Bridge to the Sun

This 1961 picture seems somewhat forgotten today despite the fact that it is quite a good movie. An American girl played by Carroll Baker falls in love with a Japanese diplomat and marries him. After the attack on Pearl Harbor she finds herself in Japan with her husband and quickly learns the problems of being in a strange country with much different customs and ideals than she is used to. Then to make matters worse her husband's nation is of course at war with her native homeland.

James Shigeta puts in an outstanding performance as Bakers Japanese husband who while in America acts very westernized. Once back in his homeland he acts much different and Shigetas job at this adds much to the film. The struggles of an interracial marriage are part of the story along with the horrors and hardships of being in a land that is becoming ravaged by total war being waged against it. In viewing this film you'll find yourself asking "How would I feel if I were in a foreign land with a wife or husband who was a native of that country and the nation of my birth was waging war on it". Who is the enemy? My spouses people or mine?

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 !

Actress Carroll Baker never really carved out a niche for herself in Hollywood; a devout Method player, the roles she chose didn't always showcase a woman with any particular range. She's quite good here however, playing real-life American Gwen Terasaki who, while visiting Washington, D.C. from Tennessee, met and fell in love with a Japanese politician. Before you can say 'Sayonara!', Gwen is married and living in Japan, where the customs are confusing and the second World War looms ahead. Opens with a sweet, believable romance, becomes compelling drama of emotional choices. James Shigeta is terrific as Gwen's husband and the production is handsome. *** from ****

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.