Three WWII veterans return home
following the end of the war to their small Midwestern town to find that they
just do not quite fit in anymore, even within their own families.
The drama is directed by one of
Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers William
Wyler, who won one of his three best director Oscars for the film. Wyler
worked with composer Hugo Friedhofer
(who also won an Oscar for his work), production designers Perry Ferguson and
George Jenkins,
and cinematographer Gregg Toland. Toland’s
contribution to the film is particularly notable. The film is shot using deep
focus, a technique that Toland had developed through his collaborations with
Wyler and Orson
Welles (Citizen
Kane). While Toland did not win an Oscar for The Best Years of Our Lives,
it is brilliant photography.
The film has a wonderful cast,
all of whom give strong performances. Fredric March (who
won an Oscar), Dana
Andrews, and Harold
Russell star as the returning veterans (Russell served in the war and
received a special Oscar on top of his win for Best Supporting Actor for his
heroism). Myrna Loy,
Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O’Donnell,
and Hoagy
Carmichael feature in support.
All together The Best Years of
Our Lives won seven Oscars including Best Picture. It is one of the greatest
war dramas in film history (see my list of the Top
100 Films of the 20th Century); particularly because it focuses
on the hardships that men returning from war face at home – the cost of heroism
so to speak. Wyler made Mrs.
Miniver at the start of the war – a film urging America’s entering the war
to join England in their fight against Nazi Germany, as at the time they were
alone – documentaries during the war, and this film at the end. All of his
wartime work addressing the war is significant because it gets at the heart of
why we should fight evil and the effects of fighting on the soldiers on a very
human level. This is a must-see both as a war drama (as it gives a fuller
picture of war) and as a character drama.
Trailer: Here
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