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The Best Years of Our Lives

A Movie Review 75 Years Later

By L. Lane BaileyPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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The Best Years of Our Lives
Photo by Chandler Cruttenden on Unsplash

The Best Years of Our Lives is about three servicemen returning home after World War II, and their struggles to reintegrate into civilian life.

The movie received exceptional praise when it was released, and since. It won the Oscar for Best Motion Picture in 1946, beating out It's a Wonderful Life. It also aced the Oscars for Best Director, Best Actor-Fredric March, Best Supporting Actor-Harold Russell, Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Academy Honorary Award Harold Russell, and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. There were also other award in both the US and elsewhere. It was also the highest grossing film of the 1940s.

But more importantly, it was a good movie. The acting was great, and the movie connected with audiences. Rather than glorifying the war, it concentrated on the men that fought, and their difficulties readjusting to their regular lives.

It follows three servicemen coming home. Platoon Sergeant Al Stephenson, Petty Officer Homer Parrish and Bombardier Captain Fred Derry meet or the first time as they sit in the nose of a bomber flying to their hometown to be scrapped.

In their pre-war lives, Stephenson was a bank executive, Derry was a Soda Jerk, and Parrish was high school athlete.

Each have their challenges coming home. Stephenson has an adult daughter and a teen son, as well as his wife. He struggles slipping back into the business world, and with alcoholism.

Derry's job is gone, the drug store sold to a chain, but because of his veteran status, he is able to get a clerk job. He married shortly before shipping out, and now he and his wife are strangers. Other employees at the drug store resent him and his service.

Homer Parrish has perhaps the biggest struggle. He lost both arms in the war, and his adjustment is severe. Wilma, his girlfriend, lives next door, and he tries to distance himself in order to avoid heartbreak.

Harold Russell, the actor that played Homer Parrish lost his arms in the service during the war, and it is very obvious to the viewer that the struggles he depicted were real. He'd never acted before, aside from an Army produced film about rehabilitating veterans, nor did he act after.

There were several other notable appearances in the movie, such as Hoagie Carmichael as Homer's uncle. Singer Tennessee Ernie Ford, movie producer Blake Edwards, drummer Gene Krupa and Leo Penn, Sean Penn's father, all appeared in the movie before they were well known.

If you are looking for heart-pounding action, this isn't the movie. This is a character-driven drama exploring the lives of the three main characters, as well as their families.

This is the type of movie that let's movie-goers invest in the characters, to see their growth and development, and identify with their struggles and obstacles. We see and understand Stephenson's difficulty going back to the bank and facing new challenges that are different, but every bit as difficult as his slog through Europe. We watch as Derry's marriage implodes as his wife is more in love with the idea of him as a glamorous flyboy than as a man struggling to fit into a life that seemingly doesn't want him. Of course, we also see the daily struggles that Parrish must endure, and despite his continued love for Wilma, his desire to push her away so she can find someone with which to have a better life.

War movies seldom talk about disabilities, alcoholism and PTSD, but those are front and center in this film. We feel for the characters in their depression and cheer for them as they overcome them.

If you haven't seen it, it is a film worth seeing. It isn't short, running almost three hours (172 minutes). But it is available in the US to stream on Amazon, Redbox and other services.

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About the Creator

L. Lane Bailey

Dad, Husband, Author, Jeeper, former Pro Photographer. I have 15 novels on Amazon. I write action/thrillers with a side of romance. You can also find me on my blog. I offer a free ebook to blog subscribers.

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