Halliwell
described the film as "[w]ell-made, harrowing", assigning it ** (2
stars out of 4), a rarely-granted high rating.
See also
References
External links
- Variety review (extract from Variety's
contemporary review of the film)
- Time Contemporary review of the book
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