THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)

[MudInYerEye]

Anybody seen THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES ? This is a special movie. Required viewing for anyone seeking deeper insight into the psyche of our grandparents' generation. I cannot stress enough the importance of this film.
Maybe I'm just a sentimental mush, but I don't think so...
Looking foward to your responses.

 

[Vornholt]

This is unbelievable. I just saw this at a local classic film festival yesterday (yes, yesterday!) and was just going to post my impressions this morning.

First, the film is nearly three hours long, but I have sat through one hour movies that seemed longer than this. It is gripping. It holds your attention constantly, with more skill in writing and presentation than I have seen in just about any modern film.

The characters are flesh and blood, not celluloid.

Watch it for the story, which will not let you down. Then, Golden Age fans, watch it for the stuff, and there's plenty of it. You won't find yourself shorted on either count.

I, too, look forward the impressions of others about this splendid film.

 

[Doctor Strange]

You guys are obviously youngsters - for one thing, my *parents* both served during WWII - and I have seen this film *many, many* times. It's a mega-classic, and possibly the very greatest film directed by William Wyler (though with a resume that includes Dodsworth, Dead End, Wuthering Heights, The Letter, The Heiress, Roman Holiday, The Big Country, Ben-Hur, The Children's Hour, etc., that may not be true.)

In any case, it is certainly *the best* film to allow later generations to understand what coming back from WWII was like! And I have to warn you that it only grows in power on subsequent viewings: I get totally ferklempt at Frederic March's homecoming from the instant that Myrna Loy suspects that something is afoot. And let's not even discuss Homer's getting ready for bed scene...

A film masterpiece of the highest order... If any movie had to shut out It's A Wonderful Life at the Oscars, I can definitely live with this one having done it!

 

[Andykev]

There is no "Shadow of a Dubt" in my book

This is THE CLASSIC film of the 40''s, evidenced by the number of OCSARS won.

Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy, Theresa Wright, Joseph Cotton, Ray Collins, Harold Russell, Fredrick March, Hoagey Carmichael, .....TONS of famous "character actors", wonderful cinematography, this film was ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S personal favorite.

 

[scotrace]

Hear, Hear

A GREAT and well-crafted film. Unflinching, and ahead of its time.

Can't wait for my Thin Man boxed set to arrive. That free shipping is sloooow. Hoping for some neat "extras."

 

[MDFrench]

Best Years and Shadow of a Doubt are both reviewed at my website - www.frenchbrosreviews.com - we specialize in reviewing classics so young people might watch them. I have personally reviewed a number of Wyler and Hitchcock's great films.

Mike

 

[CherryRed]

I love this film. I love it more each time I see it. The relationship between Teresa Wright and Dana Andrews is so beautifully subtle, but oh how powerful!

 

[Lauren]

Fabulous movie. So deeply moving and different than the "pick me up" war films. And it has one of my favorite actresses in it, Myrna Loy.

 

[Weston]

"The Best Years of Our Lives"

Watched this movie last night on PBS, fantastic movie. Great WWII uniforms, high waists all that good stuff. Wardrobe aside, fantastic movie, great plot. Three veterans (a banker, former soda jerk and wounded sailor who lost both hands and now has hooks) head home to differing receptions. An honest portrayal of a return to lives interrupted by five years (in some cases) apart. Great cast also, and uniforms and planes they didn't have to scrounge for, being 1946-7. Highly recommended – an honest but balanced portrayal, and some characters you think have it worst come out the best, and vice versa.

Great, great stuff. If PBS keeps showing these things (watched "Judgment at Nuremburg" a while back). No commercials, in the original black and white...man, I'd pay for this stuff if it weren't free!

 

[Lincsong]

This film is great. It is an accurate portrayal of what returning vets faced when discharged. It is a cold wake up call. A must see film.

 

[Feraud]

A great film ahead of its time. I am glad to see this thread bumped up.
Anyone see the film recently? I think it recently ran on TCM.

 

[dhermann1]

My favorite moment is when Myrna Loy realizes her husband is home. I always get choked up.
"Till The End of Time", with Guy Madison and Dorothy McGuire is close to being in the same league, IMHO. Very similar film.

 

[Lincsong]

A very surreal scene is where Dana Andrews is in the plane graveyard. The symbolism was so stark. I really captured the whole film.

 

[Decobelle]

A very surreal scene is where Dana Andrews is in the plane graveyard. The symbolism was so stark. I really captured the whole film.

I agree. I admire him very much for his film noir works, but I think this scene is the finest thing he ever did.

 

[StanleyVanBuren]

I saw this film a few years back in one of my film classes in undergrad. Overall, as everyone has already said, it is an amazing film. The scene that struck me the most was the one in which some guys starts yelling things to the effect of "we fought the wrong guys," referring to the emerging Soviet threat after having just fought side by side with the Russians against the Nazis. It was not the type of criticism I expected to find in a film from that time period.

 

[Kimberly]

It is on the list as one of the top 10 films I have ever seen. I love it even more every time I see it.

 

[Martinis at 8]

Anybody seen THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES ? This is a special movie. Required viewing for anyone seeking deeper insight into the psyche of our grandparents' generation. I cannot stress enough the importance of this film.
Maybe I'm just a sentimental mush, but I don't think so...
Looking foward to your responses.

Uh, that would be parents in my case. Great movie! One of the best.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Love the movie, and have for years. And as already mentioned, the powerful scenes become more powerful as one gets older and can understand what our parents (or grandparents, in my case) went through during that time. I love the scene when dana Andrews is confronting his demons in the bomber graveyard and when Homer's mother gasps when she sees him for the first time when he comes home, with Homer's father "covering" for her with his "she's just glad you're home again" line.

A 1946 poll conducted in the comic strip Steve Canyon (very popular at the time) had readers overwhelmingly voting "Best Years" as the film best depicting American life, and this was just after the movie's release!

Also, it was this movie that got me fascinated with the years immediately following WWII, and I became interested in learning about those "lost years" of 1946-1950, which was before the Korean War and Joseph Goulden's book, The Best Years, 1946-1950 covers this period quite well, with various events and popular culture getting a close look. The book was written in the mid-1970s and is easily found easily in used bookshops/sites.

 

[anselmo1]

This is a great movie and one of my all time favorite character actors, Gladys George, plays the part of Hortense Derry. I loved her in the Maltese Falcon (1941) as Iva Archer and in The Roaring Twenties (1939) as Panama Smith.

 

[Feraud]

Take note!

fftopic: for a second..
A cap with a suit. Is it double breasted?
Some would say this cannot be done. I beg to differ.

Back to the show.