A masterpiece of American cinema

Rating: 10/10 (11 August 2007)

What more can be said about this movie that hasn't already been said? "The Best Years of Our Lives" is William Wyler's masterpiece about soldiers returning home from World War II, and their struggles to adjust, along with the struggles of the women they love. Fredric March won the Oscar for his portrayal of Al Stephenson, an upper-middle class banker returning home to his lovely wife (Myrna Loy, who actually gets top billing despite being in a supporting role), good apartment and job, and two lovely children. Although March does a fine job, he's actually not at his best here: although Stephenson has been changed by his war experiences and seeing working-class people, his character's adjustment is fundamentally less difficult than that of Andrews' or Russell's characters. March's Al Stephenson is written as if he's being filmed through a softer lens than the other characters; he doesn't have nearly the sort of conflict and rough edges that March portrayed excellently in a whole range of other movies (eg. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", "A Star is Born", ""Inherit the Wind", and even a lesser movie like "The Young Doctors").
The Best Actor Oscar really should have gone to Dana Andrews, who puts in a stunning performance as Fred Derry, a man literally from the wrong side of the tracks, who returns home to find that he lacks the skills to fit into the new world. He got married just before leaving for the war to a woman he doesn't really love (in fact being in love with Wright's character), and can't cope with either this or his inability to get a good job, being forced and humiliated into going back to his old job as a soda jerk.
Finally, we come to Harold Russell, who plays Homer Parrish, a navy man who lost both his hands when his ship was bombed by the Japanese. Russell, who had had no previous acting experience, does an outstanding job, portraying both the eternal American spirit of optimism (eg. In his comment about being lucky that he still has his elbows), as well as the conflict of trying to adjust not only to having lost his hands, but to the fact that the people around him treat him differently. Deep down inside, he still loves his girlfriend Wilma (Cathy O'Donnell), but doesn't want to be a burden on her. This conflict creates some of the most heartbreaking scenes in the movie, such as the scene in which Homer's father puts him to bed, and the key sequence in which Homer shows Wilma what she'd really be getting into if she married him.
As for the supporting performances, they're all wonderful, too. Myrna Loy hits all the right notes as the wife Al Stephenson comes home to (and the rest of us would like to come home to); Teresa Wright suitably captures all the emotions in her complex relationship with Fred Derry, from sympathy when he's having a nightmare, to the piteous nature of her intention to break up his marriage ("with an axe", as her father humorously suggests). Virginia Mayo does well as Derry's wife, the nightclub singer who still wants to live a high life despite having a husband who can't adjust; and Cathy O'Donnell plays off Harold Russell beautifully. Finally, Hoagy Carmichael provides light relief as Butch, the piano-playing bar proprietor uncle of Homer.
Gregg Toland handles the cinematography, and once again shows his mastery of deep focus, particularly in one scene where Andrews is breaking off his relationship with Wright via a phone call in a booth way in the background, while Homer, Al, and Butch are at the piano in the foreground; and another scene where Andrews and Wright meet again at a wedding. The only minor quibble I'd have is that sometimes one gets the impression that Toland is doing these scenes just to show off how well he can do deep focus.
"The Best Years of Our Lives" runs some 170 minutes, but it's one of the very few movies much longer than about two-and-a-half hours that doesn't feel as though it could benefit significantly by having scenes pared down. "The Best Years of Our Lives" is one of the ten great American movies, and rates a 10 out of 10.