IMDb > The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Best Years of Our Lives
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The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) More at IMDbPro »

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The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) -- Three WWII veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) -- MattTrailer.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?

Up 9% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Robert E. Sherwood (screenplay)
MacKinlay Kantor (novel)

Contact:

View company contact information for The Best Years of Our Lives on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

3 October 1947 (France) more

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War more

Tagline:

THE SCREEN'S GREATEST LOVE STORY IS THE BEST FILM THIS YEAR FROM HOLLYWOOD! more

Plot:

Three WWII veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed. full summary | full synopsis

Plot Keywords:

more

Awards:

Won 7 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 1 nomination more

NewsDesk:
(6 articles)

Justin Long Loses A Limb For 'The Conspirator'
 (From MTV Movies Blog. 14 October 2009, 2:30 PM, PDT)

Alec Baldwin Returns As Co-Host Of "The Essentials"
 (From iCelebz. 9 October 2009, 2:10 AM, PDT)

User Comments:

Forgotten now that it was mildly controversial in its day more (176 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:

Glory for Me (USA) (working title)
Home Again (USA) (working title)
Samuel Goldwyn's The Best Years of Our Lives (USA) (poster title)
more

Runtime:

172 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | West Germany:12 (f) | South Korea:15 (2002) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Argentina:13 | Australia:G | Australia:PG (alternate rating) | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #11972)


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

Myrna Loy receives top billing as she was the most successful female star at the time. more

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Peggy and Marie are in the ladies room at the restaurant, the cameraman's left arm is visible in one of the mirrors. more

Quotes:

Homer Parrish: I was afraid you wouldn't be able to stand up for me.
Fred Derry: I'd stand up for you, kid, til I drop.
more

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Ultimate Film (2004) (TV) more


FAQ

Weren't Dana Andrews and Fredric March a little old for their characters?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
Is this movie based on a novel?
more
83 out of 106 people found the following comment useful.
Forgotten now that it was mildly controversial in its day, 23 September 2004
Author: Bill McClain from Columbia, South Carolina

My parents were of that generation, and the movie was cathartic for returning veterans and their families and friends; it's small wonder that it eclipsed <i>It's A Wonderful Life</i>, which arguably is a better picture. But at the time, the movie had some shocking elements to it. In fact, my mother (roughly the character Peggy's age then) saw it against her parents' wishes.

Back in 1946, it was a jaw-dropper to have a character in a movie utter the word "divorce" or to aver an intent to break up a marriage -- such ideas just weren't voiced in films then. To modern audiences, they come across as melodramatic, but I'm told they elcited genuine gasps from audiences then.

Even more astonishing was William Wyler's decision to cast real-life amputee Harold Russell in the key role of a returning Navy veteran. Until <i>The Battle of Britain</i>, in which an actual, disfigured RAF veteran made a cameo appearance, directors didn't make those sorts of courageous gestures. The intimate yet innocent scene in which Homer Parrish (Russell) demonstrates his helplessness to his fiancé Wilma Cameron (Cathy O'Donnell) is beautiful, heartbreaking and uplifting; later, during the wedding scene, Russell stumbled over a line in saying the vows, and Wyler left the humanizing mistake in, God bless him for it.

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