A disabled serviceman and two other veterans (Fredric March, Dana Andrews) have difficulty adjusting to... (Learn more)
Starring: Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright (View All)
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Starring: Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright
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 stories 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, All Movie Guide
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US Release Date
11/20/46
MPAA Rating
Not Rated
Running Time
172 mins.
Language
- English
Awards
- Winner of the Best Picture award at the 1946 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Sound award at the 1946 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the 10 Best Films award at the 1946 Film Daily [Festival/Award] Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actor award at the 1946 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Honorary and Other Awards award at the 1946 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Score - Drama or Comedy award at the 1946 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Picture award at the 1946 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the 10 Best Films award at the 1946 New York Times [Festival/Award] Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 1946 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
- Winner of the Best Picture award at the 1946 New York Film Critics Circle [Festival Awards.
- Winner of the Special Achievement award at the 1946 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Winner of the U.S. National Film Registry award at the 1988 Library of Congress [Festival/Award] Awards.
- Winner of the Best Director award at the 1946 New York Film Critics Circle [Festival Awards.
- Winner of the Best Film - Any Source award at the 1947 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Winner of the Best Director award at the 1946 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
- Winner of the 100 Greatest American Movies award at the 1998 American Film Institute [Festival/Awar Awards.
- Winner of the Best Director award at the 1946 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Picture award at the 1946 Karlovy Vary International Film Festiva Awards.
- Winner of the Best Supporting Actor award at the 1946 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Editing award at the 1946 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Screenplay award at the 1946 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
Distributor
- Nelson Entertainment
- RKO Radio Pictures
