The Best Years of Our Lives
The Best Years of Our Lives is a
1946 movie about three servicemen (an airman, a soldier, and a sailor) trying to piece their lives back together after coming back home from
WWII. It is based on a novel by
MacKinlay Kantor,
Glory for Me. The large cast includes
Fredric March,
Myrna Loy,
Dana Andrews,
Teresa Wright,
Virginia Mayo, and
Hoagy Carmichael.
Directed by
William Wyler and with cinematography by
Gregg Toland, the film received seven
Academy Awards.
Harold Russell, who lost both hands in the war and played an amputee, received an honorary award "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance" in the movie. Despite his touching Oscar-nominated performance, he was not a professional actor and the Board of Governors assessed Russell's chances of winning a competitive award as a long shot. About an hour later, Russell was named Best Supporting Actor to a tumultuous reception. He is the only actor to receive two Academy Awards for the same performance.
 |
The Best Years of Our Lives bar scene. Note the in-focus figure in the phone booth in the background. |
After
World War II, demobilized servicemen Fred, Homer, and Al are hitching a ride home in a bomber to Boone City, a Midwestern city like Des Moines or Omaha. Fred was an air force Captain and a bombardier in Europe. Homer had been in the Navy and lost his hands because of burns when his ship was hit. Al had been an Army Sergeant in the Pacific.
Before the war, Fred had been a
soda jerk at a drug store. He goes from being an important officer to the prospect of returning to the drug store and he naturally wants more. Fred met Marie while in basic training and married her shortly afterwards. She took a job as a night club waitress while Fred was overseas and clearly does not relish being married to a soda jerk. Al's daughter Peggy, who works at a Veterans Hospital, meets Fred and falls in love with him.
Al had been a loan officer for the Corn Belt Bank. Al, while shown to have a drinking problem, has the least trouble adjusting to civilian life. In fact, he receives a promotion from the bank upon his return. However, having seen the horrors of war, Al is a changed man.
Homer appears to have been inducted after graduating from high school and mentions having been a quarterback. He is engaged to Wilma, but doesn't want to burden her with a handicapped man. His uncle Butch owns a bar where the principal characters meet from time to time.
*
Myrna Loy .... Milly Stephenson
*
Fredric March .... Al Stephenson
*
Dana Andrews .... Fred Derry
*
Harold Russell .... Homer Parish
*
Teresa Wright .... Peggy Stephenson
*
Virginia Mayo .... Marie Derry
*
Cathy O'Donnell .... Wilma Cameron
*
Hoagy Carmichael .... Uncle Butch
*
Won:
Best Picture -
Samuel Goldwyn, producer
*
Won:
Best Leading Actor -
Fredric March*
Won:
Best Supporting Actor -
Harold Russell*
Won:
Best Director -
William Wyler*
Won:
Best Editing - Daniel Mandell
*
Won:
Best Original Music Score -
Hugo Friedhofer*
Won:
Best Adapted Screenplay -
Robert E. Sherwood*
Won:
Academy Honorary Award -
Harold Russell*Nomination:
Best Sound Mixing - Gordon Sawyer
*
Won:
Best Dramatic Motion Picture*
Won: Special Award for Best Non-Professional Acting - Harold Russell
*Ranked #37 at the
100 Years... 100 Movies list.
*Ranked #11 at the
100 Years... 100 Cheers list.
*Selected to preservation in
1989 by the
National Film Registry at the
Library of the United States Congress.
*
Milly Stephenson: "We never had any trouble." How many times did I tell you I hated you and believed it in my heart? How many times did you tell me you were tired of me; that we were all washed up? How many times did we have to fall in love all over again?
*
Al Stephenson: I've seen nothing, I should have stayed at home and found out what was really going on.
*
Fred Derry: You know what it'll be, don't you, Peggy? It may take us years to get anywhere. We'll have no money, no decent place to live. We'll have to work, get kicked around.
*
Peggy Stephenson: I've made up my mind.
Al Stephenson: Good girl.
Milly Stephenson: To do what?
Peggy Stephenson: I'm going to break that marriage up!
*
Butch Engle: Give 'em time, Kid. They'll catch on. You know, your folks'll get used to you and you'll get used to them. Then everything'll settle down nicely--unless we have another war. Then none of us have to worry 'cause we'll all be blown to bits the first day. So cheer up, huh?
*
Al Stephenson: Fine people, the Merrills. Strictly T.C.R. . . . Top Credit Rating.
*Filled with all the love and warmth and joy . . .the human heart can hold!
*Filming locations: Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia; Ontario International Airport, Ontario, California; Raleigh Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California; and the Samuel Goldwyn/Warner Hollywood Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
*
Hedda Hopper called the
Best Years of Our Lives, "The best film of the year." The quote was used in one of the film's posters.
*The
Hugo Friedhofer score was the subject of a thorough analysis in
Musical America, the foremost musicological publication of the time, by Dr Frederick Sternfield, in its March 1946 edition.
*Harold Russell, who won two Academy Awards for his performance as Homer, didn't appear in the film's original theatrical trailers and was not mentioned in press releases. While some saw this as a sign of studio attempts to push him into the background, Goldwyn intended that the double-amputee Russell be a surprise to the audiences, despite his having previously appeared in a film about the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers. Russell lost his hands while handling faulty explosives for an Army training film.
*Each of the planes seen waiting to be scrapped in the film would be worth several million dollars today to collectors. The planes actually were being scrapped, the studio simply took advantage of the location and timing to film those scenes. More of each type of plane is seen in the overflight scene than currently exist in the world.
*In his mid-30s, Dana Andrews was a decade older than his Fred Derry character was to have been.
*In an early scene, when Al mentions how long he has been married, Fred touches a row of insignia on the sleeve of his service coat. Those are "hash marks," indicating the duration of his service.
*
Reel Classics (includes MP3's)
