Three Came Home

2159. THREE CAME HOME (1950-USA). WITH claudette colbert, patric knowles, sessue hayakawa. Directed by jean negulesco. This extraordinary drama Of courage and fortitude is the remarkable based-on-fact account Of Mrs. Agnes Newton Keith, a writer who endured several years in a Japanese prison camp during World War II. Her story begins in 1941. She is the sole American living in Sandakan, the tiny capital Of British North Borneo. Her husband Harry is a British colonial Official, and they have a young son named Georgie. Harry Keith must remain in Sandakan out Of duty. Agnes stays there with Georgie out Of choice; she wishes to be by the side Of her husÂband. Finally the inevitable arrives. Pearl Harbor is attacked. The war in Europe extends throughout the world. North Borneo soon is occupied by the Japanese and the Keiths’ find themselves separatÂed and sent to segregated prison camps. The film is at once a first-rate drama Of average human beings faced with extraordinary circumstances and a deeply tender tale Of the pure and undying love between a man and woman. Director Jean Negulesco superbly captures what it feels like to not only have your liberty taken away but to be dealt with in an arbitrarily cruel manner by your captors. However, not all the Japanese are sadists. Sessue Hayakawa adds much to the story in his role as a civilized prison camp commandant who shares a common bond with Agnes. 106 minutes. Drama