The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
“You know, I had a dream. I dreamt I was home. I've had that same dream hundreds of times before. This time, I wanted to find out if it's really true. Am I really home?”
A tough and timeless tribute to the challenges and triumphs of our veterans.
My grandfather was discharged from the Army on 30 November, 1945. The Best Years of Our Lives was released a year later. We never talked about this movie. We rarely talked about his service in the military. I wish we had.
Years begins with three new veterans hitching a flight home to the Midwest. Fred (Dana Andrews - Battle of the Bulge) is an Army Air Corps Captain; Al (Fredric March - Death of a Salesman) is a senior Army Sergeant, and Homer (Harold Russell - China Beach) is a sailor.
The short summary of this very long movie (just shy of 3 hours) is that each man is forced to wrestle with the challenges of civilian life, sometimes with success, sometimes failure
For Fred, it is returning to a wife (Virginia Mayo) who he married just two weeks before shipping out…and finding work in a world that doesn’t need someone whose only skill is dropping bombs.
Al seems to have an easier time: he returns to his job as a banker and is promoted. But he quickly falls into a cycle of drinking that threatens his career.
Homer carries the most physical burden, having lost both hands in combat. While his family and girl (Cathy O’Donnel - Ben-Hur) clearly love him, the former athlete struggles to overcome a sense of physical helplessness.
There is a lot to like in this film. Its presentation of the difficulty many veterans faced - and continue to face - after war is unflinching. It is, frankly, astonishing that a film like this was released when it was, with many in the audience not just recognizing the challenges of Fred, Al, and Homer, but living them as they watched the movie. The Best Years of Our Lives is not just a good film; its production was an act of filmmaking courage.
Ok…this is a great movie. Are there any flaws?
Yes, but not enough to keep this from being one of our top-rated films. The biggest drag is its length and a story element (the romance between Al’s daughter and Fred) that felt contrived. My guess is that the director wanted to use to keep the Al and Fred stories connected, but there were other ways to accomplish this.
This is a great movie. As someone who has served and experienced many of the trials faced by Al, Fred, and Homer, it is also hard to watch without choking up at some points and feeling rage at others. But I’m glad I saw it. My only regret is not watching it with my grandfather.
You can catch it HERE.
Five out of Five Stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bonus #1:
Harold Russell (Homer) was a veteran. He lost both of his hands in 1944, while training as a paratrooper. He was selected for the part after the director saw a training film Russell appeared in after his accident. Although not a professional actor, he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Years Russell went on to serve three terms as National Commander of the AMVETS (American Veterans) service organization.
Bonus #2
The famous pharmacy scene.
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