bestyears

Director William Wyler was a visionary in a time of war. His film, “Mrs. Miniver,” showed the origins
of the war on British soil. During the war, Wyler left Hollywood for the British Isles and hopped into
the Flying Fortresses of the Eighth Air Force to film the wartime documentary, “The Memphis Belle,”
in which Wyler actually filmed during live combat inside the B-17 bombers.

When the war ended, Wyler made one final cinematic gesture to the men and women who served in
World War II. It is a film that deals not with surviving the war, but the real hardship of surviving life
after surviving war. What Wyler achieved in “The Best Years of Our Lives” is a touching and
powerful look at the hardships, both economical and emotional, faced by soldiers returning home to
renew a “normal” life.

Three men just coming home from war, who’ve never known each other until they all hitch a ride on
a B-17 together, discover that they are from the same home town. One is an older Army man, one
was a bombardier in Flying Fortresses, and one was Navy boy in the Pacific who lost both of his
hands, now replaced with hooks.

The Army man, played by Fredric March, comes home to a wife and children that do not
understand the hardships he faced. His old boss at the bank takes him back and wants him to
handle loans to newly-returned veterans. Can he be objective in his work? He escapes his
nightmares in alcohol.

Dana Andrews plays Fred, the bombardier, who comes home to a wife he barely knows and no job
prospects. The old pharmacy where he worked has been bought out by a conglomerate and his
young bride is a selfish and adulterous hussy. To make matters worse, he’s falling in love with
March’s daughter, played by Teresa Wright.

Real war veteran Harold Russell plays Homer, the Navy boy. His is a strikingly earnest
performance, as not only are his hooks real, but his hardships as well. Homer does not know if his
girl, Wilma, will still want to marry him now that he is maimed. His family treats him different, and
understandably so, but he cannot come to grips with a changed life.

With Wyler’s distinct direction, always powerful cinematography, and stark settings, “The Best
Years of Our Lives” is a poignant look at life after war. The desperation, the confusion, and the
lost looks in the eyes of the three men convey their postwar despair. They don’t want to go back to
war of course, but they don’t understand how they will ever be able to go forward.

They don’t make them like this anymore. Then again, they never made them like this.