The Best Years of Our Lives
"The Best Years of Our Lives", a drama about servicemen attempting to return to their pre-World War II lives, won most of the awards that year, including four of the five for which "It's a Wonderful Life" was nominated. (The award for "Best Sound Recording" was won by "The Jolson Story".) "The Best Years of Our Lives," directed by William Wyler, Capra's business partner along with George Stevens in Liberty Films, was also an outstanding commercial success, ultimately becoming the highest-grossing film of the decade, in contrast to the more modest initial box-office returns of "It's a Wonderful Life".