Cinema
The Best Years of Our Lives
William Wyler · 1946
Synopsis
At the end of the war, three demobilised servicemen who do not know one another make the journey home together to Boone City, a Midwestern town, in the nose of a bomber. Al Stephenson, an infantry sergeant who fought in the Pacific, was a banker; he is reunited with his wife, Milly, and their children. Fred Derry, a decorated air force captain, was a soda jerk; he returns to Marie, whom he married in haste before leaving. Homer Parrish, a sailor, has lost both hands and wears hooks; he is reunited with his parents and with Wilma, his neighbour and fiancée.
Context
The part of the sailor was given to Harold Russell, an army instructor who had lost his hands in 1944 in a TNT explosion during an exercise, and whom Wyler had noticed in an army film on the rehabilitation of the wounded; he received two Oscars for the role, a unique case, and did not act again until much later. Wyler had come back deaf in one ear from a wartime shoot. The film was, in the United States and the United Kingdom, the biggest success since Gone with the Wind.
Who it is for
A film of nearly three hours, with three parallel stories; the sailor is played by a former soldier who lost both hands.
Prizes and reception
Seven Oscars in competition in 1947, including those for best picture and direction, and added in 1989 to the National Film Registry.
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