The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

The Best Years of Our Lives concerns three WWII veterans struggling to reintegrate to their normal lives after returning from the war. Al Stephenson (Frederic March) is promoted to a reputable banking situation but has a hard time performing his duties and being the family man he once was, Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) has no skills for a job outside of a soda jerker and is no longer as appealing out of his uniform to his superficial wife and Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) must face the pity and shock of his family and friends when he returns from the war with hooks instead of hands. Their struggle represents the struggle of a whole generation of Americans returning to a land that feels no longer theirs.

Well, here we go again, it’s another postwar message film. The Best Years of Our Lives is a perfectly fine film but it takes an awfully long time (172 minutes) to convey the “it’s hard to readjust to life after the war” message. To be fair, the film did not feel that long and the acting and music are very strong, but it passes to the realm of distant memory almost immediately after it’s over. It’s kind of like diet Born on the Fourth of July. Harold Russell’s performance in particular is surprisingly very strong considering he was a real war veteran and not an experienced actor. The film also includes an always-welcome appearance from the great piano player Hoagy Carmichael, famous for composing the music for several classics including “Georgia On My Mind” and for his appearance in To Have and to Have Not, the film with the first on-screen pairing of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. The Best Years of Our Lives is actually a very good film with a lot going for it- it just did very little for me after a steady diet of thematically too-similar Best Picture winners, including director William Wyler’s own Mrs. Miniver. I’m looking forward to at least a few non-war Best Pictures in the years ahead…

I agree with Tim.  The thing that set these apart from the other war movies is the character Homer, who is left with hooks for hands.  His performance is remarkable.  His acting, like Tim said, is quite wonderful but I am so impressed with his ability to do everyday activities with his disability.  He shoots a gun in the film and the most impressive is when he played the piano with Hoagy Carmichael!  Very cool!  It was heart and soul but he played it with flair!  I felt like this was the perfect movie to blog about during Veteran's Day.  It very adequately describes the pains of coming home from war to changed world, where everything is almost the same and yet, everything is different.  The soldiers come home with PTSD, alcoholism, physical and mental impairments, and of course the ungrateful wife who leaves her husband when he gets a job as a soda jerk.  It was a good movie and there really were fantastic moments, it just wasn't the best 172 minutes of our lives... see what I did there?

For his performance as Homer Parrish, Harold Russell became the only actor to win two Academy Awards for the same role. The Academy Board of Governors thought he was a long shot to win, so they gave him an honorary award "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance." Later that ceremony he won for Best Supporting Actor. 

Al Stephenson: 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?