The Best Years of Our Lives

The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Myrna Loy, Fredric March [All Region, Import, NTSC]



I wasn't really sure what to expect with this movie, so I cheated a little and read the synopsis on the DVD sleeve. Once I learned the movie was about three men who have to learn to adjust to civilian life after World War II I was really excited to watch the movie. I had expected one man to rejoin his family, the second man to have trouble finding a new job and at least one of the three men to find themselves in a Dear John situation where he discovers that his wife, fiance or girlfriend has left him.

After watching the movie:
(Possible spoilers below)

I loved this movie. It was a realistic movie and look at what life was like for these characters after the war. I read later that the director, William Wyler, had hired a crew full of WWII Veterans which I think was a brilliant idea and really paid off.

I also had no idea that Harold Russell, who played Homer, had actually lost both of his hands in an earlier accident. It was rather remarkable though how well adapted he had become with the hooks he had been given. I had worried though that Wilma would end up leaving Homer because she wouldn't be able to adapt to the hooks. The entire movie, I was in full support of the relationship between Frank and Peggy and actually really disliked Frank's wife, Marie. I felt like Marie was took quick to drop Franks parents and move into an apartment of her own. I don't think her character ever really loved Frank, if in her shoes I would have tried to have moved the in-laws in with me so they wouldn't be left in the shanty by the train station. So I was really happy with the way the movie ended, when Peggy and Frank were able to reconnect at the wedding for Homer and Wilma.

Final thoughts: I loved this movie for it's degree of brotherhood and romance. Take note writers, we need another movie like this made in the near future!

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