In my opinion, this classic is one of the top 100 films of all-time, and I have seen 2300 films in 50 years. I started at age 10.

Rating: 10/10 (3 March 2007)

Since there have been so many reviews of this fine film I will write in a list form and attempt to address issues that have not been discussed.
1. Dana Andrews was 38 during the filming of this movie. His character according to the screenplay was in his mid 20s. Andrews, a highly underrated actor, did brilliantly play a character who was supposed to be much younger.
2. Fredric March like all GREAT actors needs at times to be restrained by the director to avoid over-the-top acting. He was mugging for the cameras when he was drunk on the night after his arrival and also the next morning when he was checking out his hang over in his mirror.
3. Dana Andrews was superb as he was in "Laura," "The Ox-Bowl Incident," "A Walk in the Sun," "The Purple Heart" and many other films. Why did Fredric March win the Academy Award and why was Dana Andrews not even nominated for his outstanding performance?
4. Harold Russell gave the best performance I have ever seen by a non actor.
5. I realize this was the 1940s but Dana Andrews seemed to have no romantic interest in his exceptionally attractive wife (Virginia Mayo).
6. Ray Teal, who played the right wing bigot, years later became famous for portraying the sheriff on "Bonanza."
7. The professor from the south wrote that the film was slow moving, boring and poorly acted. The professor more than likely is uninformed about classic films. The beauty and significance of these ageless classics is that they are slow moving character studies that avoid profanity, excessive violence and gratuitous sex.
***I was surprised that zero out of 3 people found my review useful.