Three Came Home

Three Came Home is a 1950 American World War II film directed by Jean Negulesco, based on the memoirs of the same name by writer Agnes Newton Keith. It depicts Keith's life in North Borneo in the period immediately before the Japanese invasion in 1942, and her subsequent internment and suffering, separated from her husband Harry, and with a young son to care for. Keith was initially interned at Berhala Island near Sandakan, North Borneo (today's Sabah) but spent most of her captivity at Batu Lintang camp at Kuching, Sarawak. The camp was liberated in September 1945. Adapted and produced by Nunnally Johnson, the film stars Claudette Colbert. It is now in the public domain and so is available to watch in its entirety online at no charge. Plot American-born Agnes Keith and her British husband Harry Keith live a comfortable colonial life in North Borneo with their young son George in the 1930s. Keith is the only American in Sandakan. Borneo was strategically important to Japan as it is located on the main sea routes between Java, Sumatra, Malaya and Celebes. Control of these routes was vital to securing the territory. Japan needed an assured supply, particularly of oil, in order to achieve its long-term goal of becoming the major power in the Pacific region.