June 18 movie: Bridge to the Sun. This was a deeply affecting story about an American woman (Carroll Baker) who falls in love with a Japanese diplomat (James Shigeta) just before the war. They marry over the objections of her family and have a little girl. Then the war breaks out, he's expelled from the US, and she goes with him to Japan. It's kind of amazing to me how much movies changed in the 50s. In the 40s you couldn't show an interracial kiss. By 1961 when this movie was made, they not only kiss, they're shown in bed together. Well sort of: it's a tatami mat so maybe Americans wouldn't realize it was a bed. Still, they were lying in it and he was partially undressed. Unthinkable just a few years before. Heck, most of the movies I watch have the "one foot rule" firmly in effect.
The movie also shows a fairly unflinching look at the racism the couple faces in both countries, and the hardships they suffer in Japan during the war. It was based on a true story, from the wife's autobiography. This movie was really good. I missed the very beginning -- the part where they fall in love -- and I really hope TCM shows it again soon so I can see the whole thing.
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