Editing The Best Years of Our Lives (section)

==Reception==
===Critical response===
Upon its release, ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' received extremely positive reviews from critics. Shortly after its premiere at the [[Astor Theatre (New York City)|Astor Theater, New York]], [[Bosley Crowther]], film critic for ''[[The New York Times]]'', hailed the film as a masterpiece. He wrote,
{{blockquote|It is seldom that there comes a motion picture which can be wholly and enthusiastically endorsed not only as superlative entertainment, but as food for quiet and humanizing thought... In working out their solutions, Mr. Sherwood and Mr. Wyler have achieved some of the most beautiful and inspiring demonstrations of human fortitude that we have had in films." He also said the [[ensemble cast]]ing gave the "'best' performance in this best film this year from Hollywood".<ref>Crowther, Bosley. [http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?res=EE05E7DF1739E561BC4A51DFB767838D659EDE ''The Best Years of our Lives''.] ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 22, 1946. Retrieved: April 26, 2007.</ref>}}

[[File:Best Years of Our Lives 01 bar.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Deep focus framing.|Director Wyler and cinematographer Toland used deep focus to keep Fred visible in the phone booth in the far background of the frame.]]
French film critic [[André Bazin]] used examples of Toland's and Wyler's deep-focus visual style to illuminate his theory of realism in film{{--}}going into detail about the scene in which Fred uses the phone booth in the far background while Homer and Butch play piano in the foreground. Bazin explains how deep focus functions in this scene:
{{blockquote|The action in the foreground is secondary, although interesting and peculiar enough to require our keen attention since it occupies a privileged place and surface on the screen. Paradoxically, the true action, the one that constitutes at this precise moment a turning point in the story, develops almost clandestinely in a tiny rectangle at the back of the room{{--}}in the left corner of the screen.... Thus the viewer is induced actively to participate in the drama planned by the director.<ref name="Bazin">{{Cite book |last=Bazin |first=André |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jrQmDSH1omEC&q=%2522andre+bazin%2522+%2522best+years+of+our+lives%2522&pg=PA11 |title=Bazin at Work: Major Essays & Reviews from the Forties & Fifties |publisher=Routledge |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-415-90018-8 |editor-last=Cardullo |editor-first=Bert |location=New York |pages=14–15 |language=en |chapter=William Wyler, or the Jansenist of Directing}}</ref>}}

Professor and author Gabriel Miller discusses briefly the use of deep-focus in both the bar scene and the wedding scene at the end of the picture in an article written for the National Film Preservation Board.<ref>Gabriel Miller, ''The Best Years of Our Lives'', https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/best_years.pdf Accessed 11/14/2022</ref> From ''[[The Nation (magazine)| The Nation]]'' in 1946, critic [[James Agee]] wrote, "In fact, it would be possible, I don't doubt, to call the whole picture just one long pious piece of deceit and self-deceit, embarrassed by hot flashes of talent, conscience, truthfulness, and dignity. And it is anyhow more than possible, it is unhappily obligatory, to observe that a good deal which might have been very fine, even great, and which is handled mainly by people who could have done, and done perfectly, all the best that could have been developed out of the idea, is here either murdered in its cradle or reduced to manageable good citizenship in the early stages of grade school. Yet I feel a hundred times more liking and admiration for the film than distaste or disappointment."<ref>Agee, James - ''Agee on Film Vol.1'' © 1958 by The James Agee Trust.</ref>

Several decades later, film critic [[David Thomson (film critic)|David Thomson]] offered tempered praise: "I would concede that ''Best Years'' is decent and humane... acutely observed, despite being so meticulous a package. It would have taken uncommon genius and daring at that time to sneak a view of an untidy or unresolved America past Goldwyn or the public."<ref>Thomson, 2002, p. 949. 4th Edition; the first edition was published in 1975. See {{cite book |title=A Biographical Dictionary of the Cinema |last=Thomson |first=David |publisher=Secker & Warburg |location=London |date=1975 |oclc=1959828}}</ref> [[Pauline Kael]] wrote, "Despite its seven Academy Awards, it's not a great picture; it's too schematic and it drags on after you get the points. However, episodes and details stand out and help to compensate for the soggy plot strands and there's something absorbing about the banality of its large-scale good intentions; it's compulsively watchable."<ref>Kael, Pauline - ''5001 Nights at the Movies'' 1991 ISBN 0-8050-1366-0</ref>

''The Best Years of Our Lives'' has a 97% "Fresh" rating at [[Rotten Tomatoes]], with an average rating of 8.9/10, based on 97 reviews. The critical consensus states: "An engrossing look at the triumphs and travails of war veterans, ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' is concerned specifically with the aftermath of World War II, but its messages speak to the overall American experience."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Best Years of Our Lives |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/best_years_of_our_lives |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Fandango Media]] |language=en}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film holds a weighted average score of 93 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Best Years of Our Lives Reviews |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-best-years-of-our-lives |access-date=August 13, 2023 |website=[[Metacritic]] |publisher=[[Fandom, Inc.]]}}</ref>

''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' film critic [[Roger Ebert]] put the film on his "Great Movies" list in 2007, calling it "... modern, lean, and honest".<ref>Ebert, Roger. [https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-best-years-of-our-lives-1946 "The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)."] ''Chicago Sun Times'', December 29, 2007. Retrieved: May 1, 2021.</ref>
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===Popular response===
''The Best Years of Our Lives'' was a massive commercial success. It opened to the public at the [[Astor Theatre (New York City)|Astor Theatre]] in New York City on November 22, 1946, and grossed $52,236 in its first week. Its length restricted the film to six shows a day, cutting down on total ticket sales, and initially suffered by having a top midweek ticket price of $2.40, reducing gross revenue. It opened at the [[Woods Theatre]] in Chicago on December 18 before a [[roadshow theatrical release]] in Boston and Los Angeles, starting on the evening of Christmas Day.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=January 15, 1947|page=9|title=Goldwyn Points to Wow 'Best Years' Biz To Refute Selznick Nix of 'Problem' Pix|url=https://archive.org/details/variety165-1947-01/page/n347/mode/2up?view=theater|via=[[Internet Archive]]|access-date=January 12, 2024}}</ref> After 12 weeks at the Astor, the film had grossed $584,000 and at that point had grossed $1.37 million from 6 theatres in five cities from 45 play weeks.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=January 15, 1947|page=9|title='Best Years' 750G Take In 5 Cities|url=https://archive.org/details/variety165-1947-02/page/n124/mode/1up?view=theater|via=[[Internet Archive]]|access-date=January 13, 2024}}</ref>

The picture earned $7.65 million in [[theatrical rental]]s at the U.S. and Canadian box office during its initial theatrical run,<ref name=Jewell>{{cite news | title=Richard B. Jewell's RKO film grosses, 1929–51: The C. J. Trevlin Ledger: A comment. | publisher=Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Volume 14, Issue 1, 1994}}</ref> ultimately benefiting from much larger admission prices (reflecting its exceptional length) than the majority of films released that year, which accounted for almost 70% of its earnings.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety169-1948-01#page/n62/mode/1up|title=Upped Scale Films Cop 'Win, Place, Show' Spots in Gross Sweepstakes|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=January 7, 1948|page=63|access-date=June 11, 2019|via=[[Archive.org]]}}</ref> When box office figures are adjusted for inflation, it remains one of the top 100 grossing films in U.S. history.

Among films released before 1950, only ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone With the Wind]]'', ''[[The Bells of St. Mary's]]'', ''[[The Big Parade]]'' and four Disney titles have done more total business, in part due to later re-releases. (Reliable box office figures for certain early films such as ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]'' and [[Charlie Chaplin]]'s comedies are unavailable.)<ref>[https://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm "All-time Films (adjusted)."] ''Box Office Mojo''. Retrieved: September 19, 2010.</ref>

However, because of the distribution arrangement RKO had with Goldwyn, RKO recorded a loss of $660,000 on the film.<ref name="uni">Richard B. Jewell, ''Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures'', Uni of California, 2016</ref>