Three Came Home [DVD]

"Three Came Home" is the true story of Agnes Newton Keith's experiences during World War Two. Based on her autobiography, this moving yet surprisingly brutal (especially for 1950) war film has somehow remained largely forgotten over the years. With top-notch performances, especially from Claudette Colbert and Sessue Hayakawa, this a definite must for any fan of classic movies.

Claudette Colbert stars as Agnes Keith, a writer who lives in British North Borneo in 1940-41 with her husband (Patric Knowles) and little boy. They are part of a small community of British civilians (Colbert is the only American among them) living in the region, and life is good for them, until they hear of the Dec. 7, 1941 surprise attack by Japanese forces on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. It's then only a matter of weeks until the Japanese troops land in Borneo. When they do land, Mrs. Keith and all the other civilians are quickly rounded up and "introduced" to their new "masters". On May 12, 1942, Agnes and her husband are seperated as they're sent to different prison camps. She has her young son with her, and they struggle to survive in their new harsh environment.

However, Agnes meets the prison camp commander, Col. Suga (Sessue Hayakawa), who's amazingly a fan of hers because of her famous novels, and slowly they become friends. But that friendship doesn't prevent her from being assaulted one night by a camp guard or from taking a brutal beating during a relentless interrogation by a different officer. But Col. Suga does his best to keep Agnes and her son safe, even after his own family is wiped out by the atomic bomb at Hiroshima. The ending would initially seem like typical Hollywood propaganda if you didn't know this was a true story, and the fact that it's true makes it even more amazing. The violence in the movie is very rare for a 1950 film, with women being shown abused by prison guards, including the attempted rape of Agnes. Perhaps the toughest scene to watch is the one showing Australian prisoners being machine-gunned as they try to climb a barbed wire fence, not to try and escape, but simply to talk to female prisoners!

This bargain priced dvd from Front Row Entertainment has a remarkably clear picture quality and a fabulous sound quality, and at this inexpensive price you can't ask for more than that! This is an incredible true story of survival amid the heartless carnage of World War Two, and it's one of the finest performances of Claudette Colbert. Highly recommended.

Was excited that this movie still was available --- as I saw it when I was about 6 years old --- it was very scary back then as I remembered. I'm now 70 --- glad I found it.

It's 1940 and we're in the town of Sandakan, Borneo. War is raging in the Far East, but as yet Borneo's fields are unsullied by the boots of foreign invaders. Sandakan is the home of author Agnes Keith, her British civilian worker husband, and their 4-year-old son. Soon a radio will announce the attack on Pearl Harbor and everything will change. THREE CAME HOME (1950) is one of the oddest movies I've seen in a while. Besides spoiling its ending with its titles, it's that rarity or rarities, a war movie told from a woman's point of view.

Soon after war is declared the Japanese invade Borneo. In May 1942 all Europeans are ordered to go to prison camps - one for the men, one for the women and children. Agnes (Claudette Colbert) and son go off to one camp, husband Harry (Patric Knowles) goes off to another. From this point on the movie pretty much drops Harry from the narrative. Although Agnes pines for him daily, he's little more to us than a pair of shoulders and a cookie duster moustache memory whose sole purpose was to adore Agnes, deeply and unequivocally.

The first clue we get that we aren't in Kansas anymore, war moviewise, is when a Japanese subaltern tells a roomful of woman that they must bow when a Japanese officer enters a room. The women proceed to do so with nary a snarl or murmur, and continue to do so unfailingly and uncomplainingly throughout the movie. That would never happen in a John Wayne movie. A little more surprising is the movie's treatment of the Japanese soldiers. Although one or two are stereotypically wicked, there's a surprising range of types for a movie made so soon after the war. In fact, the most complex and sympathetic character is Colonel Suga, wonderfully played by Sessue Hayakawa, who admires Agnes Keith's books and develops something of a protective friendship with her.

Some bad things happen to Agnes in the third act. I almost wrote `finally happen'. Until the last act this movie seemed to be pulling its punches. The forced separation of the Keith family is presented as an unfortunate event, rations in the prison camp are scare, and vital medical attention - quinine for the malarial patients, for example - are sporadically administered. Yet....

Something's amiss. Suga's solicitude toward Agnes and his oft exhibited paternal affection for her young son rang false - or, perhaps more accurately, incomplete. The movie didn't make me believe that after Agnes had practically been bent into a human pretzel by camp thugs (without Suga's knowledge, I hasten to add), after her family had been forcibly separated, her husband possibly to probably killed in a Japanese prison camp... after all that she could calmly sit to tea with Colonel Suga and provide genuine sympathy when he learns that his family has suffered a severe, war related tragedy. Either the movie, and perhaps the book it was based on, omitted information that would explain the true depth of the relationship between Agnes and Suga, or Agnes was indeed the near-saint the movie presents her as, someone who could ignore her losses and suffering to provide comfort to her captor when he suffers his loss.

Although THREE CAME HOME didn't convince me, I enjoyed it. As usual Colbert is strong, but the movie belongs to Sessue Hayakawa as the complex Japanese officer.