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Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Harold Russell, Virginia Mayo ... see more see more... , Teresa Wright , Dorothy Adams , Don Beddoe , Walter S. Baldwin , Cathy O'Donnell , Roman Bohnen , Hoagy Carmichael , Howland Chamberlain , Steve Cochran , Ray Collins , Victor Cutler , Gladys George , Minna Gombell , Michael Hall , Charles Halton , Erskine Sanford , Bert Conway , Clancy Cooper , Pat Flaherty , Teddy Infur , Robert Karnes , Ralph Sanford , Ray Teal , Dean White , Blake Edwards , Norman Phillips

The postwar classic The Best Years of Our Lives, based on a novel in verse by MacKinlay Kantor about the difficult readjustments of returning World War II veterans, tells the intertwined homecoming st... read more read more...ories of ex-sergeant Al Stephenson (Fredric March), former bombadier Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), and sailor Homer Parrish (Harold Russell). Having rubbed shoulders with blue-collar Joes for the first time in his life, Al finds it difficult to return to a banker's high-finance mindset, and he shocks his co-workers with a plan to provide no-collateral loans to veterans. Meanwhile, Al's children (Teresa Wright and Michael Hall) have virtually grown up in his absence. Fred discovers that his wartime heroics don't count for much in the postwar marketplace, and he finds himself unwillingly returning to his prewar job as a soda jerk. His wife (Virginia Mayo), expecting a thrilling marriage to a glamorous flyboy, is bored and embittered by her husband's inability to advance himself, and she begins living irresponsibly, like a showgirl. Homer has lost both of his hands in combat and has been fitted with hooks; although his family and his fiancée (Cathy O'Donnell) adjust to his wartime handicap, he finds it more difficult. Profoundly relevant in 1946, the film still offers a surprisingly intricate and ambivalent exploration of American daily life; and it features landmark deep-focus cinematography from Gregg Toland, who also shot Citizen Kane. The film won Oscars for, among others, Best Picture, Best Director for the legendary William Wyler, Best Actor for March, and Best Supporting Actor for Harold Russell, a real-life double amputee whose hands had been blown off in a training accident. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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36 critics

Unrated, 2 hr. 50 min.

Directed by: William Wyler

Release Date: November 21, 1946

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DVD Release Date: October 30, 1997

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Harold Russell & Cathy O'Donnell in The Best Years of Our Lives Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives Poster Dana Andrews as Fred Derry The Best Years of Our Lives Poster The Best Years of Our Lives The Best Years of Our Lives Dana Andrews and Virginia Mayo Fredric March, Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Russell Dana Andrews Poster Fredric March, Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Russell Dana Andrews and Teresa Wright Poster Poster Teresa Wright in The Best Years of Our Lives Teresa Wright in The Best Years of Our Lives
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Flixster Reviews (813)

  • JonathanHutchings
    May 25, 2012
    JonathanHutchings
    It definitely gets a little too syrupy at times, but William Wyler's ode to returning veterans is a remarkably bold and frank look at post-WWII America (especially brave, considering these were topics Hollywood avoided for years before its release). Fredric March is brilliant as ... read morealways, and underrated Dana Andrews and Teresa Wright are terrific as well. It features Wyler's traditionally tight direction, and the legendary Gregg Toland shines by composing some truly stunning deep focus photography as well. In the end, The Best Years of Our Lives may be a little too conventional, but it's done well enough to draw you in and root for its characters.
  • cosmo313
    May 23, 2011
    cosmo313
    Before films like The Deer Hunter (among others) provided commentary on the readjustment of soldiers after the Vietnam War, this film tackled the way in which soliders dealt with coming home after World War II.

    This is a long story that looks at the lives of three men from the ... read moresame town who all come home together and form a bond as they each struggle individually to move on with their lives after having served overseas. It's also an extremely relevant and good story, too. I liked how the narratives interweaved, although the connection between the men and their fast friendship seems a little undercooked and more coincidental than anything, as these men have apparently never known one another before the war.

    The film won a ton of Oscars though (including for Best Picture), and I have to say that they're all pretty well deserved. The performances are great, and I loved how they got an actual handicapped guy to play Homer, adding authenticity to things. The film is really touching, and well shot, but not without a few minor flaws.

    The editing could be a bit tighter, cutting down some of the run time. This would also cut down on the film's occasional dragging. Also, ike I mentioned above, a slightly better developed background connection for the characters. While the film does a fairly good job of covering each man's story, it seemed like things could have been a bit more equally balanced in terms of amount of time devoted to each.

    All in all, a very well done and engaging film about an important subject. I'm glad I saw this, because I really had no idea that there were any films about post war experiences of soldiers for the WWII era. Highly Recommended.
  • ajv2688
    October 21, 2010
    ajv2688
    An interesting, but long, drama about life after returning from WWII.
  • FireStormStudios
    April 12, 2010
    FireStormStudios
    The editing on this film could have been a little tighter, which would also have made this film a little shorter as it was quite a long film. The acting was really good and the story was a very simple one, but one that was told in such a way that it really brought the characters... read more to life. This is difficult to do for most films whoever this film did just that, did it well and it did it over 60 years ago.

    One of the strongest points of the film for me was the music. It worked really well and I think it was far ahead of its time. I really found myself rooting for all the characters in this one. There was no real physical protagonist, other than each person against themselves trying to find their place in a post-war world. I found this very intriguing. All aspects of the film were brought together nicely and made it very enjoyable to watch.
  • kenstachnik
    October 8, 2008
    kenstachnik
    Very good, very long, and very much a melodrama.
  • mjgildea
    August 23, 2008
    mjgildea
    The Best Years of Our Lives is an extremely long but well-constructed and well put together movie. It chronicles the struggles of American servicemen coming home from WWII from all imaginable angles. Great and solid performances all around from Frederic March, Dana Andrews, Myrna... read more Loy and the rest of the cast. Any scene that takes place on the inside of an airplane in this movie is stunning (namely the sunrise scene towards the beginning). I'll admit I wasn't in the best of moods when I watched this but I was turned around by the end.
  • rubystevens
    May 27, 2008
    rubystevens
    a bit sentimental but still great and remarkably honest portrait of the problems faced by returning veterans of ww2. i wish teresa wright had made more films. beautifully directed by william wyler
  • moonrivers
    August 20, 2007
    moonrivers
    an anti war film; about the coming home part nobody likes to talk about when we're gettin' all fired up to go kick some camel jockey's ass...oh, wait, that's a different war, ain't it? our children coming home, well, at least they're the same children...ain't they?
  • danperry17
    August 10, 2007
    danperry17
    Watching this one on Turner Classic Movies, and knowing that The Dirty Dozen was on AMC, I had to make a choice... I'm glad I stuck with this one: it may be the best film I've ever seen. The introduction to the film given by TCM's host said that some critics put it above Citizen ... read moreKane and Casablanca as the best Hollywood movie ever, and it's hard to disagree. Some of the scenes near the end drag a little, but I have rarely been so immediately immersed in characters' lives as I was in the opening minutes of this one, and never before in black and white.

    It's got everything, and the three story-lines (young navy, twenty-something air force and nearly retired soldier) are incredibly well interwoven, and give three perspectives on the war that only, in the beginning, intersect geographically, but soon develop many new wrinkles.

    With what is being said about the war, only a year after it ended, this movie must have been controversial, but unless you're Titanic, eight Oscars (including best picture) don't lie.
  • jennifxu
    June 7, 2007
    jennifxu
    extremely long but i really like the way this movie is set up. it kinda provides an entire story of the war veterans and not just concentrating on one character. you've got the high, middle, and working class struggles.

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Critic Reviews

February 17, 2009
TIME Magazine

Like most good mass entertainments, this picture has occasional moments of knowing hokum; but unlike most sure-fire movies, it was put together with good taste, honesty, wit -- and even a strong sugge... Full Review

Elliott Stein
February 19, 2008
Elliott Stein, Village Voice

Although it contains moving passages, Best Years is not much more than a conventional drama on the problems of servicemen attempting to adjust to life in postwar America, well served by an all-star ca... Full Review

Abel Green
February 19, 2008
Abel Green, Variety

One of the best pictures of our lives. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 4, 2008
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Surprisingly modern: lean, direct, honest about issues that Hollywood then studiously avoided. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
December 12, 2006
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

I'd call this the best American movie about returning soldiers I've ever seen -- the most moving and the most deeply felt. Full Review

Dave Kehr
December 12, 2006
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

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, ... Full Review

Bosley Crowther
May 20, 2003
Bosley Crowther, New York Times

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. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

The feeling of warmth and satisfaction that accompanies the conclusion is the hallmark of a great drama. Full Review

Nell Minow
October 14, 2010
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media

Fine movie for families with older kids. Full Review

Pablo Villaca
April 30, 2009
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena

Este belíssimo estudo sobre as seqüelas sociais e psicológicas da guerra (para não mencionar as físicas) permanece atual mais de 60 anos depois de seu lançamento, impressionando não só pelas atuações,...

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The Best Years of Our Lives Trivia

  • In which Harold Russell won two Oscars for his role as a man who lost both of his arms in World War II.  Answer »
  • Oscar winner for Best Picture of 1946 (all nominated):  Answer »
  • The following movies were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Motion Picture in 1946. Which movie won the Oscar? HINT: contains some of the same words as a TV soap opera  Answer »
  • In 'The Best Years of Our Lives', which character returns from the war with hooks instead of hands?  Answer »
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