The perfect tribute to our veterans

Rating: 10/10 (17 July 2018)

"How many times have I said I hated you and believed it in my heart? How many times have you said you were sick and tired of me, and that we were all washed up? How many times have we had to fall in love all over again?"
One of the many reasons to love The Best Years of Our Lives is because there are so many different characters, ensuring that everyone in the audience can identify with someone. This is a story that touches you, no matter how old you are. It may be the most beloved movie celebrating our veterans, but it isn't necessarily a "coming home" movie. This is a movie that shows how different people cope with the same problem: What do you do when the best years of your life are behind you?
Another of the many reasons to love this movie is Hugo Friedhofer's Academy-Award winning score. This is one of the few movies ever made where each character has his or her own theme. His music evokes so many emotions from his listeners, the perfect mixture of nostalgia, tragedy, hope, love, resignation, patriotism, and perseverance. One of the many times you watch the film-because I'm sure you'll buy a copy and watch it all the time-try and imagine how terribly Max Steiner or Franz Waxman would have ruined the tender scenes.
Three veterans, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell, return to the same hometown at the end of WWII. They're extremely different, and had they not been travelling companions on the way back, they probably wouldn't have even met. As it is, they make a fast friendship, and it changes the course of their lives. Freddie returns home to two grown children and must readjust to life at home with his wife and work at the bank. Dana left for the war a hotshot soda jerk, and he married just before shipping out. When he comes home, he's in for two rude awakenings: he's not qualified for civilian work, and his wife wants everything to be fun and carefree as it was before. Harold has to make the greatest adjustment of all: he lost his hands. His character, Homer, was different in the original novel; director William Wyler rewrote the character to have lost his hands because he'd met veteran Harold Russell and wanted him to act in the movie. There are no special effects in this film; the hooks you see are really Harold's hooks. It's no wonder he won Best Supporting Actor in 1947 and also took home a second Oscar for inspiring our veterans!
It's impossible to choose a favorite of the three veterans' stories, because they're all relatable, cleverly written, and realistically acted. Even the smallest roles are acted beautifully. For example. Dana Andrew's father and stepmother, Roman Bonnen and Gladys George, are only onscreen for about five minutes, but their scene is one of the most touching for parents in the audience to watch. Fredric March won his second Oscar for this movie, and it's not hard to see why. He gives yet another incredible performance, and as his character frequently uses alcohol to help him adjust to his new life, his levels of intoxication are flawlessly realistic. Myrna Loy, Freddie's wife, is one of the most underrated classic actresses, and she gives the perfect portrayal of "the wife". Donna Reed and June Allyson were often cited as ideal wives during that time period, but they've got nothing on Myrna Loy. Dana Andrews wasn't often given roles to show off his dramatic talents, but he was able to show them off in The Best Years of Our Lives. His character in the original novel is the lead, and in the film, he's given many choice scenes to show other veterans they're not alone in their disappointments, regrets, and recurrent nightmares from the battlefield.
As usual, William Wyler's impeccable directions adds to the dramatic essence of the film. He knows how to get to the core of the scene and never uses the camera to distract the audience. Equal to his talent is that of screenwriter Robert E. Sherwood. He took one of the most depressing, morbid novellas The Bishop's Wife and turned it into a delightful Christmas classic, and he adapted the novel Glory for Me, written entirely in verse, into a three hour masterpiece. I've read Glory for Me, and it's incredibly moving in its own right, but the talent it took to turn it into a screenplay is mindblowing.
This is not only a wonderful tribute to our veterans, but it shows the serious adjustments they make when they come home, without ever becoming overly dramatic. This is not only one of the best old movies ever made, but it's one of the greatest films of all time. If you've never seen it, or you've only seen the remake The Lucky Ones, buy a copy, along with a box of Kleenex.