The Best Years of Our Lives
starring: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo
directed by: William Wyler
directed by: William Wyler
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Winner of seven Academy Awards, including best picture, director, actor, and screenplay, William Wyler's brilliant drama about domestic life after World War II remains one of the all-time classics of American cinema. Inspired by a pictorial article about returning soldiers in Life magazine, the story focuses on three war veterans (Fredric March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell in unforgettable roles) and their rocky readjustment to civilian life in their Midwestern town of Boone City. Capturing the contradictory moods of America in the mid to late 1940s, this three-hour drama spans a complex range of honest emotions, from joyous celebration and happy reunion to deep-rooted ambivalence and reassessment of personal priorities. A movie milestone when released in 1946, The Best Years of Our Lives still packs a punch with powerful, timeless themes. --Jeff Shannon
Description:
It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to becomea nightmare. Captain Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) is returning to a loveless marriage; Sergeant Al Stephenson (Fredric March) is a stranger to a family that's grown up without him; and young sailor Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) is tormented by the loss of his hands. Can these three men find the courage to rebuild their world? Or are the best years of their lives a thing of the past? Featuring a brilliant cast that includes Myrna Loy and Virginia Mayo, this postwar classic garnered* seven OscarsÂ(r), including Best Picture. Heart-wrenching, touching and "filled with emotional dynamite" (The Hollywood Reporter), it remains "one of the best films about war veterans ever made" (American Movie Classics).*1946: Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Writing/Screenplay, Film Editing, Music/Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Winner of seven Academy Awards, including best picture, director, actor, and screenplay, William Wyler's brilliant drama about domestic life after World War II remains one of the all-time classics of American cinema. Inspired by a pictorial article about returning soldiers in Life magazine, the story focuses on three war veterans (Fredric March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell in unforgettable roles) and their rocky readjustment to civilian life in their Midwestern town of Boone City. Capturing the contradictory moods of America in the mid to late 1940s, this three-hour drama spans a complex range of honest emotions, from joyous celebration and happy reunion to deep-rooted ambivalence and reassessment of personal priorities. A movie milestone when released in 1946, The Best Years of Our Lives still packs a punch with powerful, timeless themes. --Jeff Shannon
Description:
It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to becomea nightmare. Captain Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) is returning to a loveless marriage; Sergeant Al Stephenson (Fredric March) is a stranger to a family that's grown up without him; and young sailor Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) is tormented by the loss of his hands. Can these three men find the courage to rebuild their world? Or are the best years of their lives a thing of the past? Featuring a brilliant cast that includes Myrna Loy and Virginia Mayo, this postwar classic garnered* seven OscarsÂ(r), including Best Picture. Heart-wrenching, touching and "filled with emotional dynamite" (The Hollywood Reporter), it remains "one of the best films about war veterans ever made" (American Movie Classics).*1946: Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Writing/Screenplay, Film Editing, Music/Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Before the movie, before the screenplay, a book-length poem
Many viewers of this great American movie -- it won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, for 1946 -- are unaware that it was based on a most unusual book-length narrative poem by MacKinlay Kantor, "Glory for Me," published in 1945.
In 1970, I was a lieutenant working at the Air Force Historical Research Center. The older historians told a word-of-mouth story how the book and the movie came to be. No doubt the story had been embroidered over many years of retelling, but here's the way ... Read More
Rating: 
- After the war is over
I like this movie. It showed what happens, when the boys come home from war. It's very realistic. I recommend this movie.
Rating: - Picking Up The Pieces After WWII
I'm a confessed sap for old movies.But even among mid twentieth century films, this one is superlative.It was made in 1946, just at the conclusion of world War II.
Three men, unknown to each other in their previous lives, return home to the same town.Al (Fredric March) was a banker, but in the war was an infantryman in the Army.Fred (charming Dana Andrews) prior to the war worked behind the counter serving ice cream and soda but ended up as a Captain (bombadier) in the Air Force. ... Read More
Rating: - Best Years is the best
This movie is one those classics that you can enjoy over and over again. It is timeless in its telling of men coming home from war and the struggles they face. The characters and richly drawn and you find yourself caring for them. The men come home to a place much altered than when they left. Trying to get back into a routine with friends and loved ones, married couples re-adjusting to each other, parents and a girlfired dealing with the double amputations of their son and fiance. To the couple that never ... Read More
Rating: - Gem of American Film
This deeply moving, beautifully written and performed film, was a long-planned tribute by director William Wyler to veterans of World War II, whose heroic service Wyler witnessed first-hand.Posted overseas himself during the war, Wyler vowed that when he returned to Hollywood, he would make a film that paid some sort of tribute to the men he worked with."The Best Years of Our Lives" is the fulfillment of Wyler's promise.Released in 1947, the film won seven Oscars (it was nominated for eight) including ... Read More
- Before the movie, before the screenplay, a book-length poemMany viewers of this great American movie -- it won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, for 1946 -- are unaware that it was based on a most unusual book-length narrative poem by MacKinlay Kantor, "Glory for Me," published in 1945.
In 1970, I was a lieutenant working at the Air Force Historical Research Center. The older historians told a word-of-mouth story how the book and the movie came to be. No doubt the story had been embroidered over many years of retelling, but here's the way ... Read More
- After the war is overI like this movie. It showed what happens, when the boys come home from war. It's very realistic. I recommend this movie.
- Picking Up The Pieces After WWIII'm a confessed sap for old movies.But even among mid twentieth century films, this one is superlative.It was made in 1946, just at the conclusion of world War II.
Three men, unknown to each other in their previous lives, return home to the same town.Al (Fredric March) was a banker, but in the war was an infantryman in the Army.Fred (charming Dana Andrews) prior to the war worked behind the counter serving ice cream and soda but ended up as a Captain (bombadier) in the Air Force. ... Read More
- Best Years is the bestThis movie is one those classics that you can enjoy over and over again. It is timeless in its telling of men coming home from war and the struggles they face. The characters and richly drawn and you find yourself caring for them. The men come home to a place much altered than when they left. Trying to get back into a routine with friends and loved ones, married couples re-adjusting to each other, parents and a girlfired dealing with the double amputations of their son and fiance. To the couple that never ... Read More
- Gem of American FilmThis deeply moving, beautifully written and performed film, was a long-planned tribute by director William Wyler to veterans of World War II, whose heroic service Wyler witnessed first-hand.Posted overseas himself during the war, Wyler vowed that when he returned to Hollywood, he would make a film that paid some sort of tribute to the men he worked with."The Best Years of Our Lives" is the fulfillment of Wyler's promise.Released in 1947, the film won seven Oscars (it was nominated for eight) including ... Read More
