Bridge to the Sun

I saw this movie over 40 years ago on television, and it made such an impression on me that I am now trying to find this movie again. The book was written in 1957 by Gwen Terasaki and was also called Bridge to the Sun. The movie came out in 1961.

This was a true story about an American girl who came to Washington, DC, and there she met a Japanese diplomat. They fell in love and got married very quickly. Then WWII broke out, and all Japanese were deported back to their country. Gwen Teresaki went with her husband to Japan. It shows all the differences between the two cultures, and how Hidenari Terasaki became a teacher to his wife, Gwen, about the customs of the Japanese. It's truly a beautiful love story as well as a realistic account of the difficulties of this interracial marriage.

I really believe more should see this movie as it can open up your eyes as to the fact that all of us should live together in peace and get along. I will never forget this movie/life story! I wish the movie would come out again or be re-made as I believe it would help us all !

In 1965 I watched this movie one night while my husband and newborn baby slept. This movie was the best I have ever seen and has haunted me for more than 40 years. I never realized the plight of the Japanese in the United States and this movie and the wonderful acting made everything so believable. I had never even been interested in any war movies prior to this and still don't but this one made a lifelong lasting impression on me. I have never cried so hard in my life at the end and have constantly checked out old movies to try and find it again. I would very much like to find this movie and keep it forever. I would recommend this movie to everyone from teenagers to seniors. At my tender age of 19, I realized after watching this movie that I had no idea of what real love was between two people. I even had to wake up my husband that night and just have him hold me while I sobbed. If anyone knows how to find this movie please advise.

"Bridge to the Sun" is a true story. An American, Gwen Harold (Carroll Baker), meets a Japanese diplomat, Hidenari Terasaki (James Shigeta), in 1931 and they marry. While the cultural differences between them seem insurmountable, it's made so much worse by the outbreak of WWII. Since Teresaki is a Japanese national, he's deported to Japan...and his wife agrees to follow him. Much of the film is about her experiences during the war as well as the difficuties her husband faced since he had an American wife and since he was against the war.

The film is fascinating and well worth seeing. My only complaints are frequent ones for bio-pics made during the 1960s. Despite the film begin set from 1931-1945, the hair and fashions clearly are those of 1961. They didn't even try giving Baker a period hairdo or clothing and it just showed a lack of effort on the movie makers' part. Another problem, and a more minor one, is the stock footage used of an American plane strafing the Japanese countryside...clearly the type of plane changed three times due to sloppy editing. Still, beyond this, the film is interesting and worth seeing...and my complaints are more cosmetic than the story itself.

If I hadn't been laid up at home today, I suspect I never would have watched this movie when it popped up on TCM today, especially after seeing the highly unlikely beginning: tourist from Tennessee and sophisticated Japanese diplomat meet and fall in love at a reception at Japanese Embassy in DC.

I'm so glad I stayed with it, a very good examination of cross cultural marriages and, as others have mentioned, a look at daily life in Japan in WW II.

As a retired diplomat, who lived outside USA for most of my adult life, now back in USA, I'm so grateful to TCM for a review of film history and especially American cultural history.

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.