The Best Years of Our Lives

Rating: 8/10 (20 April 2012)

From Oscar winning director William Wyler (Wuthering Heights, Mrs. Miniver, Ben-Hur, Funny Girl), the title is a good memorable one, and I found out later that it featured in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, so I was very keen. Basically the Second World War has ended, and infantry platoon sergeant Al Stephenson (Oscar nominated Fredric March), decorated Army Air Forces captain and bombardier Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) and aircraft carrier airman Homer Parrish (Oscar winning, Honorary Oscar and Golden Globe Special Award winning Harold Russell) are returning home. Before the war, Al was a bank loan officer, and he is returning to his family, wife Milly (Myrna Loy) and the grown up children, daughter Peggy (Teresa Wright) and college freshman son Rob (Michael Hall), but it is obvious he is struggling to readjust to a normal life, and becoming alcoholic. Before the war, Fred was working in a drugstore as a soda jerk, this is the only job he can return to, and he has found out his wife Marie (Virginia Mayo), who he met and married in training before he left, is working as a nightclub waitress. Homer lost both his hands after they were severely burned, so he relies on mechanical hook prostheses, and he knows that his parents and fiancée Wilma Cameron (Cathy O'Donnell) are finding it hard to cope and deal with his disability. Peggy meets Fred and becomes attracted by him, and she becomes jealous towards him and Marie, even contemplating breaking them further apart, but father Al tells Fred to stop seeing her, and as a result the two mens' friendship is damaged. Fred then finds out that his wife Marie has been having an affair with another veteran, Cliff (Steve Cochran), and she admits to it saying that she wants a divorce, and with that he decides to leave town, leaving his father with parting gifts, but he does get a new job. Homer meanwhile doesn't want to burden Wilma with his hard life, and he bluntly demonstrates his need for help doing certain things, but she makes him believe she loves him anyway. They agree to get married, and Fred is the best man at the wedding, and Homer and Wilma are very happy, as are Fred and Peggy who embrace their feelings because of his divorce. Also starring Hoagy Carmichael as Butch Engle, Gladys George as Hortense Derry, Roman Bohnen as Pat Derry and Ray Collins as Mr. Milton. The cast all do their parts very well, with March as the character who suffers terrible wartime nightmares, and especially Russell whose real life disability makes his performance both moving and powerful. The direction by Wyler is suitable for the emotional and realistic story, the most compelling of the three men of the plot is of course the poor man who lost his hands, I will admit it could be shorter, it is almost three hours, but all in all it is a worthwhile drama. It won the Oscars for Best Film Editing, Best Music for Hugo Friedhofer, Best Writing, Screenplay and Best Picture, and it was nominated for Best Sound, it won the BAFTA for Best Film from any Source, and it won Golden Globe Best Motion Picture - Drama. It was number 37 on 100 Years, 100 Movies, it was number 11 on 100 Years, 100 Cheers, and it was number 6 on The Ultimate Film. Very good!