What We're Watching: Jan

The Best Years of Our Lives

Directed by William Wyler.
Starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews and Harold Russell.

In time for Veteran’s Day, this 1946 classic about the readjustment of World War II veterans into American society is a moving choice. Homecoming is, of course, joyful and a celebration. However, problems of changed relationships, disability, unemployment, flashbacks, and even complexities of the G.I. bill are also a reality. Fredric March, Dana Andrews and Harold Russell portray ex-servicemen from the same town that share the bond of being changed by the challenges and brutality of war. Air Force Captain Fred returns home to a shaky marriage and poor job prospects because, after all, “who needs the services of a hero bombardier?” Army Sergeant Al is a family man and successful banker whose children have grown up without him and whose former bank employer is less than understanding to veterans needing financial help. Navy Seaman Homer is an amputee who misunderstands help from those around him as pity and builds a wall distancing himself from those who love him. Are the best years of these men’s lives still ahead as they dreamed they would be? Being made in 1946, the movie’s setting is authentic to the time and the film is a history lesson about actual emotions at the end of the war. The hopes, struggles and triumphs portrayed by the characters earned the film the Best Picture Oscar of 1946 and it's considered by many sources to be one of the best films about war veterans ever made.