The Best Years of Our Lives

The Best Years of Our Lives

21/11/1946 2h 51m 7.8/10

Overview

It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare.

Director

William Wyler

Top Billed Cast

Fredric March

Fredric March

Al Stephenson

Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy

Milly Stephenson

Dana Andrews

Dana Andrews

Fred Derry

Teresa Wright

Teresa Wright

Peggy Stephenson

Cathy O'Donnell

Cathy O'Donnell

Wilma Cameron

Harold Russell

Harold Russell

Homer Parrish

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

7/7/2022

7/10

This is really quite a touching story, recounting the experiences of three American veterans of WWII who return home and have to adapt to their new, not always welcoming, circumstances. Frederic March is "Al" who returns to a senior position in a bank - responsible for helping other returning soldiers with loans to start to get their lives back together; "Fred" (Dana Andrews) returns to a far less optimistic outlook, ending up working for peanuts selling perfume in a drug store, and finally the outwardly cheery "Homer" - who lost both his hands and who cannot decide whether his long term fiancée actually loves him anymore, or just feels pity. William Wyler and Robert Sherwood manage to interweave the inter-connected tales poignantly, illustrating the frustrations, bordering on despair, not only of the three men - in completely different ways; but also of their respective partners who must also adjust to their return, and to their new circumstances once the war is has been won. There are some strong performances from their ladies too - Myrna Loy and Teresa Wright, less so the always rather wooden Virginia Mayo and by the end you do have some, slight, semblance of an idea of just how tough it was for these men to lose the security and discipline of their army lives and to cope with a life that has, in many cases, just moved on without them.

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