Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Sadly Over-hyped

Let's be realistic.

Captivating movie !

Carroll Baker stars with James Shigeta in "Bridge to the Sun," based on the book by Gwen Terasaki. Though I believe dramatic license was taken regarding the love story between Gwen and her husband, certainly there are many fascinating aspects of her experiences that were included.Gwen meets diplomat Hidenari Terasaki when he was in Washington, and they fall in love and marry in 1931, though I'm not sure that was the year the film gave. Terasaki was First Secretary at the Japanese Embassy and also a pacifist who wanted to avoid war. Didn't happen. When the war starts, he has to return to Japan, and though he doesn't want his wife put into danger, Gwen insists on going too and brings their daughter, Mako. In her book, they are repatriated via neutral Angola.Once in Japan, they face many hardships and Terasaki much criticism because his wife is an American. There is no food, and there is a lot of bombing. They receive an offer to stay somewhere in the country, and they go; they face betrayal and danger there too.If you have read or seen Dragon Seed, you have an idea of what the Japanese did to the Chinese. Absolutely horrible. They are no better to the Americans, who were used for slave labor when captured - they are seen working on the railroad tracks as Gwen heads out to the country. One can feel sympathy for the people, but not their leaders, who lied to them about how the war was going.Both Baker and Shigeta are very good. Shigeta's role is more difficult as he has to show the ravages of his stress and exhaustion, and he does a beautiful job. It's funny what your impressions are when you are growing up. I was raised Catholic and I seem to recall Carroll Baker was considered some sort of sex kitten. She really evokes sympathy here and gives a lovely, sincere performance. This is a poignant film, a tearjerker, about two people from two different cultures caught in an impossible situation. It's all the more poignant because the emotions are true.

I never saw this movie before. I am an avid TCM fan and war movie fan. I think this was the first time it was shown on TCM. Before this film I did not realize there was a peace movement in Japan. The Japanese people also suffered because of their leaders and the average person could only do what they were told. However, after reading some of the other reviews where the reviewer told how much their heart bled for the Japanese, I am not so sorry. Like shown in the movie, when Baker was on the train going to the small village, she saw US servicemen working along side the track. It seems many people don't know how POWs were brought to Japan and used as slaves in the mines and other places. People also don't remember the Bataan Death March and the Rape of Nanking. They also don't remember the medical experiments done on live victims. People also forget that the Japanese started the wars in China, the US, and other countries. The Japanese only cry about what the atom bomb did to them. There is a scene in the movie with Robert Taylor where he is playing the part of Col. Tibbets who dropped the first atom bomb on Japan. This scene is where Taylor's superior gave him a push button and he was asked that if pushing that button would save thousands of American lives, he pushes that button. I would push that button. Like the death penalty in the US, people remember the criminal but they never remember the victims.

It is on Turner Classic Movies June 19, 2008. It is not available on VHS or DVD.This movie had a profound effect on my wife, who saw it right after its release in 1961 with her sister. They were 11 and 8 at the time. The woman in the movie is from from East Tennessee and we are from West Tennessee. I do not understand why it was never copied and sold. It is a great movie. The historical context is meaningful for anyone interested in Pearl Harbor, World War 2, MacArthur, or the Japanese interment during WW2. It is a classic love story, on the order of Romeo and Juliet, but with world wide implications. This will be the first time my wife has seen it in 45 years !!!

This is the true story of Gwen Terasaki who married a Japanese diplomat before World War Two and then returned with him to Japan after Pearl Harbor. It tells the story of the war from an entirely new perspective, and is the first film to depict the racial nature of the Pacific war, and to depict the suffering of the common Japanese people.