The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

My Review

The Best Picture of 1946 is…..”The Best Years of Our Lives.” This is the story of three World War II veterans returning to their hometown and the challenges they faced in returning to civilian life. Director William Wyler (“Mrs. Miniver” 1942) put together a tightly directed film with first-class production values, top-rate performances, and excellent writing. The screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood was adapted from the 1945 novel “Glory for Me” by MacKinlay Kantor.

The cast is head by Fredric March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell as the three veterans. Co-stars include Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, Hoagy Carmichael, Ray Collins, Cathy O’Donnell, Minna Gombell, Erskine Sanford, Michael Hall, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Blake Edwards. “The Best Years of Our Lives” was the second highest grossing film of 1946 for producer Samuel Goldwyn and RKO Radio Pictures.

It was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning nine – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (March), Best Supporting Actor (Russell), Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Musical Scoring (Hugo Friedhofer), Academy Honorary Award (Russell), and Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (Goldwyn). The non-winner was Best Sound Recording. “The Best Years of Our Lives” was film all over Southern California, including Samuel Goldwyn Studios in West Hollywood, Long Beach & Ontario airports, and Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia.