Film Review: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Wars have a price and that price is being paid even by the side that won undeniable triumph, as United States did in Second World War. Price was being paid long after the guns went silent and this is something Americans at the time were quite aware of. For that very reason subject matter of The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946 drama directed by William Wyler, resonated well with American public and critics, resulting in one of the most successful Hollywood films of its time.

The film is based on Glory to Home, 1944 novel by MacKinlay Kantor. The plot begins after the war, when US military servicemen are getting demobilised and going home after serving overseas. Three of them board B-17 bomber which is scheduled to bring them to Boone City, their native place somewhere in Midwest. They are Captain Fred Derry (played by Dana Andrews), US Army Air Force bombardier who used to be soda jerk before the war. US Army Sergeant Al Stephenson (played by Fredric March) is middle aged man who served in infantry and is now returning to his old job of a banker. US Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Homer Parish (played by Harold Russell) has lost both hands when his ship was sunk and now uses special hooks. Despite different background, all three men bond during the flight and later maintain contact. Al seems to have the easiest time, returning to beautiful loving wife Milly (played by Myrna Loy) and well paid job at the bank, but seeing how his daughter Peggy (played by Teresa Wright) and son Rob (played by Michael Hall) have grown during his absence he senses emptiness that he would try to fill with excessive drinking. Fred discovers that his wife Marie (played by Virginia Mayo), whom he had married on impulse before going to war, used to live well on his military pay during his absence and is now doesn’t want to adjust her lifestyle to husband’s low paid civilian job. Homer wonders whether his fiancee Wilma Cameron (played by Cathy O’Donnell) would accept his condition and dedicate the rest of her life to a cripple.

Second World War is in popular history of America portrayed as a “good war”, which is hardly surprising because, unlike wars that followed, it required unimaginable sacrifices from American population – both among millions of men put in uniform and those who awaited their loved ones to return from distant battlefields. Almost everyone was affected by war and that included cast and crew of the film. Scriptwriter Robert E. Sherwood worked in Office of War Information, while director William Wyler had even better veteran credentials. Character of Fred Derry is partly based on his experiences while he filmed US bomber crews over Germany for his famed 1944 documentary The Memphis Belle. Wyler strived for authenticity and this included casting of Harold Russell. Character of Homer was originally written as merely “shell shocked”, but Wyler has seen young man in Diary of Sergeant, film showing how Russell, US Army veteran who had lost his hands in training accident, adapted to life with specially designed hooks. Wyler decided to make Homer a cripple who would be an actual cripple and had Russell cast despite his complete lack of acting ability. Sherwood’s script also very realistically portrayed not only problems of veterans readjusting to civilian life, but also how civilians, eager to return to certainties of pre-war order, showed much more enthusiasm for that process. This is indicated at the very beginning, when Frank sees how US military servicemen, who had enjoyed preferential treatment by airlines and other transport companies during wartime, are relegated to ordinary passengers.

Wyler’s exploration of those themes is helped by his superb direction, as well as excellent work by cinematographer Greg Tolland who employs deep focus in couple of scenes which are studied in film schools to this day. Wyler’s direction probably shines best in the scene near the end that takes at the great aircraft boneyard where Fred confronts thousands of military planes, considered obsolete or worthless in peacetime, and wonders whether it is the fate that awaits him too. Cast is also very good, especially Fredric March who won his second Oscar for Best Actor by playing veteran who tries to fight demons of wartime traumas with alcohol. Dana Andrews was perhaps cast mostly because of his matinee idol looks, but he delivers realistic portrayal of man whose deals both with psychological traumas of wartime and clash between his wartime fantasies and realities of post-war life. Virginia Mayo, who was becoming one of major stars of late 1940s Hollywood, shines in the role of Frank’s ungrateful trollop wife.

The Best Years of Our Lives is very good film, but far from perfect. That could be attributed perhaps to the very Hollywood craftsmanship that makes is a little bit too polished and, consequently, look a little bit artificial for truly realistic depiction of the subject. That includes protagonists that look more like archetypes than real character – each represents different branches of US Armed Forces that fought on land, sea and in the air; each belongs to different social class (Frank is poor, Homer is middle class and Al is rich). Unlike protagonists, character of Milly, played by Myrna Loy, is too perfect as loving and understanding wife. Same can be said for melodramatic plot which introduces romance between Fred and Al’s beautiful daughter Peggy, which would be resolved very predictably in order to restore order to have the protagonist rewarded for his wartime service by having the “right” girl. Character of Homer’s uncle Butch, sympathetic bar owner, is introduced only to have famous singer and songwriter Hoagy Carmichael play him and deliver number of delectable piano pieces. Many of those subplots only prolong film to epic running time of nearly three hours.

Despite that, The Best Years of Our Lives has found audience in post-war America and became the most commercially successful Hollywood film of 1940s. Critics were equally enthusiastic, praising Wyler’s skill and the graceful way he handled sensitive topic. This finally reflected in rich harvest of Academy Awards, including Best Picture, which would give this film high reputation it enjoys to this day. From today’s perspective, The Best Years of Our Lives might look a little bit too Hollywood, but its subject matter is universal and today’s viewers, even in countries where war experiences were abstractions based on video games and Marvel films, might very soon find it quite relevant for our troubled times.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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