The Best Years of our Lives review

Number 143 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Best Years of our Lives.  It was the winner of the 1946 Best Picture Oscar.

Platoon Sergeant Al Stephenson (Fredric Marsh), Captain Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) and Petty Officer 2nd Class Homer Parrish (Harrold Russell) are three WW2 veterans who make fast friends upon their return to America.  However, all three of them have trouble readjusting to their old lives.

The Best Days of our Lives won seven Oscars and it's easy to understand why.  Its subject matter is as relevant now as it was then.  Some soldiers returning from war find they don't have any support network.  They struggle to integrate back into their old lives.  Some become homeless.  Others take their own lives.

Thankfully things never become that dark here, but all three characters struggle to reintegrate.  Before the war, Al Stephenson was a middle-manager in a bank and a family man.  But when he arrives home, his life has moved on without him. His children have a grown-up and he has lost his relationship to him.  In his work, he does his best to help other veterans even when that's not in the bank's best interests. To help deal with his alienation, he begins drinking.  And on more than one occasion, he drinks too much and greatly embarrasses himself and his family.  Unfortunately, he is just one example of the many veterans who turn to drink when they cannot cope with reality.

Next we have Fred Derry who is the most mentally disturbed of the three.  Although it isn't said explicitly, it is implied that he has PTSD.  He talks in his sleep, thinking he is still in battle.  Before the war, he was a soda jerk in a drug store.  He also married a woman called Marie, a month before he shipped out.  But upon his return, he struggles in finding a new job.  He is forced to return to his role as a low-paid soda jerk.  Marie makes it clear she isn't happy with this and constantly berates him.  The marriage turns into a loveless one and Marie leaves Fred for another veteran.  Again, this is all too familiar for veterans who have been changed by war.

Lastly, we have Homer Parrish.  While in the navy, his boat caught fire and sunk.  While Homer survived, he lost both his arms below the elbow.  And so, he has prosthetic hooks instead.  The actor Harold Russell actually lost his hands in the army while teaching demolition work.  And Parrish's story is the saddest of the three.  Because of his disability, he finds that everyone is treating him differently, when all he wants is to be treated the same.  Yet children are scared of him and Home is afraid his old girlfriend and family will reject him.  Although they are understanding, he finds he is more comfortable with his old friends.  It is only when Fred Derry tells him not to let his girlfriend go is Homer able to fully accept himself for who he is.

I did enjoy this film.  It holds as much relevance as it did and through history, as it did in WW2.  Veterans coming home from Korea experienced this, so did veterans in Vietnam and in the Gulf War and even in the recent war in Afghanistan.  And all three characters were very likeable especially the sweet Homer Parrish, so it was nice to see him succeed.  This isn't always the case for veterans, so it was nice to see these three characters live happily ever after.