well made timely characters

Rating: 8/10 (10 February 2015)

Three servicemen return from WWII each facing their own readjustments. Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), Al Stephenson (Fredric March) and Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) get on the same flight. Sailor Homer lost his hands when his ship was sunk. He's modest but is concerned about his fiancÃ©e's true feelings. Everybody walk on egg shells with him. Al returns to his affluent life with his loving wife (Myrna Loy) and their kids Peggy and Rob (Teresa Wright, Michael Hall) but struggles nevertheless. Fred returns to his working class parents to find his wife Marie had moved out to work at a nightclub. The three men run into each other in a bar. Peggy falls for the married Fred.
Homer is heart breaking in the very traditional melodramatic way. Al is fascinating in that he has everything and yet he still reconnect. It is well acted with a timely subject matter at the time. It reminds me of the various PTSD movies arising in more modern times. In fact, Fred is suffering from PTSD. I'm sure these characters really hit home for the returning GIs and their families.