A tender, truthful romantic drama

Rating: 8/10 (21 August 2009)

William Wyler's "The Best Years of Our Lives" is today counted among the best films of all time. At the time of its release it was a smash hit at the box office while later taking home seven Oscars.
The story concerns a trio of WWII veterans returning to their homes in small-town America after the war. Each finds difficultly in picking up where they left off, both in terms of their place in small-town society and their relationships with their loved ones. It is worth noting that the screenplay resulted in one of the film's Oscar wins.
The cast is quite good and two of the individuals (Fredric March & Harold Russell) took home Oscars for their performances. Russell's performance is especially noteworthy since he wasn't even a professional actor. In fact, Russell also landed a second, honorary Oscar for 'bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance' in the film. The other male star, Dana Andrews, wasn't recognized with a nomination but I think that he gave a fine performance as well. As for the women (who also weren't recognized with any nominations), Teresa Wright leads the way while Myrna Loy & Virginia Mayo contributed solid performances as well.
Wyler's direction is impeccable and deservingly earned him an Oscar. The editing by three-time Oscar winner Daniel Mandell also earned an Oscar while Gregg Toland's cinematography is noted for its use of deep focus. Hugo Friedhofer's Oscar-winning score also deserves mention.
It's easy to see that the film is finely crafted but all of this would have been for naught if the story wasn't both authentic and touching. While I'm not exactly a huge fan of this brand of romantic drama I have to admit that the film did not leave me unmoved. Naturally, the 63 years that have passed since the film's release have served to date it somewhat but I believe that its status as a classic is well deserved.