The Best Years of Our Lives
It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare.
Director(s)
William Wyler
Jonathan C. Boyle
Cast & Crew
Details
Reviews
Andres Gomez
Another great Willy Wyler movie. The story, with time, is quite expectable but the characters are well defined and developed by the cast. Also, it is a good (and probably, too positive) review of the after WWII war lives of the US veterans. A must to be seen.
CinemaSerf
This is really quite a touching story, recounting the experiences of three American veterans of WWII who return home and have to adapt to their new, not always welcoming, circumstances. Frederic March is "Al" who returns to a senior position in a bank - responsible for helping other returning soldiers with loans to start to get their lives back together; "Fred" (Dana Andrews) returns to a far less optimistic outlook, ending up working for peanuts selling perfume in a drug store, and finally the outwardly cheery "Homer" - who lost both his hands and who cannot decide whether his long term fiancée actually loves him anymore, or just feels pity. William Wyler and Robert Sherwood manage to interweave the inter-connected tales poignantly, illustrating the frustrations, bordering on despair, not only of the three men - in completely different ways; but also of their respective partners who must also adjust to their return, and to their new circumstances once the war is has been won. There are some strong performances from their ladies too - Myrna Loy and Teresa Wright, less so the always rather wooden Virginia Mayo and by the end you do have some, slight, semblance of an idea of just how tough it was for these men to lose the security and discipline of their army lives and to cope with a life that has, in many cases, just moved on without them.
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The Best Years of Our Lives FAQs
The directors of The Best Years of Our Lives are William Wyler and Jonathan C. Boyle.
The cast of The Best Years of Our Lives includes William H. O'Brien as Nightclub Waiter (uncredited), Suzanne Ridgway as Girl at Table with Cliff (uncredited), Billy Engle as Customer (uncredited), James Conaty as Dinner Guest (uncredited), Harold Miller as Wealthy Man at Nightclub (uncredited), Ray Collins as Mr. Milton, Erskine Sanford as Bullard, Ralph Sanford as George H. Gibbons (uncredited), Don Beddoe as Mr. Cameron, Jan Wiley as Perfume Saleswoman (uncredited), Louise Franklin as Ladies' Room Attendant (uncredited), Bert Stevens as Man at Airport / Dinner Guest (uncredited), and more.
The duration of The Best Years of Our Lives is 2h 51 mins.
Yes. You can watch the The Best Years of Our Lives trailer on this Fanbiz page on Fanziz.
The Best Years of Our Lives was released on 25 Dec 1946.
The Best Years of Our Lives is listed under Drama, Romance, and War on Fanbiz.
The Best Years of Our Lives has 2 reviews on Fanziz, with an average rating of 7.5/10. One reviewer wrote: "Another great Willy Wyler movie. The story, with time, is quite expectable but the characters are well defined and developed by the cast. Also, it is a good (and probably,..."
