A Film of Rare Breed

Rating: 9/10 (31 December 2006)

The Motion Picture Academy honored the World War II era with Best Picture honors for films that explored unique perspectives of the war each year from 1942 through 1946 (with the exception of 1945). In 1942, it was "Mrs. Miniver", about a family surviving on the home front. In 1943, "Casablanca" dealt with the seedy underbelly of the black market, and how it was used to transport people persecuted by Nazi Germany to the United States. In 1944's "Going My Way", it was more indirect; a young man seemingly goes half-cocked, marries a singer, then leaves for duty. And finally, we have "The Best Years of Our Lives", a tribute to veterans and what became of their lives once their tours of duty were finished.
Dana Andrews stars as Fred Derry, a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps who is returning to his hometown of Boone City. On his way, he meets a sailor named Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) and an infantry sergeant named Al Stephenson (Fredric March). Each man has a different perspective of their home town, as well as unique experiences from the war, even though all three served in the Pacific Theatre. And all three men bear their own scars of the war.
Though, like most films from Hollywood's so-called "golden age", this movie does have a "Hollywood ending", it isn't contrived here. The script by Robert Sherwood works well, and the performances by all the cast not only express the torment of men trying to fit back into their old lives, but also of their families and how they coped (or didn't cope) with them.
This movie is among William Wyler's best, and it would be the second of three Best Picture winners that he helmed in his career ("Mrs. Miniver" and "Ben-Hur" were the other two). It stands as a testament of among the best films Hollywood has to offer. As I have said already, the entire cast worked well together in this movie, one of the best examples of ensemble casting I have ever seen. But I give a special salute to Harold Russell, who plays the disabled sailor who just wants to be alone. Russell never considered himself a professional actor, and he had very few dramatic roles (mostly after 1980), yet the Academy deservedly bestowed him with not one, but two Oscar statuettes for his portrayal of Homer Parrish. I will not mince words here: Russell's performance is quite moving.
"The Best Years of Our Lives" is a film of rare breed. I say this because not many films explored the lives of military personnel after their experiences in war. There have been a few more recent examples, like "Coming Home" and, in a lesser sense, "Courage Under Fire", but this was among the first. It is a moving example of film-making at its best.