The Best Years of Our Lives is a 1946
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
drama filmA drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by
William WylerWilliam Wyler was a leading American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.Notable works included Ben-Hur , The Best Years of Our Lives , and Mrs. Miniver , all of which won Wyler Academy Awards for Best Director, and also won Best Picture...
, and starring
Fredric MarchFredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
,
Myrna LoyMyrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...
,
Dana AndrewsDana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
,
Teresa WrightTeresa Wright was an American actress. She received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1942 for her performance in Mrs. Miniver. That same year, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for her performance in Pride of the Yankees opposite Gary Cooper...
, and
Harold RussellHarold John Russell was a Canadian-American World War II veteran who became one of only two non-professional actors to win an Academy Award for acting...
, a
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
paratrooper who lost both hands in a military training accident. The film is about three United States servicemen trying to piece their lives back together after coming home from
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Samuel GoldwynSamuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
was inspired to produce a film about veterans after reading an August 7, 1944 article in
TimeTime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine about the difficulties experienced by men returning to civilian life. Goldwyn hired former
war correspondentA war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...
MacKinlay KantorMacKinlay Kantor , born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several based on the American Civil War, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel Andersonville, about the Confederate prisoner of war camp...
to write a screenplay. His work was first published as a novella,
Glory for Me, which Kantor wrote in
blank verseBlank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the sixteenth century" and Paul Fussell has claimed that "about three-quarters of all English poetry is in blank verse."The first...
.
Robert SherwoodRobert Sherwood may refer to:*Robert Emmet Sherwood , American playwright, editor, and screenwriter*Robert Edmund Sherwood , American clown and author*Bobby Sherwood , American bandleader...
then adapted the novella as a screenplay.
The Best Years of Our Lives won seven Academy Awards in 1946, including
Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
, Best Director (William Wyler),
Best ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Frederic March),
Best Supporting ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Harold Russell), Best Film Editing (Daniel Mandell), Best Adapted Screenplay (Robert Sherwood), and
Best Original ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
(Hugo Friedhofer). In addition to its critical success, the film quickly became a great commercial success upon release. It became the highest grossing film in both the United States and UK since the release of
Gone with the WindGone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
. It remains the sixth most attended film of all time in the UK, with over 20 million tickets sold. The film had one of the highest viewing figures of all time, with ticket sales exceeding $20.4 million.
Plot
After World War II, demobilized servicemen Fred Derry (
Dana AndrewsDana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
), Homer Parrish (
Harold RussellHarold John Russell was a Canadian-American World War II veteran who became one of only two non-professional actors to win an Academy Award for acting...
), and Al Stephenson (
Fredric MarchFredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
) meet while hitching a ride home in a bomber to Boone City, a fictional Midwestern city, patterned after Cincinnati,
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. Fred was a decorated Army Air Forces captain and
bombardierA bombardier , in the United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force, or a bomb aimer, in the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces, was the crewman of a bomber responsible for assisting the navigator in guiding the plane to a bombing target and releasing the aircraft's bomb...
with the
Eighth Air ForceThe Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, who still suffers from
nightmares of combatPosttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...
. Homer had been in the Navy, where he lost both hands from burns suffered when his
aircraft carrierAn aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
was sunk. For replacements, he has mechanical hook prostheses (as Harold Russell had, so no artifice was required). Al served as an infantry
platoon sergeantIn many militaries, a platoon sergeant is the senior enlisted member of a platoon, who advises and supports the platoon's commanding officer in leading the unit.-Singapore:...
in the 25th Infantry Division, fighting in the Pacific.
Prior to the war, Al had worked as a bank executive and loan officer for the Corn Belt Savings and Loan in Boone City. He is a mature man with a loving family and comfortable home: his patient wife Milly (
Myrna LoyMyrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...
), adult daughter Peggy (
Teresa WrightTeresa Wright was an American actress. She received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1942 for her performance in Mrs. Miniver. That same year, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for her performance in Pride of the Yankees opposite Gary Cooper...
) and college freshman son Rob. Al now is having trouble readjusting to civilian life, as do his two chance acquaintances, and he is showing signs of
alcoholismAlcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
.
The bank, anticipating an increase in loans to returning war veterans, promotes Al to Vice President in charge of the small loan department because of his war experience. However, after he approves a loan to a veteran with no collateral, Al's boss Mr. Milton advises him not to gamble on further loans without collateral. At his welcome-home dinner, a slightly drunk Al gives a stirring speech, acknowledging that people will think that the bank is gambling with the depositors' money if he has his way, "And they'll be right; we'll be gambling on the future of this country!" Mr. Milton applauds his sentiments, but Al remarks later, "He'll back me up wholeheartedly until the next time I help some little guy, then I'll have to fight it out again."
Before the war, Fred had been an unskilled drugstore
soda jerkA soda jerk was a person — typically a youth — who operated the soda fountain in a drugstore, often for the purpose of preparing and serving ice cream soda. This was made by putting flavored syrup into a specially designed tall glass, adding carbonated water and, finally, one or two scoops of ice...
, having been raised in a poor neighborhood. He does not want to return to his old job, but has no choice, given the stiff competition from other returning veterans and his lack of civilian skills. He had met Marie (
Virginia MayoVirginia Mayo was an American film actress.After a short career in vaudeville, Mayo progressed to films and during the 1940s established herself as a supporting player in such films as The Best Years of Our Lives and White Heat .Mayo remained an A-list actress into the mid-'50s, but then went...
) while in training and married her shortly afterward, before shipping out less than a month later. She took a job as a night club waitress and set up her own apartment while Fred was overseas. She does not relish being married to a soda jerk and seemed more attracted to Fred as an officer.
Peggy meets Fred after coming home with her father Al following an alcohol-fueled "reunion" at a local watering hole owned by Homer's uncle, Butch (
Hoagy CarmichaelHoward Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
). The relationship between Peggy and Fred begins slowly, but there is a mutual attraction almost from the start. After a double-date with Fred and Marie, Peggy is contemptuous of Marie, believing she is shallow. Peggy tells her parents she intends to break up Fred and Marie's marriage, only to be told that their own marriage overcame similar problems. To protect Peggy, Al pressures Fred to break off all contact with his daughter. Fred does so, but the friendship between the two men is strained almost to the breaking point.
Homer was a football
quarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
before the war. Before leaving to fight, he had become engaged to Wilma (
Cathy O'DonnellCathy O'Donnell was an American actress, best known for her many roles in film-noir movies.-Early life:She was born Ann Steely in Siluria, Alabama...
). When he returns, both Homer and his parents have trouble dealing with his disability. He does not want to burden Wilma with a handicapped man, so he pushes her away, although she adjusts best to his changed life. His uncle Butch owns a bar where the three men meet from time to time. Butch counsels Homer, but refrains from telling his nephew what to do.
At the drugstore where Fred works, an obnoxious customer, who says that the war was fought against the wrong enemies, gets into an altercation with Homer. After Fred punches the troublemaker, he loses his job. One day when Fred returns home from collecting his unemployment check and job hunting, he discovers his wife with another man (
Steve CochranSteve Cochran was an American film, television, and stage actor, the son of a California lumberman. He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1939...
in an early role as another veteran). Marie exclaims:
I gave up the best years of my life, and what have you done? You flopped! Couldn't even hold that job at the drugstore. So I'm going back to work for myself and that means I'm gonna live for myself too. And in case you don't understand English, I'm gonna get a divorce.
Fred decides to leave town, and goes to his father's house to say goodbye. He gives his father, Pat Derry, his medals and citations, saying dismissively that they were "passed out with the k-rations." After he leaves, his father reads aloud the citation for Fred's
Distinguished Flying CrossThe Distinguished Flying Cross is a medal awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918." The...
. For the first time, he learns of his son's extraordinary heroism.
Arriving at the airport, Fred books space on the first outbound transport, not caring about the destination. While waiting departure, Fred walks around the airport to kill time and wanders into a vast
wartime aircraft "boneyard"Aircraft boneyard is a term for a storage area for aircraft that are retired from service. Most aircraft at boneyards are either kept for storage or turned into scrap metal...
. Climbing into the nose of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, he begins to relive intense memories of combat. The boss of a work crew interrupts him. Fred had thought of the aircraft as unwanted debris to be thrown away, like him. When the crew chief says the aluminum is being salvaged to build housing, Fred talks him into a job.
Wilma tells Homer that her family wants her to go away, since it seems that he will not marry her. He bluntly demonstrates how hard life with him would be, but she is unfazed. When she makes it clear that she loves him anyway, he gives in.
Now divorced, Fred is Homer's best man at the wedding. He greets Peggy formally, but they exchange meaningful looks throughout the ceremony. As the guests gather to congratulate Homer and Wilma, Fred approaches Peggy and holds her. He says that their life together will be a hard struggle, and it might be years before they can get ahead. She smiles despite his words and they embrace.
Cast
- Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...
as Milly Stephenson
- Fredric March
Fredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
as Technical Sergeant Al Stephenson
- Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
as Captain Fred Derry
- Teresa Wright
Teresa Wright was an American actress. She received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1942 for her performance in Mrs. Miniver. That same year, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for her performance in Pride of the Yankees opposite Gary Cooper...
as Peggy Stephenson
- Virginia Mayo
Virginia Mayo was an American film actress.After a short career in vaudeville, Mayo progressed to films and during the 1940s established herself as a supporting player in such films as The Best Years of Our Lives and White Heat .Mayo remained an A-list actress into the mid-'50s, but then went...
as Marie Derry
- Cathy O'Donnell
Cathy O'Donnell was an American actress, best known for her many roles in film-noir movies.-Early life:She was born Ann Steely in Siluria, Alabama...
as Wilma Cameron
- Hoagy Carmichael
Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
as Uncle Butch
- Harold Russell
Harold John Russell was a Canadian-American World War II veteran who became one of only two non-professional actors to win an Academy Award for acting...
as Petty Officer 2nd Class Homer Parish
- Gladys George
Gladys George was an American actress.-Early life:She was born as Gladys Clare Evans on September 13, 1904 in Patten, Maine to English parents.-Career:...
as Hortense Derry
- Roman Bohnen
Roman Bohnen was a stage and film actor.Born Roman Aloys Bohnen in St. Paul, Minnesota, Bohnen attended the University of Minnesota, where he was a cheerleader. He cheered so vigorously that it changed his voice for the rest of his life. After graduating in 1923 with a B.A., Roman served his...
as Pat Derry
- Ray Collins
Ray Bidwell Collins was an American actor in film, stage, radio, and television. One of Collins' best remembered roles was that of Lt. Arthur Tragg in the long-running series Perry Mason.- Biography :...
as Mr. Milton
- Minna Gombell
Minna Gombell was an American film actress of the 1930s and 1940s.She had a very successful stage career from 1912 before being signed by Fox film company in the late twenties. Her first film was Doctor's Wives in which she played under the name of Nancy Gardner, a name given to her by Fox...
as Mrs. Parish
- Walter Baldwin
Walter Baldwin was a prolific character actor whose career spanned five decades and 150 film and television roles, and numerous stage performances.Baldwin, who was born Walter S...
as Mr. Parish
- Steve Cochran
Steve Cochran was an American film, television, and stage actor, the son of a California lumberman. He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1939...
as Cliff
- Dorothy Adams
Dorothy Adams was an American character actress. She was married to character actor Byron Foulger from 1921-1970. She was the mother of soap opera actress Rachel Ames...
as Mrs. Cameron
- Don Beddoe
-Career:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Beddoe made his Broadway acting debut in 1929, receiving top billing in Nigger Rich....
as Mr. Cameron
- Charles Halton
Charles Halton was a stern-faced American character actor who appeared in over 180 films.One of his most memorable portrayals was as Carter, the bank examiner in It's a Wonderful Life...
as Prew
- Ray Teal
Ray Teal was an actor who appeared in more than 250 movies and some 90 television programs in his 37-year career. His longest running role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on NBC's most successful western, Bonanza...
as Mr. Mollett
- Erskine Sanford
Erskine Sanford was an American actor in films from the late 1930s. A member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre company, he also appeared in several of Welles' films, most notably as the bumbling, perspiring newspaper editor Herbert Carter in Citizen Kane.Erskine Sanford lived the last decades of...
as Bullard
- Victor Cutler as Woody
Casting brought together established stars as well as character actors and relative unknowns. Famed drummer
Gene KrupaGene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
was seen in archival footage, while
Tennessee Ernie FordErnest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres...
, later a famous television star, appeared as an uncredited "hillbilly singer" (in the first of his only three film appearances). At the time the film was shot, Ford was unknown as a singer. He worked in
San BernardinoSan Bernardino, California is a large city in the Inland Empire Metropolitan Area of Southern California.San Bernardino may also refer to:-Landforms:*San Bernardino , a torrent that flows through the Italian province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola...
as a radio announcer-
disc jockeyA disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
.
Blake EdwardsBlake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
, later notable as a film producer and director, appeared fleetingly as an uncredited "Corporal". Actress Judy Wyler was cast in her first role in her father's production.
Additional uncredited cast members include
Mary ArdenMary Dawne Arden is a former American actress, who worked in both Hollywood and Italy. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but moved to NYC at the age of 12 to attend an art school....
,
Al BridgeAl Bridge was an American character actor who played mostly small roles in over 270 films between 1931 and 1954...
,
Harry CheshireHarry Cheshire was an American character actor with over 150 film appearances. He was perhaps best known for his role as "fair and square" Judge Ben Wiley in the TV series Buffalo Bill, Jr., founder of the fictional town Wileyville, Texas near the border with Mexico.-External links:...
,
Joyce ComptonJoyce Compton was an American actress.She was born Olivia Joyce Compton in Lexington, Kentucky and not Eleanor Hunt as is frequently erroneously stated. She had appeared in the film Good Sport with Hunt and this confusion in an early press article followed Compton throughout her career...
,
Heinie ConklinHeinie Conklin was an American actor of the silent film era, who appeared in nearly 400 films. Claimed to be one of the original Keystone Kops, Conklin's silent screen makeup consisted heavy eyebrow lining and a thinnish, upside-down, painted-on variation of Kaiser Wilhelm's moustache...
,
Clancy CooperClancy Cooper was an American actor. He appeared in over 100 films between 1938 and 1962.He was born in Boise, Idaho and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* The Secret Code...
,
Claire Du BreyClaire Du Brey was an American actress. She appeared in over 200 films between 1916 and 1959.She was born in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho and died in Los Angeles, California, aged 100 years, 11 months....
,
Tom DuganTom Dugan was an Irish film actor. He appeared in over 260 films between 1927 and 1955. He was born in Dublin, Ireland and died in Redlands, California....
,
Edward EarleEdward Earle was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in almost 400 films between 1914 and 1956.He was born in Toronto and died in Los Angeles, California, aged 90.-Selected filmography:* The Purple Dress...
,
Billy EngleBilly Engle was an Austrian-born American film actor. He appeared in 169 films between 1917 and 1957.He was born in Austria and died in Hollywood, California, from a heart attack.-Selected filmography:...
,
Pat FlahertyPat Flaherty was an American actor who primarily played uncredited roles as forces of the law.-Early life:...
,
Stuart Holmes,
John Incethumb|John Ince in 1915John Ince, also known as John E. Ince, was an American stage and motion pictures actor, a film director, and the eldest brother of Thomas and Ralph Ince. A leading man from the early 1910s, he also directed and scripted several of his own vehicles...
,
Teddy InfuhrTeddy Infuhr was an American child actor.-Biography:Missouri-born child actor Teddy Infuhr, youngest of four, moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was three and was initially prodded into acting by his mother...
,
Robert KarnesRobert A. Karnes was a prolific television actor who also appeared in some films early in his career, including mostly uncredited parts in The Best Years of Our Lives , Miracle on 34th Street , Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye , and From Here to Eternity...
,
Joe PalmaJoe Palma was an American film actor. Born in New York, New York, Palma appeared in over 120 films between 1937 and 1968.-Early years:...
,
Leo PennLeo Z. Penn was an American actor and director, and father of musician Michael Penn and actors Sean Penn and Chris Penn.-Early life:...
,
Jack RiceJack Rice was an American actor best known for appearing as the scrounging, freeloading brother-in-law in Edgar Kennedy's series of short domestic comedy films at the RKO studios, and also as "Ollie" in around a dozen of Columbia film studio's series of the Blondie comic strip, which starred Penny...
,
Suzanne RidgewaySuzanne Ridgeway was an American film actress who appeared in approximately 115 films between 1933 and 1959.-Career:...
,
Ralph SanfordRalph Sanford was an American film actor. He appeared in over 200 films between 1930 and 1960.He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* In the Dough...
and
John TyrrellJohn Tyrrell was an American film actor. He appeared in over 250 films between 1935 and 1947.-Career:Tyrrell is best known for his prolific work with Columbia Pictures in the Three Stooges short subjects. Like many actors in the Stooge comedies, Tyrrell was a salaried contract player...
.
Production
Director William Wyler had flown combat missions over Europe in filming
Memphis BelleThe Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress is a 1944 documentary film which ostensibly provides an account of the final mission of the crew of the Memphis Belle, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. In May 1943 it became the first U.S...
(1944) and worked hard to get accurate depictions of the combat veterans he had encountered.
For
The Best Years of Our Lives, he asked the principal actors to purchase their own clothes, in order to connect with daily life and produce an authentic feeling. Other Wyler touches included constructing life-size sets, which went against the standard larger sets that were more suited to camera positions. The impact for the audience was immediate, as each scene played out in a realistic, natural way.
The movie began filming on April 15, 1946 at a variety of locations, including the
Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic GardenThe Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, 127 acres , is an arboretum, botanical garden, and historical site nestled into hills near the San Gabriel Mountains, at 301 North Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA...
,
Ontario International AirportLA/Ontario International Airport , formerly Ontario International Airport, is a public airport located east of the central business district of Ontario, a city in San Bernardino County, California, USA. This airport is owned and operated by the Los Angeles World Airports , an agency of the city...
,
Ontario, CaliforniaOntario is a city located in San Bernardino County, California, United States, 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire region, it lies just east of the Los Angeles county line and is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area...
, Raleigh Studios, Hollywood and the Samuel Goldwyn/Warner Hollywood Studios. Many scenes were also filmed in Phoenixville, PA, most notably the banking scenes using the Farmers and Mechanics Bank located on Main Street and various other scenes showing Bridge Street and Main Street in Phoenixville, PA.
The Best Years of Our Lives is notable for
cinematographerA cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Gregg Toland's use of
deep focusDeep focus is a photographic and cinematographic technique using a large depth of field. Depth of field is the front-to-back range of focus in an image — that is, how much of it appears sharp and clear. Consequently, in deep focus the foreground, middle-ground and background are all in focus...
photography, in which objects both close to and distant from the camera are in sharp
focusIn geometrical optics, a focus, also called an image point, is the point where light rays originating from a point on the object converge. Although the focus is conceptually a point, physically the focus has a spatial extent, called the blur circle. This non-ideal focusing may be caused by...
. For the passage of Fred Derry's reliving a combat mission while sitting in the remains of a former bomber, Wyler used "zoom" effects to simulate an aircraft's taking off.
The "Jackson High" football stadium seen early in the movie in aerial footage was
Corcoran StadiumCorcoran Stadium was a stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It hosted the Xavier University Musketeers football team until the school dropped football due to financial reasons in 1973. The stadium held 15,000 people when it opened in 1929...
, the home of Xavier University's (Cincinnati) football team from 1929 to 1973.
After the war, the combat aircraft featured in the film were being destroyed and disassembled for reuse as scrap material. The scene of Derry's walking among aircraft ruins was filmed at the Ontario Army Air Field in Ontario, California. The former training facility had been converted into a scrap yard, housing nearly 2,000 former combat aircraft in various states of disassembly.
Big-band jazz drummer
Gene KrupaGene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
briefly appears in a montage of nightclub performers.
Reception
Upon its release, the film received extremely positive reviews from critics. Shortly after its premiere at the Astor Theater, New York,
Bosley CrowtherBosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
, film critic for
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, hailed the film as a masterpiece. He wrote,
"It is seldom that there comes a motion picture which can be wholly and enthusiastically endorsed not only as superlative entertainment but as food for quiet and humanizing thought... In working out their solutions Mr. Sherwood and Mr. Wyler have achieved some of the most beautiful and inspiring demonstrations of human fortitude that we have had in films."
He also said the
ensemble castAn ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
ing gave the "'best' performance in this best film this year from Hollywood."
A contemporary critic,
Dave KehrDave Kehr is an American film critic. A critic at the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Tribune for many years, he writes a weekly column for The New York Times on DVD releases, in addition to contributing occasional pieces on individual films or filmmakers.-Early life and education:Dave Kehr did...
, wrote,
"The film is very proud of itself, exuding a stifling piety at times, but it works as well as this sort of thing can, thanks to accomplished performances by Fredric March, Myrna Loy, and Dana Andrews, who keep the human element afloat. Gregg Toland's deep-focus photography, though, remains the primary source of interest for today's audiences."
David ThomsonDavid Thomson may refer to:* David Coupar Thomson , Scottish publisher, founder of D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd* David Thomson, 3rd Baron Thomson of Fleet , Canadian businessman and currently the wealthiest individual in Canada...
offers tempered praise: "I would concede that
Best Years is decent and humane... acutely observed, despite being so meticulous a package. It would have taken uncommon genius and daring at that time to sneak a view of an untidy or unresolved America past Goldwyn or the public."
Not everyone was as complimentary. The critic
Manny FarberEmanuel "Manny" Farber was an American painter, film critic and writer. Often described as "iconoclastic" , Farber developed a distinctive prose style and set of theoretical stances which have had a large influence on later generations of film critics; Susan Sontag considered him to be "the...
called it "a horse-drawn truckload of liberal schmaltz."
In July 2010, the film has a 97% "Fresh" rating at
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 36 reviews. The film enjoys a 100% "Fresh" rating on the site's "Top Critics" section, based on 8 reviews. Chicago Sun Times film critic
Roger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
put the film on his "Great Movies" list in 2007, calling it "...modern, lean, and honest."
The film was a massive popular success. When box office prices are adjusted for inflation, it remains one of the top 100 grossing films in U.S. history. Among films released before 1950, only
Gone With the Wind,
The Bells of St. Mary'sThe Bells of St. Mary's is a 1945 American film which tells the story of a priest and a nun at a school who set out, despite their good-natured rivalry, to save the school from being shut down. It stars Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman...
and four Disney titles have done more total business, in part due to later re-releases. (Reliable box office figures for certain early films such as
Birth of a Nation and
Charlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
's comedies are unavailable.)
Awards and honors
1947 Academy Awards
The film received seven Academy Awards.
Fredric MarchFredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
won his second Best Actor award (after winning in 1932 for
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1932 American Pre-Code horror film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Fredric March. The film is an adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , the Robert Louis Stevenson tale of a man who takes a potion which turns him from a mild-mannered man of...
). (Dana Andrews' brilliant performance turned out to be overshadowed by the acclaim Fredric March and Harold Russell received.)
Despite his Oscar-nominated performance, Harold Russell was not a professional actor. As the Academy Board of Governors considered him a long shot to win, they gave him an honorary award "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance". When Russell won Best Supporting Actor, there was an enthusiastic response. He is the only actor to have received two Academy Awards for the same performance. He later sold one of the awards for $50,000, first claiming it was to pay his wife's medical bills. Later he said it was to pay for a cruise for her. He often quipped, "I can pick up anything but the check!"
| Award | Result | |Winner |
| Best Motion Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
|
|
Samuel Goldwyn Productions Samuel Goldwyn Studio was the name that Samuel Goldwyn used to refer to the Pickford-Fairbanks Studios lot and the offices and stages that his company, Goldwyn Pictures, rented there during the 1920s and 1930s...
(Samuel GoldwynSamuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
, Producer) |
| Best Director |
|
William Wyler William Wyler was a leading American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.Notable works included Ben-Hur , The Best Years of Our Lives , and Mrs. Miniver , all of which won Wyler Academy Awards for Best Director, and also won Best Picture...
|
| Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
|
|
Fredric MarchFredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
|
| Best Writing (Screenplay) |
|
Robert E. Sherwood Robert Emmet Sherwood was an American playwright, editor, and screenwriter.-Biography:Born in New Rochelle, New York, he was a son of Arthur Murray Sherwood, a rich stockbroker, and his wife, the former Rosina Emmet, a well-known illustrator and portrait painter known as Rosina E. Sherwood...
|
| Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
|
|
Harold RussellHarold John Russell was a Canadian-American World War II veteran who became one of only two non-professional actors to win an Academy Award for acting...
|
| Best Film Editing |
|
Daniel Mandell Daniel Mandell was an American film editor with more than 70 film credits. His career spanned films from The Turmoil in 1924 to The Fortune Cookie in 1966...
|
| Best Music (Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) |
|
Hugo Friedhofer Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer was an American film music composer born in San Francisco. His father was a cellist trained in Dresden, Germany; his mother, Eva König, was born in Germany.Friedhofer began playing cello at the age of 13...
|
| Best Sound Recording |
|
Gordon E. Sawyer
Winner was John P. LivadaryJohn Paul Livadary was a sound designer.He started work in 1928 at Columbia Pictures and won the Academy Award for Best Sound three times, in a career that spanned 30 years...
- The Jolson StoryThe Jolson Story is a 1946 musical biography which purports to tell the life story of singer Al Jolson. It stars Larry Parks as Jolson, Evelyn Keyes as "Julie Benson" , William Demarest as his manager, Ludwig Donath and Tamara Shayne as his parents, and Scotty Beckett as the young Jolson.The...
|
| Honorary Award The Academy Honorary Award, instituted in 1948 for the 21st Academy Awards , is given by the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to celebrate motion picture achievements that are not covered by existing Academy Awards, although prior winners of...
|
|
To Harold RussellHarold John Russell was a Canadian-American World War II veteran who became one of only two non-professional actors to win an Academy Award for acting...
|
1947 Golden Globe Awards
- Won: Best Dramatic Motion Picture
- Won: Special Award for Best Non-Professional Acting - Harold Russell
1948 BAFTA Awards
- Won: BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source
Other wins
- National Board of Review: NBR Award Best Director, William Wyler; 1946.
- New York Film Critics Circle Awards
New York Film Critics' Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. It is considered one of the most important precursors to the Academy Awards....
: NYFCC Award Best Director, William Wyler; Best Film; 1946.
- Bodil Awards
The Bodil Awards are the major Danish film awards given by Denmark's National Association of Film Critics . The awards are presented annually at a ceremony in the Imperial Cinema in Copenhagen. Established in 1948, it is one of the oldest film awards in Europe...
: Bodil; Best American Film, William Wyler; 1948.
- Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain: CEC Award; Best Foreign Film, USA; 1948.
In 1989, the
National Film RegistryThe National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
selected it for preservation in the United States
Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
American Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
recognition
- 1998 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies
The first of the AFI 100 Years… series of cinematic milestones, AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies is a list of the 100 best American movies, as determined by the American Film Institute from a poll of more than 1,500 artists and leaders in the film industry who chose from a list of 400 nominated movies...
#37
- 2006 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers
100 Years…100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies is a list of the most inspiring films as determined by the American Film Institute. It is part of the AFI 100 Years… series, which has been compiling lists of the greatest films of all time in various categories since 1998...
#11
- 2007 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) #37
External links
...