Film-making of the Highest Order

Rating: 10/10 (10 February 2010)

Simply put, one of the finest motion pictures ever made. From Sherwood's exceptional screenplay to the marvelous, yet beautifully understated, ensemble acting; from Wyler's﻿ adroit direction and the superb cinematography of Gregg Toland (employing the deep focus photography he perfected with "Citizen Kane"), to the magnificent score by Hugo Friedhofer (amongst the finest ever written for the screen), this picture is a snapshot of our republic that would have moved the Founders to tears. A film deeply imbued with humanity and decency, experiencing it cannot but make one a better human being.
After Francis Goldwyn read an article entitled "The﻿ Way Home" in the 7 August, 1944, edition of Time magazine on the travails of servicemen returning to civilian life from the war, she showed it to her husband, producer Samuel Goldwyn; he was also deeply affected and decided to make a picture about the issues raised.
Goldwyn hired writer, newspaperman and former war correspondent MacKinlay Kantor to write an original story, which became the best-selling blank-verse novella "Glory for Me" (1945); he would later win a Pulitzer Prize for his Civil War novel﻿ "Andersonville."
Goldwyn then turned to playwright Robert E. Sherwood﻿ to turn Kantor's story into a screenplay. Former Director of War Information and speech-writer for FDR (it was he who coined the phrase that became "the arsenal of democracy"), Sherwood had already won three of his four Pulitzer Prizes and was himself no stranger to the cinema (he had co-written the screenplay for Hitchcock's first American film, "Rebecca," 1940). The result was titled "The Best Years of Our Lives."
Himself fresh out of the service, William Wyler was an ideal choice for director. Commissioned a major in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Wyler flew actual combat missions while making two classic documentaries, "The Memphis Belle" (1943) and "Thunderbolt" (1944). His courage while filming under extreme and life-threatening conditions earned him an Air Medal - and promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.
From the moment the film's opening credits begin to roll, Hugo Friedhofer's extraordinary music sets the emotional stage for the story about to unfold. Conducted by Franco Collura leading the London S.O., a superb re-recording of the complete Oscar-winning score was made in 1978 and released by Preamble on Lp; the CD was issued in 1988. Preamble is no longer﻿ extant, but the Australian 'Label X' obtained the rights and reissued a new digital transfer from the original master tapes in the best sound to date.