Three Came Home [DVD]

During World War II, Japanese troops took Borneo, capturing the civilian settlers who had their plantations there. Agnes Newton Keith (Claudette Colbert) (Parrish, Cleopatra, It Happened One Night, Oscar Award for Best Actress) is the only American who lives on the island. Separated from her husband, she is locked up with her son in a concentration camp along with the English women of the island. As she struggles to stay alive and be able to feed her son, she establishes a peculiar relationship with the camp boss, Colonel Suga (Sessue Hayakawa), nominated for an Oscar for his role in The Bridge on the River Kwai. Jean Negulesco (Belinda, Shadow in Love, In Search of Love) directs this magnificent drama based on the true story of the writer Agnes Keith, who had to survive in the Japanese concentration camps until the end of the war. A sober and serene film that addresses cultural contrast and sensitivity in times of war.