The best years of our life

The Best Years of Our Lives (The Best Years of Our Lives) is a 1946 American film directed by William Wyler and starring Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo and Dana Andrews in the lead roles. It is based on the 1945 novel Glory for Me by MacKinlay Kantor (1904 - 1977).

He won several American and European film awards, including seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Actor (Fredric March), and Supporting Actor (Harold Russell).

In 1989, it was included among the cinematographic works held by the National Film Registry of the United States Library of Congress for being considered "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Plot

After World War II is over, three combatants who return to their city make the final leg of their journey together and become friends. Each one finds, in their own way, difficulties in adjusting back to a normal life.

Cast

• Myrna Loy - Milly Stephenson
• Fredric March - Al Stephenson, Technical Sergeant
• Dana Andrews - Captain Fred Derry
• Teresa Wright - Peggy Stephenson
• Virginia May - Marie Derry
• Cathy O'Donnell - Wilma Cameron
• Hoagy Carmichael - Uncle Butch
• Harold Russell... Homer Parish, 2-class sub-official
• Gladys George - Hortense Derry
• Roman Bohnen - Pat Derry
• Ray Collins - Mr. Milton
• Minna Gombell - Mrs. Parish
• Walter Baldwin - Mr. Parish
• Steve Cochran - Cliff.
• Dorothy Adams - Mrs. Cameron
• Don Beddoe - Mr. Cameron
• Charles Halton - Prew
• Ray Teal... Mr. Mollett
• Erskine Sanford - Bullard
• Victor Cutler - Woody

Comments

The filming project for this film was entrusted to playwright and screenwriter Robert Sherwood and director William Wyler when they were in a rather uncreative professional moment. Sherwood was writing President Roosevelt's speeches, and Wyler had been making documentaries about the front lines, which was why he had gone partially deaf.

Despite being a great success with the public and critics, it was one of the films monitored in the so-called witch hunt by Senator Joseph McCarthy because he considered it to have subversive content, when talking about the adaptation to peace and how complicated it was can result. The Committee on Un-American Activities proposed to summon Robert Sherwood, the screenwriter, due to the suspicious content of certain scenes, but finally did not do so thanks to the direct intervention of Samuel Goldwyn, one of the founders of MGM, and a close friend of Sherwood.

Harold Russell, a true war mutilated, played himself and became the first and only actor to win two Oscars for the same role in the same film (for best supporting actor and an honorary special Oscar).

Production

Director Wyler had flown combat missions in Europe when filming Memphis Belle (1944), and he worked hard to get accurate portrayals of the combat veterans he encountered. Wyler changed the original casting he had submitted to a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and sought out Harold Russell, a non-actor, to take on the exact role of Homer Parrish.

For the film, he asked the lead actors to buy their own clothes, to connect with everyday life and produce an authentic feeling. Other Wyler touches included building life-size sets, which went against the larger standard sets that were more suitable for camera positions. The impact on the audience was immediate, as each scene unfolded realistically and naturally.

Awards

Oscar 1946

CEC Medals of 1947

• Medal to the best foreign film.