Editing The Best Years of Our Lives (section)

==Cast==
<!--- Entire credited cast, per closing credits --->
{{Cast listing|
* [[Myrna Loy]] as Milly Stephenson
* [[Fredric March]] as Technical Sergeant Al Stephenson
* [[Dana Andrews]] as Captain Fred Derry
* [[Teresa Wright]] as Peggy Stephenson
* [[Virginia Mayo]] as Marie Derry
* [[Cathy O'Donnell]] as Wilma Cameron
* [[Hoagy Carmichael]] as Butch Engle, Homer's uncle
* [[Harold Russell]] as Petty Officer 2nd Class Homer Parrish
* [[Gladys George]] as Hortense Derry
* [[Roman Bohnen]] as Pat Derry
* [[Ray Collins (actor)|Ray Collins]] as Mr. Milton
* [[Minna Gombell]] as Mrs. Parrish
* [[Walter Baldwin]] as Mr. Parrish
* [[Steve Cochran]] as Cliff
* [[Dorothy Adams]] as Mrs. Cameron
* [[Don Beddoe]] as Mr. Cameron
* Marlene Aames as Luella Parrish
* [[Charles Halton]] as Prew
* [[Ray Teal]] as Mr. Mollett
* [[Howland Chamberlain]] as Thorpe
* Dean White as Novak
* [[Erskine Sanford]] as Bullard
* [[Michael Hall (actor, born 1926)|Michael Hall]] as Rob Stephenson
* Victor Cutler as Woody Merrill
}}

Casting brought together established stars as well as character actors and relative unknowns. Jazz drummer [[Gene Krupa]] was seen in archival footage, while [[Tennessee Ernie Ford]], later a TV star, appeared as an uncredited "hillbilly singer" (in the first of his only three film appearances).{{#tag:ref|At the time the film was shot, Ford was unknown as a singer. He worked in [[San Bernardino]] as a radio announcer-[[disc jockey]].|group=Note}}

[[Blake Edwards]], later a film producer and director, appeared fleetingly as an uncredited "Corporal". Wyler's daughters, Catherine and Judy, were cast as uncredited customers seen in the drug store where Fred Derry works. [[Sean Penn]]'s father, [[Leo Penn|Leo]], played the uncredited part of the soldier working as a scheduling clerk in the [[Air Transport Command]] Office at the beginning of the film.

[[Teresa Wright]] was only 13 years younger than her on-screen mother, played by [[Myrna Loy]].

[[Michael Hall (actor, born 1926)|Michael Hall]] (1926–2020) played Fredric March's son and was the last surviving credited cast member at the time of his death. However, he is never seen after the first third of the film. Hall's contract with Goldwyn ended during filming, but the producer was reluctant to pay extra money to rehire him.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.apollo-magazine.com/michael-hall-collector-1926-2020/ |title=In memory of Michael Hall, a committed connoisseur and an unforgettable character|date=June 16, 2020|access-date=November 6, 2022}}</ref>