The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Three WWII veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Robert E. Sherwood (screen play), MacKinlay Kantor (from a novel by)

Stars:

Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews

Top 250 #176 | Won 7 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Myrna Loy	...	Milly Stephenson
Fredric March	...	Al Stephenson (as Frederic March)
Dana Andrews	...	Fred Derry
Teresa Wright	...	Peggy Stephenson
Virginia Mayo	...	Marie Derry
Cathy O'Donnell	...	Wilma Cameron
Hoagy Carmichael	...	Butch Engle
Harold Russell	...	Homer Parrish
Gladys George	...	Hortense Derry
Roman Bohnen	...	Pat Derry
Ray Collins	...	Mr. Milton
Minna Gombell	...	Mrs. Parrish
Walter Baldwin	...	Mr. Parrish
Steve Cochran	...	Cliff
Dorothy Adams	...	Mrs. Cameron

Storyline

The story concentrates on the social re-adjustment of three World War II servicemen, each from a different station of society. Al Stephenson returns to an influential banking position, but finds it hard to reconcile his loyalties to ex-servicemen with new commercial realities. Fred Derry is an ordinary working man who finds it difficult to hold down a job or pick up the threads of his marriage. Having had both hands burnt off during the war, Homer Parrish is unsure that his fiancée's feelings are still those of love and not those of pity. Each of the veterans faces a crisis upon his arrival, and each crisis is a microcosm of the experiences of many American warriors who found an alien world awaiting them when they came marching home.

---

Plot Keywords:

veteran | banker | marriage | love | pity | 

---

Taglines:

Three wonderful loves in the best picture of the year!

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 1947 (France)

Also Known As:

Glory for Me

Filming Locations:

Walnut Hills High School - 3250 Victory Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,100,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$23,650,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

172 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 1946 this became the most successful film at the box office since Gone with the Wind which was released 7 years earlier.

---

Goofs

Reflected on the car on the left side of the screen, when Fred kisses Peggy.

---

Quotes

Peggy Stephenson: Well, what have you been doing with yourself lately?
Fred Derry: Working.
Peggy Stephenson: Yes, Dad told me he heard you were in some kind of building work.
Fred Derry: Well, that's a hopeful way of putting it. I'm really in the junk business - an occupation for which many people feel I'm well-qualified by temperament and training.

---

Crazy Credits

"and introducing Cathy O'Donnell"

---

Connections

Referenced in Sunny Side Up (1994)

---

Soundtracks

"Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out the Barrel)"
(1927) (uncredited)
Music by Jaromir Vejvoda
Played on piano by Hoagy Carmichael and danced by Fredric March & Myrna Loy and other couples

User Reviews

The ravages of war don't end on the battlefield.

I watch this movie every time it plays on TV. A simply brilliant film. Three men return home from war and try to return to civilian life with great difficulty. All three led opposite lives during the war (Executive Banker became an army corporal, a soda jerk became an Air Force Captain and the High School Football hero loses both his arms in battle)and now each must reconstruct his life and connect with a new reality. The homes they return to, with grown children and independent, working women along with a depressed economy, only add to the strife. It's the scenes just off camera and the unspoken dialog which resonates the most loudly, however. The awkward intimacy of Frederich March and Myrna Loy and his struggle to return to his place as leader (both at home and at work) are heartbreaking.

Dana Andrews is riveting as the handsome, decorated Captain who struggles to keep his life together without the uniform.

The film is filled with honest characters and each is portrayed by a gifted actor.

This film, however, took on a whole other level after seeing, "Saving Private Ryan." The reality and magnitude of what these men lived through for love and country......and obviously it didn't end on the battlefield.

This is an essential for any collection.