Three Came Home (1950)

Great movie!

All I can really say is that this was a great film. The acting is very good, the quality is good, and Claudette Colbert is superb. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes her acting, or is interested in WWII movies. August 15, 2008

Three Came Home

The story was touching, the actors were excellent, the picture was good,
It left one thinking about those years and how those who were subjected to
that type of war time experience, must have been very courageous to have survived it. Very thought provoking and well done. May 30, 2008

interesting sleeper

i considered this film to be a "sleeper" (anyone familiar with film genre terms knows what that means).

based on a true story, this films envelopes the viewer into the tribulations and horrors endured by one woman's courage and determination to survive the Japanese concentration camps.

Claudette Colbert assumes the role of Agnes Newton Keith, the woman whose life the story is based upon. Colbert gives her heart to the role. in her day, Colbert was considered one of the entertainment industry's most attractive women.

upon viewing the film, i was shocked at how revealing the attire worn by Colbert was in parts of the film. the clothes worn were relevant to the setting and situation of the story, but for 1950 i deemed it very arousing though i'm sure this was unintentional. very little imagination was necessary for one to virtually envision miss Colbert naked.

as for the transfer, it was very good considering the distributer was Alpha(a distribution company renowned for subpar transfers). the video and sound were both good. May 10, 2008

Three Came Home

Compelling saga of a civilian prisoner of Japanese during WWII. Well acted & not overdone. May 5, 2008

Dated, but surprisingly moving and powerful

Based on a true story, a memoir written by American Agnes Keith of the years she,her young son and British husband spent in Japanese POW camps in Indonesia, the film though restrained in the way of its time, is still very powerful about the brutality that soldiers display during war, even toward civilians. The bad guys in this film are of course the Japanese, but we've all learned since then that soldiers from all countries can at times behave abominally.

The camera discreetly turns away at some scenes of physical torment. The camp commander played by Sessue Hayakawa, is a tough soldier but a complex character with facets of humanity and even grief. The lead character and her husband have a physically passionate relationship, and there is even a suggestion of a clandestine conjugal tryst in the jungle.

My criticism is primarily about cosmetics, literally. For a woman and her son, and their fellow captives who spent three years or more in appalling conditions, Claudette Colbert et al looked incredibly healthy and well-groomed at the end. Starvation and beatings were frequent, but barely a hair fell out of place, and after the captivity she looked pretty much the same as before-wearing salvaged clothes that fit beautifully.

Still, the tensions, the unfairness, the fear, the dirt, labor, and disease, loss of family time, and even the physical passions, approach authenticity, which was especially rare in film in 1950. The DVD version I watched had no special feature--the film is in black and white. The story was so moving that I ordered a copy of the book from Amazon UK. This was one of Claudette Colbert's finest performances. April 13, 2008

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