Three Came Home

(1950)

106 minutes.

Film / War / World War II / Drama

Directed by Jean Negulseco

Cast: Claudette Colbert, Patric Knowles, Sessue Hayakawa and Florence Desmond

Claudette Colbert gives a very strong performance as real life writer Agnes Keith, an American woman living on Borneo with her British husband and son during WWII. When the Japanese invade, she and her son are separated from her husband, Patric Knowles, and all are imprisoned in camps. A Japanese colonel, very well played by Sessue Hayakawa, takes an interest in Colbert since he has read her book, and they have a platonic relationship that is one of the most interesting features of the movie. He has been educated in America, and he reveals more about himself than a typical Japanese soldier would. Three Came Home illustrates the poor conditions of prison camps during WWII and the effect of the war on those who weren't soldiers but had to fight to survive. It's a dramatic story, well acted, and worth viewing.