{"id":40673,"date":"2018-09-18T14:16:26","date_gmt":"2018-09-18T21:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40673"},"modified":"2020-11-27T20:30:14","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T03:30:14","slug":"best-years-of-their-lives-the-1946","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40673","title":{"rendered":"Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Last year it was &#8216;Kill Japs&#8217; and this year it&#8217;s &#8216;Make money&#8217;.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Poster-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-40674\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Poster-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Poster.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nThree veterans (Fredric March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell) find their return home from World War II more challenging than expected. While March&#8217;s wife (Myrna Loy) is patient and loyal, his two children (Teresa Wright and Michael Hall) are now grown, and he is frustrated by his work for a bank that doesn&#8217;t sufficiently honor servicemen. Andrews &#8212; who struggles to find meaningful employment &#8212; learns that his war-time bride (Virginia Mayo) is more concerned about partying than settling down, and develops a growing crush on Wright. Meanwhile, Russell &#8212; who lost both hands during the war &#8212; suffers deep insecurity about the love and acceptance of his kind girlfriend (Cathy O&#8217;Donnell).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dana Andrews Films<\/li>\n<li>Disabilities<\/li>\n<li>Fredric March Films<\/li>\n<li>Marital Problems<\/li>\n<li>Myrna Loy Films<\/li>\n<li>Small Town America<\/li>\n<li>Teresa Wright Films<\/li>\n<li>Veterans<\/li>\n<li>Virginia Mayo Films<\/li>\n<li>William Wyler Films<\/li>\n<li>World War Two<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that the subject matter of this &#8220;superlative Americana&#8221; &#8212; about &#8220;three returning war veterans&#8230; who have troubles readjusting to home lives, love lives, and work situations&#8221; &#8212; is &#8220;still extremely relevant&#8221;. (Indeed, writing this response review 32 years after the publication of <em>GFTFF<\/em>, it remains more so than ever.)  He notes that &#8220;Robert Sherwood&#8217;s excellent, Oscar-winning script (adapted from [war correspondent] MacKinlay Kantor&#8217;s <em>Glory for Me<\/em>) was brutally frank for its time, perceptive and extremely poignant&#8221;: while &#8220;it is sympathetic towards its characters rather than being overly sentimental&#8221;, Peary advises viewers to &#8220;keep a supply of tissues on hand&#8221;. He points out that the film &#8220;is honest enough to show that even war heroes who are welcomed home with open arms will have to make an effort to achieve any degree of happiness in postwar America&#8221;, and concludes his review by stating that this Best Picture Oscar winner &#8212; which Peary nonetheless boots to the curb in his <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>, giving the award to <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=15461\"><em>It&#8217;s a Wonderful Life<\/em><\/a> instead &#8212; was &#8220;probably the best film of [Wyler&#8217;s] distinguished career&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>As Peary notes, the &#8220;entire cast is splendid&#8221;: &#8220;non-actor Russell was voted Best Supporting Actor&#8221;, while &#8220;March won Best Actor Oscar&#8221; for his performance &#8212; and while Peary opts for Jimmy Stewart&#8217;s leading role in <em>It&#8217;s a Wonderful Life<\/em> instead, he does note in <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em> that March was, &#8220;as usual&#8221;, a &#8220;strong, commanding presence&#8221; while also displaying tenderness and revealing &#8220;insecurities rarely evident in his earlier films&#8221;. Peary points out that &#8220;Loy, further establishing her &#8216;perfect wife&#8217; image, deserved an Oscar as well, but didn&#8217;t even get a nomination&#8221;. Finally, in <em>GFTFF<\/em>, Peary details several memorable scenes among many from the movie &#8212; including the tear-jerking &#8220;reunion scene&#8221; between Loy and March; Andrews &#8220;walking through an airplane graveyard&#8221;; &#8220;handicapped Russell allowing his sweet, loyal girlfriend&#8230; to take off his metal arm attachment and put him to bed&#8221;; and &#8220;March and Loy telling their grown daughter, Teresa Wright, that their relationship hasn&#8217;t been as easy as she assumed&#8221;. I&#8217;m also especially fond of the wonderfully prolonged homecoming scene opening the film, which effectively highlights both the reticence and hope felt by these men as they returned to the land and people they risked their lives to defend. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Be sure to check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xp1E5smfSDI\">short documentary film &#8212; &#8220;Diary of a Sergeant&#8221;<\/a> &#8212; that inspired Wyler to cast Russell. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fine performances across the board<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Veterans.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Veterans.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"992\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Veterans.png 992w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Veterans-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Veterans-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Veterans-768x557.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 992px) 100vw, 992px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-ODonnell.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-ODonnell.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"992\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40682\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-ODonnell.png 992w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-ODonnell-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-ODonnell-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-ODonnell-768x557.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 992px) 100vw, 992px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Wyler&#8217;s strong direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Wyler.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Wyler.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"992\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40679\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Wyler.png 992w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Wyler-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Wyler-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Wyler-768x557.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 992px) 100vw, 992px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"992\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40680\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Cinematography.png 992w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Cinematography-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Cinematography-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Cinematography-768x557.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 992px) 100vw, 992px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Gregg Toland&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"992\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40681\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Cinematography2.png 992w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Cinematography2-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Cinematography2-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Cinematography2-768x557.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 992px) 100vw, 992px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"992\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40677\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene3.png 992w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene3-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene3-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene3-768x557.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 992px) 100vw, 992px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Many powerfully affecting scenes<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"992\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene.png 992w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene-768x557.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 992px) 100vw, 992px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"992\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40684\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene2.png 992w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene2-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene2-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Best-Years-Scene2-768x557.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 992px) 100vw, 992px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as an enduring and deserved classic. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#classic\">Genuine Classic<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#oscar\">Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0036868\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/timesmachine.nytimes.com\/timesmachine\/1946\/11\/22\/93183639.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmsite.org\/besty.html\">FilmSite Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/68507\/the-best-years-of-our-lives#articles-reviews?articleId=21812\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s4340best.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Last year it was &#8216;Kill Japs&#8217; and this year it&#8217;s &#8216;Make money&#8217;.&#8221; Synopsis: Three veterans (Fredric March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell) find their return home from World War II more challenging than expected. While March&#8217;s wife (Myrna Loy) is patient and loyal, his two children (Teresa Wright and Michael Hall) are now grown, and he is frustrated by his work for a bank that doesn&#8217;t sufficiently honor servicemen. Andrews &#8212; who struggles to find meaningful employment &#8212; learns that&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40673\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40673"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55388,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40673\/revisions\/55388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}