The Best Years of Our Lives
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The Best Years of Our Lives (also known as Glory for Me and Home Again) is a 1946 American drama film directed by William Wyler and starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo and Harold Russell. The film is about three United States servicemen re-adjusting to societal changes and civilian life after coming home from World War II. The three men come from different services with different ranks that do not correspond with their civilian social class backgrounds. It is one of the earliest films to address issues encountered by returning veterans in the post World War II era.
The film was a critical and commercial success. It won seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler), Best Actor (Fredric March), Best Supporting Actor (Harold Russell), Best Film Editing (Daniel Mandell), Best Adapted Screenplay (Robert E. Sherwood), and Best Original Score (Hugo Friedhofer).<ref name="Oscars1947">Template:Cite web</ref>
In addition, Russell was also awarded an honorary Academy Award, the only time in history that two such awards were given for a single performance.
It was the highest-grossing film in both the United States and United Kingdom since the release of Gone with the Wind, and is the sixth most-attended film of all time in the United Kingdom, with over 20 million tickets sold.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1989, The Best Years of Our Lives was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
Plot
[edit]Three returning World War II veterans meet on a flight to their midwestern hometown of Boone City: USAAF bombardier captain Fred Derry, U.S. Navy petty officer Homer Parrish, and U.S. Army sergeant Al Stephenson. Each had left a very different life behind:
Fred Derry was a drug store soda jerk who lived with his parents on the wrong side of the tracks. Before shipping out, Fred married a gold-digger named Marie after a whirlwind romance. Marie has since been working in a nightclub to fill her time (and her nightlife) in spite of Fred's generous combat pay as an Air Force officer.
Al Stephenson was an executive at a bank and lived in a luxury apartment with his wife, Milly, and their teenage children, Peggy and Rob.
Homer Parrish was a star high school athlete living with his middle-class parents and younger sister. Homer had also been dating his next-door neighbor Wilma, whom he intended to marry upon his return from the war.
Each man faces challenges integrating back into civilian life. Homer lost both hands in the war and though he has become functional in the use of his mechanical hooks, he cannot believe that Wilma will still want to marry him. Al, tired and jaded from the war, returns to the bank and is given a promotion, but wrestles with alcohol. Though highly decorated, Fred suffers from PTSD flashbacks by night.
Fred arrives home and cannot locate his party girl wife, who does not expect him. The Stephensons and their daughter Peggy invite Fred along with them for the evening, bar hopping in celebration of Al's return. An inebriated Fred keeps asking Peggy who she is, and she reminds him that she is "Al's daughter." When Fred is unable to get into his apartment, the Stephensons offer him a bed for the night. Later, Peggy calms Fred during a nightmare, and the two gradually become attracted to each other. When Peggy and her boyfriend invite Fred and Marie out to dinner, Peggy realizes how shallow and materialistic Marie is and becomes determined to break up her and Fred's marriage.
Although proficient in managing the challenges of his disability, Homer is frustrated by his loss of independence and adjusting to his relationship with Wilma. Concerned that Wilma does not fully understand the difficulties of being married to him with his disabilities, Homer demonstrates to her how she will need to assist him at bedtime when he removes his harness with his prosthetic hands, leaving him helpless. Wilma reaffirms her love for Homer and says she can commit herself to him for life.
Al continues to struggle with re-entry into civilian life. Widely respected by the bank's senior management for his past business acumen, Al is criticized after approving an unsecured loan to a farmer and fellow veteran who wants to buy forty acres, but has no collateral. With inhibitions lowered by excessive drinking, Al gives a speech at a work banquet that satirizes requiring a veteran to provide collateral before risking his life to take a hill in battle.
With little work experience and unable to find a better job than soda jerk, Fred returns to the same drugstore. Fred and Peggy's attraction grows stronger, which puts Fred at odds with Al. When Homer visits Fred at the drugstore, another customer criticizes US involvement in the war, telling Homer his injuries were unnecessary. Homer responds angrily, and Fred intervenes on his behalf, punching the customer and consequently being fired. Meanwhile, Marie, frustrated with Fred's lack of financial success and missing her past nightlife, decides to get a divorce.
Bitter and seeing no future in Boone City, particularly with Al telling him to stay away from Peggy, Fred decides to catch the next plane out. While waiting at the airport, Fred walks into an aircraft boneyard, climbing into a decommissioned B-17 bomber. Sitting in the bombardier's seat, Fred has another flashback. He is roused out of his stressful memories by a work crew foreman, who tells him the planes are being demolished for use in the growing prefab housing industry. Fred asks if they need help in the budding business and is hired.
Al, Milly, and Peggy attend Homer and Wilma's wedding, where Fred is best man. Now divorced, Fred reunites with Peggy after the ceremony. Fred expresses his love but says things may be financially difficult if she stays with him. Peggy's smile expresses her joy and she and Fred kiss.
Cast
[edit]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).<ref group="Note">At the time the film was shot, Ford was unknown as a singer. He worked in San Bernardino as a radio announcer-disc jockey.</ref>
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, 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 (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>Template:Cite web</ref>
Production
[edit]Samuel Goldwyn was inspired to produce a film about veterans after reading an August 7, 1944, article in Time about the difficulties experienced by men returning to civilian life. Goldwyn hired former war correspondent MacKinlay Kantor to write a screenplay. His work was first published as a novella, Glory for Me, which Kantor wrote in blank verse.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Orriss 1984, p. 119">Orriss 1984, p. 119.</ref><ref name="emanuellevy.com">Template:Cite web</ref> Robert E. Sherwood then adapted the novella as a screenplay.<ref name="emanuellevy.com" />
Director Wyler had flown combat missions over Europe in filming Memphis Belle (1944), and worked hard to get accurate depictions of the combat veterans he had encountered. Wyler changed the original casting, which had featured a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and sought out Harold Russell, a non-actor, to take on the exacting role of Homer Parrish.<ref name="Orriss p. 121" />
For The Best Years of Our Lives, he asked the principal actors to purchase their own clothes, in order to connect with daily life and produce an authentic feeling. Other Wyler touches included constructing life-size sets, which went against the standard larger sets that were more suited to camera positions. The impact for the audience was immediate, as each scene played out in a realistic, natural way.<ref name="Orriss p. 121">Orriss 1984, p. 121.</ref>
Recounting the interrelated story of three veterans right after the end of World War II, The Best Years of Our Lives began filming just over seven months after the war's end, starting on April 15, 1946, at a variety of locations, including the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Ontario International Airport in Ontario, California, Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, and the Samuel Goldwyn/Warner Hollywood Studios.<ref name="Orriss p. 121" />
In The Best Years of Our Lives cinematographer Gregg Toland used deep focus photography, in which objects both close to and distant from the camera are in sharp focus.<ref name=Dave_Kehr>Kehr, Dave. "'The Best Years of Our Lives'." The Chicago Reader. Retrieved: November 6, 2022.</ref> For the passage of Fred Derry's reliving a combat mission while sitting in the remains of a former bomber, Wyler used "zoom" effects to simulate Derry's subjective state.<ref>Orriss 1984, pp. 121–122.</ref>
The fictional Boone City was patterned after Cincinnati, Ohio.<ref name="Orriss 1984, p. 119" /> The "Jackson High" football stadium seen early in aerial footage of the bomber flying over the Boone City is Corcoran Stadium located at Xavier University in Cincinnati. A few seconds later Walnut Hills High School with its dome and football field can be seen along with the downtown Cincinnati skyline (Carew Tower and Fourth and Vine Tower) in the background.<ref>"Trivia: 'The Best Years of Our Lives'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: November 6, 2022.</ref>
After the war, the combat aircraft featured in the film were being destroyed and disassembled for reuse as scrap material. The scene of Derry's walking among aircraft ruins was filmed at the Ontario Army Air Field in Ontario, California. The former training facility had been converted into a scrap yard, housing nearly 2,000 former combat aircraft in various states of disassembly and reclamation.<ref name="Orriss p. 121" />
Reception
[edit]Critical response
[edit]Upon its release, The Best Years of Our Lives received extremely positive reviews from critics. Shortly after its premiere at the Astor Theater, New York, Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times, hailed the film as a masterpiece. He wrote, Template:Blockquote
French film critic André Bazin used examples of Toland's and Wyler's deep-focus visual style to illuminate his theory of realism in filmTemplate:--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: Template:Blockquote
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 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 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 Template:Cite book</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>Template:Cite web</ref> On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 93 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>Template:Cite web</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. "The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)." Chicago Sun Times, December 29, 2007. Retrieved: May 1, 2021.</ref> Template:Clear
Popular response
[edit]The Best Years of Our Lives was a massive commercial success. It opened to the public at the 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>Template:Cite magazine</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>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
The picture earned $7.65 million in theatrical rentals at the U.S. and Canadian box office during its initial theatrical run,<ref name=Jewell>Template:Cite news</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>Template:Cite magazine</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, 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>"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>
Awards and honors
[edit]In spite of his role, Harold Russell was not a professional actor. As the Academy Board of Governors considered him a long shot to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar he had been nominated for, they gave him an Academy Honorary Award "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance". When Russell in fact won as supporting actor there was an enthusiastic response. He is the only actor to have received two Academy Awards for the same performance. In 1992, Russell sold his Best Supporting Actor statuette at auction for $60,500 ($Template:Inflation today), to pay his wife's medical bills.<ref name=obit>Bergan, Ronald. "Obituary: Harold Russell; Brave actor whose artificial hands helped him win two Oscars". The Guardian, February 6, 2002. Retrieved June 12, 2012.</ref>
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies: #37
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers: #11
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition): #37
Radio adaptations
[edit]The picture received four half-hour radio adaptations during 1947 and 1949: on Hedda Hopper's This Is Hollywood, The Screen Guild Theater (two) and Screen Directors Playhouse. In each case various actors reprised their film roles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
References
[edit]Notes
[edit]Citations
[edit]Sources
[edit]- Dolan, Edward F. Jr. Hollywood Goes to War. London: Bison Books, 1985. Template:ISBN.
- Eagan, Daniel. The Best Years of Our Lives, in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry. A&C Black, 2010 Template:ISBN, pp. 399–401.
- Flood, Richard. "Reel crank – critic Manny Farber." Artforum, Volume 37, Issue 1, September 1998. Template:ISSN.
- Hardwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Viewer's Guide to Aviation Movies", in The Making of the Great Aviation Films. General Aviation Series, Volume 2, 1989.
- Kinn, Gail and Jim Piazza. The Academy Awards: The Complete Unofficial History. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2008. Template:ISBN.
- Orriss, Bruce. When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Aviation Film Classics of World War II. Hawthorn, California: Aero Associates Inc., 1984. Template:ISBN; Template:OCLC.
- Thomson, David. Showman: The Life of David O. Selznick. London: Abacus, 1993. Template:ISBN.
- Thomson, David. "Wyler, William". The New Biographical Dictionary of Film. 4th Edition. London: Little, Brown, 2002. Template:ISBN.
- Tibbetts, John C., and James M. Welsh, eds. The Encyclopedia of Novels Into Film (2nd ed. 2005) pp. 152–153.
External links
[edit]Template:Wikiquote Template:Commons category
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- The Best Years of Our Lives at American Music Preservation
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- The Best Years of Our Lives on Screen Guild Theater: November 24, 1947
- The Best Years of Our Lives on Screen Directors Playhouse: April 17, 1949
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