The Best Years of Our Lives

Rating:
Summary: My all-time favorite, without a doubt
Review: I have the HBO version of this film on DVD (now out of print), so I can't comment on the transfer quality of this MGM/UA disk, but I can comment on the quality of the movie.

My Amazon review will be number 48 for this film, yet it still retains an average 5-star rating! That's remarkable, but not surpirsing. Simply put, this film has been my favorite since the first time I saw it, about 20 years ago. It has aired almost too much in recent years due to cable TV channels like TCM, but before that it was hard to find, for some reason not clear to me, so the film was a mystery to me. However, I had seen it listed as the Academy Award winner as Best Film for 1946, so I was curious about it. Based on thumbnail reviews I had read, I had some notion of what it might be like, mostly because of my experiences with other B&W movies of the 1940s, but my expectations were dead wrong. This film is totally unique in its flavor and character, due in no small part to the talents and artistic vision of William Wyler, the great cast, the great story, and the timing of its theatrical release. Coming so quickly after the end of the War, the experiences of the characters on screen exactly duplicated the experiences of real Americans at that moment in our history. As another reviewer has speculated, it must have had an extremely powerful effect on the audiences of that day. It's still a memorable film-viewing experience now, 55 years later.

I won't get into the story line, because others have done that well enough. Actually, if you break the plot skeleton down into its elements it's probably not much different from other dramas of its type. What sets this movie miles apart is the very high quality of its production, and the way all of its elements merge together into a nearly perfect whole: First, the stirring music in the opening titles. Then the beautiful black and white photography, beginning with a lone soldier (Dana Andrews) looking already somewhat out of place in a bustling modern airport. The wonderful cross country ride in the nose of a B-17 as the three returning veterans get a bird's eye view of the land they fought to save (one of them losing his hands in the process). The taxi ride down Main Street in their home town -- the most compelling tidbit of nostalgia I've ever seen on film, and an honest peek into a bright, optimistic world that is long gone. Later, the difficulty in readjusting to civilian life, each of the three veterans with his own special problems.

For older viewers, this film is an almost overwhelming nostalgia trip. For younger viewers, it's an engaging drama and a truthful history lesson about who we as Americans are and where we've come from. I was a small child when this was made, but I can still remember the flavor of those post-War years. No, it wasn't a perfect world. In some ways it was very much like the one we live in now, but unless you were there, you can't imagine the impact that humongous war had on people's lives for at least a decade afterwards. "The War," though in past tense, was involved in some way with almost everything you heard about. In fact, when Korea blew up in 1950, that conflict had a hard time being taken seriously because of the still very powerful lingering effects and memories of the recent "big one."

As I mentioned before, The Best Years of our Lives has only been readily available for viewing, either on TV or personal video, for the past ten or 15 years, and that's also true now of a lot of the great films (luckily for us!). This movie is an emotional one with an emotional appeal, so it's no surprise that it moves up and down in the "top 100" lists. A while back, in the early '90s, it was in the top five. Lately it's in the top 70 or so. The people who make these lists are fickle, and so the lists take you on a roller coaster ride over the years, but these things always seem to come full circle in due time.

I still remember, about ten years ago a top radio and TV talk show host announced that he had seen The Best Years of Our Lives the night before. In hushed, almost reverent tones he continued: "It is absolutely the greatest film I have ever seen!"

What can I add to that? I absolutely agree!

Rating:
Summary: The Best Film Of Our Lives!
Review: It's amazing that a film can last 55 years after it's initial release and still be a memorable, sad, poignant, classic film that, unfortunately, is no longer made. There is absolutely no artistic integrity in our U.S. films! We have to look towards the foreign market in order to find art. But at least this film shows us that once upon a time we Americans had GREAT films.

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES tells the story of three American veterans who return home after fighting overseas and discover that the home they once knew has changed without them. They all take the same plane home to Boone City (supposedly patterned after Cinncinnati) and go off into their own lives. Eventually, they all cross paths with each other.

Al Stephenson, played by the talented Fredric March (DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE), is an Army sergeant who finds that his job as a banker is unsatisfying. His wife Milly, played by Myrna Loy (THE THIN MAN), and their grown-up daughter Peggy, played by Teresa Wright (MRS. MINIVER, THE LITTLE FOXES) are surprised and thrilled by Al's return and a happy reunion begins. (There's also a son, Pat (Michael Hall), but he disappears after his first scene.) After a night of drinking and dancing, Milly and Peggy bring a drunken Al and Fred, played by regular tough-guy Dana Andrews (LAURA), back home. Eventually, Peggy falls in love with Fred, much to Al's disapproval later on. (A very tense scene between the two men.)

Then there's Fred's life. This segment shows him readjusting to life as a soda jerk, a job he swore he would never return to. There's Virginia Mayo as his unhappy, floozy wife, Marie; Roman Bohnen and Gladys George as Fred's parents Pat and Hortense Derry.

Finally, and perhaps the saddest, is Navy private Homer Parrish, played by real-life amputee and nonprofessional actor Harold Russell. In his segment, there's his uncle Butch Engle, played by jazz pianist Hoagy Carmichael; his parents; and his girlfriend Wilma Cameron, played by newcomer Cathy O'Donnell. There is, of course, the matter with his hooks, which he lost when they were burned off during the war. But Homer, apparently cheerful about the prospects of his new "hands," goes on with his life despite his family and friends' horror at the things. (There is a touching scene, albeit a little scary, when Homer reveals his hooks to the kids by smashing the windows in his garage.)

Through it all they get threw their adversities one-by-one. Al finds happiness once again with Milly; Fred leaves Marie, who has been having an affair and wants a divorce, and goes to Peggy, despite Al's objections; and Homer marries Wilma, finally.

But the one scene that I thought was uncalled for was when Homer and another man get into an argument about the war and the reason for America's entry. I, for one, agree with the man! But his views obviously ticked Homer off and sends him into a rage, attacking the man for no reason. Then Fred jumps in and punches the guy in the face, sending him crashing into a display counter. I think that was unfair and uncalled for! However, Fred does lose his job, much to his delight!

But once again, this was an excellent film! An epic film that didn't show a single battle scene, only people with feelings and emotions. Now why can't we have films like that today? Well, don't worry, I'll fix that very soon.

This film was directed by the great William Wyler (MRS. MINIVER, BEN-HUR), and shot by cinematographer Gregg Toland (CITIZEN KANE). Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert E. Sherwood, who also wrote the script for REBECCA; and produced by legendary producer Samuel Goldwyn. Distributed by RKO Radio.

Winner of 7 Academy Awards, in 1946, including: Best Picture - Sam Goldwyn, producer; Best Director - William Wyler; Best Actor - Fredric March; Best Supporting Actor - Harold Russell, who won another special Oscar for "bringing hope to veterans"; Best Screenplay - Robert E. Sherwood; Best Film Editing - Daniel Mandell; and Best Score - Hugo Friedhofer. Nominated for 8, it only lost the Best Sound Recording Oscar for Gordon Sawyer. (Don't worry, though, the Academy named an award after him - not too shabby!)

At a length of almost 3 hours (170 minutes or 2 hours and 50 minutes to be exact), THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES proves that only family, friends, and their love IS the best thing in our lives.

Rating:
Summary: "How many times have we had to fall in love all over again?"
Review: Myrna Loy gives this reproof to her daughter Teresa Wright when Wright accuses Loy and dad Frederic March of having forgotten what it's like to fall in love. Loy and March have had a lot of adjusting to do just recently, with his having returned home from the war in the Pacific, and they're not the only ones facing that challenge. "The Best Years of Our Lives" concerns three servicemen, each from a different branch of service, each from a different socioeconomic level, each at a different time of life, who must make the difficult adjustment from wartime to peacetime. Frederic March was in the army. He's been married twenty years to his wife and is a well-to-do banker living in a luxury apartment building. His challenge is to re-enter his marriage and try to balance the needs of the bank with the needs of returning loan-seeking veterans. Dana Andrews was a star pilot in the airforce. He's from a shanty on the wrong side of the tracks, and he got married after a whirlwind romance while on furlough. He's got to find a job outside the airforcce now, and deal with some bad combat memories while coping with his good-time girl of a wife, Virginia Mayo. The actor playing Homer was not a professional, but was chosen because, like the character he portrayed, he too had lost both his hands in an accident during the war. Like Andrews, he has to find a job, but he has the extra burden of being disabled complicating his long-standing engagement to the girl next door. March and "Homer" have the best scenes in the movie, but for different reasons. March is a veteran actor playing a veteran of combat. He brings great depth to his role, beautifully giving us awkwardness and passion mixed together in his early scenes with Loy as they spend their first day morning together post war. Homer has the scenes with emotional wallop: his homecoming, when his mother's hand flies to her mouth as she first sees his hooks as he waves goodbye to the other men in the cab; the solitude of his nights, when his father has to prepare him for bed; his vulnerability as he demonstrates to his fiancee what it would mean to marry a person with such disabilites. This is the price of war, even with victory. A fundamentally honest work, "The Best Years of Our Lives" details the anxiety of veterans at drift back on the homefront. It's a powerful movie which pays tribute to the men and the sacrifices they made.

Rating:
Summary: Stands Up Beautifully
Review: The Best Years of Our Lives is amazing in its timeliness. It is a wonder that such a movie, which intelligently handled the returning of three vets of World War II, could be made so soon after the end of the war, including pointed references to Hiroshima and a not so veiled stab at the anit-Communist hysteria growing in the country, and could be made so well that it goes beyond to timely into timeless. The three returnees are Frederic March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell and they handle their chores very well indeed. Myrna Loy is on hand to give another beautiful portrayal of an intelligent wife with a forgiving twinkle in her eye. The film is almost three hours long and it handles this time with great skill. A wonderful look at the effects on war on the home front after the fighting is over.

Rating:
Summary: Best Picture of 1946
Review: This film is a true post-WWII classic. The story follows three returning veterans from the war, and shows how they deal with life after military service. Each story is touching in its own way. Harold Russell, who actually lost both hands in the war, plays a disabled sailor. He won two Academy Awards for this--a special award for inspiring disabled veterans and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar--to become the only performer in Academy history to win two Oscars for the same performance. This film also features some of the best black and white cinematography I've ever seen. The flight back into their hometown at the beginning of the film is just beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: Americans Goe On With Life -- After WWII
Review: This film tells the stories of several couples coping with Post-WWII life. Through many moving accounts the audience learns how the War has changed people, while their human spirit went on to triumph. -- My favorite scene is where a young service man, who returned home a double amputee (after losing both arms up to the elbow) is sure that he would be no good to his sweetheart, who still wants to marry him. His girl simply said that she would help him with the things he wouldn't be able to do, but that they would be fine together. Moved by this true demonstration of love, the man embraces his fiancee in tears. -- The scene where a service man asked for a bank loan is also a highlight. When he is initially refused as a "high risk", a higher ranking bank official takes over saying "You fought for our country and kept us safe--that's good enough for me. Your loan is approved!" -- "The Best Years of Our Lives" won 6 Oscars, including a special statuette for the disabled actor who showed us all that life goes on and will continue to be worth living, even with a severe handicap. -- This film is a joy to watch over and over again. A true classic! Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: This is why people like movies
Review: I've seen a lot of movies, but this is easily the best movie about WWII post-war. In fact, I can't think of a better film...about anything. Story, directing, acting, CASTING...wow. Why can't movies this good still be made? When you see this, and I hope you do, carry a hanky (or a blanket). But don't worry, you will LOVE it............ Then go thank a member of that generation.

Rating:
Summary: It's not a flood in your house it's just your tears!
Review: A lot of people say this film plays like a Soap Opera but it really doesn't. It is just a honest look at what happens when some veterans returen from war. From the opening sequence we are all confronted with a sense of urgency and longing for how bad the men want to return to their normal lives! But their lives aren't normal Al Stephenson (Fredric March) realizes his kids have grown older and don't have the same bond with their father. Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) is trapped in a wreck of a marriage and Homer Parish (Harrold Parrish) was disfigured in the war and wonders if his family will accept him. This film is all about the human condition and the after effects of war. How can one rebuild ones life after being responsible for the death of others on the opposing side. How can you return to a life that you left behind when the world moves forward while the war seems to be standing still in your mind. This film never once goes for sap and every scene is raw and full of emotion and power! It is still relevant today due to the fact that the cruel mannerisms of war are still being felt and fought around the world. Films like this should be watched and discussed in great detail if everyone truly understands the after shocks of war then we wouldn't have a need for it.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Years Is The Best!
Review: It was the beginning in Hollywood of the end of lies about war.

Rating:
Summary: Best film for 1946
Review: THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES...poignant story about three WWII veterans coming back home and adjusting....best film for 46'...some of the best heart wrenching scenes I have ever seen.