Now TCM, 'The Best Years of Our Lives' 1946, Three World War II Veterans Come Home, Best Picture

[appalachiablue]

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) is producer Samuel Goldwyn's classic, significant American film about the difficult, traumatic adjustments (unemployment, adultery, alcoholism, and ostracism) that three returning veteran servicemen experienced in the aftermath of World War II.

The major stars, who each gave the performance of their lives in this Best Picture winner, were:
•Fredric March as the eldest returning veteran, alcoholic Army Sergeant Al Stephenson, married to loyal Milly (Myrna Loy)
•Dana Andrews as handsome Air Force bombadier Fred Derry, involved in two romances - with party-girl wife Marie (Virginia Mayo), and in a new love relationship with Al's daughter Peggy (Teresa Wright)
•Harold Russell (almost uncredited in the film) as sailor Homer Parrish (a WWII vet), the hometown's former football hero, with fiancee/girlfriend Wilma (Cathy O'Donnell)

The germinal idea for the literate, meticulously-constructed film came from a Time Magazine pictorial article (August 7, 1944) that was then re-fashioned into a novel titled Glory for Me by commissioned author MacKinlay Kantor. Kantor's blank-verse novel was the basis for an adapted screenplay by distinguished Pulitzer Prize winning scriptwriter Robert E. Sherwood (his earlier works were The Petrified Forest and Idiot's Delight).
The ironic title refers to the troubling fact that many servicemen had 'the best years of their lives' in wartime, not in their experiences afterwards in peacetime America when they were forced to adapt to the much-changed demands and became the victims of dislocating forces. However, it could be argued that the servicemen also gave up and sacrificed 'the best years of their lives' - their youthful innocence and health - by serving in the military and becoming disjointed from normal civilian life. [Photographs in the houses of each of the returning servicemen recall an earlier time that was irretrievably past.]The poignant, moving film realistically transports its present-day audiences back to the setting of the late 1940s, where the film's three typical protagonists return from their honored wartime roles to their past, altered middle-American lives and are immediately thrust into domestic tragedies, uncertainties, conflicts and awkward situations - handicapped (both physically and emotionally) by their new civilian roles. Wyler's Best Picture-winning Mrs. Miniver (1942) can be considered as a companion piece to this film, from the British perspective.

The superb, eloquent, and realistically-intimate film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won seven Oscars: Best Picture (Samuel Goldwyn's sole competitive Oscar win), Best Actor (Fredric March - his second Oscar - the first was for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)), Best Supporting Actor (Harold Russell), Best Director (William Wyler - his second of three career Oscars), Best Screenplay (Robert E. Sherwood), Best Editing, Best Musical Score -- its nomination for Best Sound was the only one that failed to win. Real-life double amputee (from a ship explosion) and one of the cast's inexperienced actors - Harold Russell received an additional Special Honorary Oscar "for bringing hope and courage to fellow veterans" for his first performance. [Russell is the only actor ever to win two Oscars for the same role. He wouldn't act again until Inside Moves (1980) and Dogtown (1997).] Under-rated actor Dana Andrews was denied a deserved Oscar nomination, as a returning 'fly-boy.'

Oscar-winning epic director William Wyler's cinematographer, Gregg Toland, known for his depth of focus camerawork in previous films (such as Citizen Kane (1941) and The Little Foxes (1941)) contributed his talent to the three-hour long black and white film masterpiece with richly-textured and crisp images, deep-focus shots, and framed scenes. Wyler had experienced wartime himself in the US Army Air Corps, during which he made three morale-boosting, war-related documentaries: The Fighting Lady (1944), The Memphis Belle (1944), and Thunderbolt (1945). The film was producer Samuel Goldwyn's most successful and important work - he also was presented with the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award. The film was a major commercial success - the biggest box-office draw since Gone With The Wind (1939) AMC Movie Bests, http://www.filmsite.org/besty.html
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LA Times, Feb. 1, 2002. Harold Russell, the disabled World War II veteran who received two Academy Awards for his role in "The Best Years of Our Lives," has died. He was 88. Russell, who lost both of his hands in an explosion during the war, died Tuesday of a heart attack in Needham, Mass., his family announced Thursday.
"The Best Years of Our Lives," was the runaway hit of the 1946 Academy Awards. The film, which dealt with the harsh realities of servicemen adjusting to changed families and a changing country after years of warfare, won seven Academy Awards and a special Oscar, including those for best picture, best director for William Wyler and best actor for Frederic March. It also won for best screenplay, music and editing.
Russell's two Oscars, one for best supporting actor and a special award from the academy governors, made him the only person in academy history to win two awards for the same role. Years later, he would make headlines again when he decided to sell one of his statuettes. con't.
"Harold Russell, 88; Disabled Actor Won 2 Oscars for 'The Best Years of Our Lives', Feb. 1, 2002.
http://articles.latimes.com/2002/feb/01/local/me-russell1

[Trust Buster]

1. Yes, I'm watching it. In the introduction, it was noted that the actor with the hooks for arms

wasn't an actor at all. He was a real WWII veteran who suffered those actual injuries. He had no acting experience but turned out to be the highlight of the movie.

[cyberswede]

2. yep - remarkable.

I love this movie. It's a little sappy, but in the right way.

Plus: Hoagy Carmichael.

[appalachiablue]

5. Harold Russell, there's bio info. in the Op now. Russell was very active

for decades after the war with Veterans groups and rehabilitation efforts, and working on presidential commissions for the disabled since Lyndon Johnson. In the 1980s when working at a United Way agency for the visually impaired I attended a White House Conference on the Handicapped. Harold Russell was the keynote speaker, followed by Ted Kennedy Jr. and his dad the Senator who stood up in the audience to applause. It was a fine occasion to be remembered.

[Trust Buster]

6. Interesting perspective, thanks.

[Ex Lurker]

7. Harold Russell's first role was in a Signal Corps documentary on his own recovery from his injuries

"Diary of a Sergeant."

Note that it isn't his own voice. He had a twangy New England accent that wasn't deemed suitable to narrate the film.

[PSPS]

9. Narration was by the famous Broadway actor Alfred Drake.

[pmorlan1]

3. Don't have TCM but I do own this one

I'll have to watch tomorrow. I love this movie too.

[Major Nikon]

4. I really like this movie for a number of reasons

[busterbrown]

8. Top 10 of all time..

Nothing more I need tro say..

[appalachiablue]

13. Yes, what a superb American movie.

[closeupready]

10. I love old war movies - just watched Guns of Navarrone

tonight, as a matter of fact. Over the last few months, I've watched The Great Escape, Bridge Over the River Kwai, The Train, the Secret of Santa Vittoria ... can't get enough of them, seems like.

If TCM has on-demand, I'll try to watch it soon. Thanks for the head's up.

[Sweet Freedom]

11. A great film. /nt

[Sherman A1]

12. A great film