Three Came Home

Director: Jean Negulesco Jean Negulesco

Overview

Based on the autobiographical book by Agnes Newton Keith, Three Came Home stars Claudette Colbert as Mrs. Keith. Trapped in Borneo during the Japanese invasion, Mrs. Keith and her British husband (Patric Knowles) are penned up in a prison camp along with several other subjects. Despite the humanitarian views of camp commander Col. Suga (Sessue Hayakawa), Mrs. Keith is subject to torture, starvation, and humiliation at the hands of the guards, with Suga helpless to intervene lest he incur the wrath of his own superiors. Three Came Home contains several unforgettable moments, including a comic interlude between the male and female prisoners that ends abruptly with a barrage of Japanese bullets, and the heartwrenching scene wherein Suga learns that his family has been killed in a bombing raid. Since lapsing into the public domain in 1977, Three Came Home has popped up innumerable times on cable television.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/16/2002
UPC:	0089218332547
Original Release:	1950
Source:	Alpha Video

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Claudette Colbert	Agnes Keith
Patric Knowles	Harry Keith
Sessue Hayakawa	Col. Suga
Florence Desmond	Betty Sommers
Sylvia Andrew	Henrietta
Phyllis Morris	Sister Rose
Howard Chuman	Lieutenant Nekata
Drue Mallory	Women Prisoner
Mimi Heyworth	Woman prisoner
Helen Westcott	Women Prisoner
Alex Frazer	Dr. Bandy
Virginia Kelly	Actor
Mark Kenning	George
Patrick Whyte	Englishman
Li Sun	Wilfred
John Burton	Elderly resident
Campbell Copelin	English radio announcer
Leslie Denison	English Radio Announcer
Clarke Gordon	Australian POW
Robin Hughes	Australian POW
George Leigh	Australian Prisoner of War
James Logan	Australian POW
Lee MacGregor	Sailor
John Mantley	Australian POW
Harry Martin	Australian POW
Pat O'Moore	Australian POW
Melinda Plowman	English girl
Duncan Richardson	English boy
Douglas Walton	Australian POW
Leonard Willey	Governor General

Technical Credits

Nunnally Johnson

Jean Negulesco	Director
William H. Daniels	Cinematographer
Hugo W. Friedhofer	Score Composer
Leland Fuller	Art Director
Roger Heman	Sound/Sound Designer
Nunnally Johnson	Producer,Screenwriter
Milton Krasner	Cinematographer
Charles LeMaire	Costumes/Costume Designer
Thomas K. Little	Set Decoration/Design
Lionel Newman	Musical Direction/Supervision
Ben Nye	Makeup
Fred J. Rode	Set Decoration/Design
Milton Schwarzwald	Musical Direction/Supervision
Fred Sersen	Special Effects
Dorothy Spencer	Editor
E. Clayton Ward	Sound/Sound Designer
Lyle Wheeler	Art Director

Editorial Reviews

An engrossing, at times shattering, film, Three Came Home is a moving portrait of the horrors of war and, at the same time, of the humanity that exists under even the most difficult circumstances. Nunnally Johnson's excellent screenplay, adapted from the book by Agnes Newton Keith, is just about perfect. Johnson uses his considerable skill to create characters about whose lives we care almost immediately, and to demonstrate that there are always variations in character among individuals on both sides of a conflict. While the title character commands the greatest portion of the viewer's love and respect, Johnson has been careful to provide the character of Colonel Suga with several illuminating moments that make him nearly an equally strong and compelling presence. Jean Negulesco has directed beautifully; there is barely a misstep in tone or pacing through the entire picture, and he has created a film that is at all times vibrant, even when it is horrific. Three is also blessed with the sensational star performance of Claudette Colbert, who is simply riveting and whose stellar presence holds the film together from beginning to end. Almost her equal is Sessue Hayakawa as the Colonel, who finds shadings and nuances that are a wonder to see.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler