The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Steven Spielberg mentioned this film as a favorite. The man's got good taste.

Homer (Harold Russell), Al (Fredric March), and Fred (Dana Andrews) are coming home. The three WWII veterans are returning to their small-town America ready to return to a life of normalcy. A sailor, Homer is returning to his fiance, Wilma and wonders if she will still love him after losing his hands to the war. Al went to war a banker, but came back as a soldier who's unsure of his now grown children and self-sufficient wife. Fred went from soda jerk civilian to hero Army Captain. They can't help but wonder are the best years of their lives over as the three men never could have imagined the hardships they must overcome to capture what they once had.

The Best Years of Our Lives is a beautiful drama that evokes a different time and place. The film doesn't focus on the war, but rather, the re-entry of three very different men.

The ensemble cast is remarkable. Unfortunately, I can't do them right as most are unknown to me. Each of the gentlemen explore complex, yet universal themes within their characters. Director Wyler captures these themes of wrapped in the haunted faces and experiences of our menfolk. Myrna Loy, as Al's wife, Milly, is the one known face to me. She is beautiful alongside March in a perfectly understated role.

As I see it, The Best Years of Our Lives is exceptional storytelling. The film contains an authenticity that is timeless. The score is perhaps a bit melodramatic, but the film is a success on every level.