The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Directed by

William Wyler

Genre

drama film, war film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 52m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.7 of 10 from 750 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Three American servicemen return home after World War II and try to adjust to civilian life. They each face different personal and social challenges as they reconnect with their families and communities.

poignantearnestthoughtfulemotionalquietly intensegroundedbittersweethopeful

What happens

The Best Years of Our Lives (also known as Glory for Me and Home Again) is a 1946 American epic drama film directed by William Wyler and starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo and Harold Russell. The film depicts three United States servicemen returning from World War II and re-adjusting to societal changes and civilian life. The men come from different military branches, with different ranks that do not correspond with their civilian social class backgrounds. The film is credited for its portrayal of post-World War II era hardships and of reincorporation of veterans into society after their often traumatic terms in the US military. It is one of the earliest films to address such issues, dealing with concerns such as PTSD and a resurgence of isolationist policy. There are prescient references to nuclear destruction, and to reintegration policies with veterans that extended into the Vietnam War era and beyond. The Best Years of Our Lives was a critical and commercial success, winning seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler), Best Actor (Fredric March), Best Film Editing (Daniel Mandell), Best Adapted Screenplay (Robert E. Sherwood), and Best Original Score (Hugo Friedhofer). In addition, for his role as Parrish, Russell won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He had received an honorary Oscar for ''bringing aid and comfort to disabled veterans through the medium of motion pictures.'' The special award was created because the Board of Governors wanted to salute Russell, a non-professional actor, but assumed he had little chance for a competitive win. It was the only time in Oscar history that the academy awarded two Oscars for the same performance. In 1989, The Best Years of Our Lives was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It was the highest-grossing film in both the United States and United Kingdom since the release of Gone with the Wind. In 2004, it was named the sixth most-attended film of all time in the UK, with over 20 million tickets sold. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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