The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

I recently had a discussion with my book club about the psychological effects of World War II on its veterans and whether it was different from other wars. This movie is a little bit of an answer to that question. The Best Years of Our Lives is a remarkably relevant look at the difficulties encountered by soldiers returning home. Remarkable because the soldiers in this movie were returning home from World War II, the War that retains virtually no moral ambiguity, the war fought by the greatest generation, the good war. Despite those positive differences between these veterans and the veterans of Vietnam or Iraq, coming home could still be difficult as William Wyler's brilliant movie demonstrates.

The movie centers on three veterans who return via the same military cargo plane to their hometown of Boone City, Iowa. The eldest is played by Frederic March, who had been a star for more than 20 years by 1946, and was beloved for his many comedy rolls. He was a mere Sergeant in the army who is now returning to his wife, Myrna Loy, and his children, Peggy, Theresa Wright, who is in her very early 20s and Rob, who's still in high school. Assuming he's been gone for the duration of the war, it means he left them as a high school girl and a pubescent boy. He's barely arrived and he gets the call from his former boss at the local bank to start working again. work that seems far less interesting or important than it did before D-day.

The next is Fred Derry, played by Dana Andrews. He's spent the war years as one of the glamor boys of the air force, as the members of the other services are happy to rib him for. Unfortunately, he didn't feel much like a glamor boy since he spent the war as a bombardier who saw too many of his friends torn apart by Anti-aircraft guns. Most importantly, there is little call for a bombardier's skills in civilian life, so Fred finds himself moving from his relatively large pay as an officer in the Air Force to a disappointing return to his old job as a soda jerk at the local pharmacy, which has unfortunately been bought out by a national chain since left. His personal life is worse, as he comes to realize that he and his wife, whom he married just before he shipped out, have nothing in common. In fact she is, to use 1946 vernacular, quite common.

Finally, the youngest vet with the hardest transition is Homer played by real life wounded veteran Harold Russell. He won an Oscar for his portrayal, though I'm sure he would have preferred more work as an actor instead. He was forced to sell his Oscar shortly before his death because he needed the money (although I seem to recall that Stephen Spielberg heard about his predicament and bought the Oscar at an inflated price so....). At any rate, Russell (and Homer) lost both arms below the elbows in a fire resulting from his ship being bombed. He's been fitted with and taught how to use hooks, but needless to say this causes no small stir in Boone City, Iowa. Remember that we are dealing with a time when a man had been President for 13 years and had successfully hid from most of the public that he was unable to walk. The fact that Roosevelt was able to hide this, and felt the need to hide this is certainly an indication of the view of the disabled at that time. On the outside, Homer seems fine with his disability, but we are given a few glimpses into his limitations and the attitude of the outside world that can still make us think about what is means to be severely wounded in war.

All of these lives intersect and affect each other in a wonderful story. Of course, everything works out for the best in the end (this is peak studio power days, after all) but the journey to that happy ending was truly revolutionary at the time and can still teach us a great deal today.  This movie won 7 Oscars including wins for Best Picture, Robert Sherwood's screenplay, William Wyler's direction and the acting of Frederic March and Harold Russell. All are well deserved. It's a movie I've seen dozens of times and it still holds my interest. The story is so universal and if you get bored there are wonderful moments with the famous songwriter Hoagy Carmichael who plays Harold Russell's uncle. Overall just a wonderful movie.