Synopsis
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.
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Cast
- Fredric MarchAl Stephenson
- Myrna LoyMilly Stephenson
- Dana AndrewsFred Derry
- Teresa WrightPeggy Stephenson
- Virginia MayoMarie Derry
- Harold RussellHomer Parrish
- Cathy O'DonnellWilma Cameron
- Hoagy CarmichaelButch Engle
- Gladys GeorgeHortense Derry
- Roman BohnenPat Derry
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
It feels surprisingly modern: lean, direct, honest about issues that Hollywood then studiously avoided. After the war years of patriotism and heroism in the movies, this was a sobering look at the problems veterans faced when they returned home. - 100
The New York Times
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. - 100
Variety
One of the best pictures of our lives. - 100
ReelViews
The Best Years of Our Lives runs almost three hours, but it doesn't seem nearly that long. The film is so involving that there's no temptation to glance at a watch, nor a need to get a snack or take a bathroom break. In fact, when it's over, there's almost a sense of disappointment that there aren't a few scenes left hiding on the other side of the closing credits. The feeling of warmth and satisfaction that accompanies the conclusion is the hallmark of a great drama - a distinction that anyone who has seen The Best Years of Our Lives will apply to this landmark production. - 100
TV Guide Magazine
The best coming home movie ever made. "I don't care if it doesn't make a nickel," Sam Goldwyn reportedly said of THE BEST YEARS, "I just want every man, woman, and child in America to see it." - 100
The New Yorker
It’s not the whole story, of course; it’s resolutely on the side of decorum and falls far short of the inner and outer postwar apocalypses envisioned in film noir. But the intensity of its liberal romanticism is utterly gripping. - 90
Time
Unlike most sure-fire movies, it was put together with good taste, honesty, wit—and even a strong suggestion of guts. - 88
Slant Magazine
If The Best Years of Our Lives emerges as a more contemporary-seeing film than almost anything else to which its ingredients could compare, it’s because of how it wrestles with the burden of patriotism. The nation’s problems are right there in plain sight, just as clear as cinematographer Gregg Toland’s typically precise deep-focus shots.
