The Best Years of Our Lives

Name: The Best Years of Our Lives
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Released: December 25, 1946
Duration: 170 min
Rating: 93
Cast: Cathy O'Donnell, Dana Andrews, Fredric March, Gladys George, Harold Russell

1946

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Universal acclaim based on 17 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 42 Ratings

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8.5

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8.5	User Score Universal acclaim based on 42 Ratings

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The Best Years Of Our Lives

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Movie Details & Credits

RKO Radio Pictures | Release Date: December 25, 1946 | Passed

Starring: Cathy O'Donnell, Dana Andrews, Fredric March, Gladys George, Harold Russell, Hoagy Carmichael, Myrna Loy, Roman Bohnen, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo

Summary: Three World War II veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.

Director: William Wyler

Genre(s): Drama, Romance, War

Rating: Passed

Runtime: 170 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Jonathan Rosenbaum

The best American movie about returning soldiers I've ever seen—the most moving and the most deeply felt. It bears witness to its times and contemporaries like few other Hollywood features, and Gregg Toland's deep-focus cinematography is one of the best things he ever did. Read full review

100

Michael Blowen

Touching Academy Award winner that remains one of the best films ever made about returning veterans. The sterling cast includes Fredric March, Myrna Loy and Harold Russell. It's touching without being silly, and it has aged very well. [04 Jul 1989, p.23]

100

Richard Brody

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. Read full review

100

Bosley Crowther

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. Read full review

100

Hal Boedeker

A best picture Oscar winner, and one of the finest of all American films. [04 Aug 1989, p.37]

Eric Henderson

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. Read full review

Pauline Kael

It's not a great picture; it's too schematic and it drags on after you get the points. However, the episodes and details stand out and help to compensate for the soggy plot strands, and there's something absorbing about the banality of its large-scale good intentions; it's compulsively watchable.

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User Reviews

jamesfhall

Feb 2, 2022

Even at nearly three hours in length, this visceral, gripping drama film about three war veterans never fails to interest.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

cinemabon

Apr 8, 2018

Wyler's best collaboration with Sam Goldwyn results in a tale of how war impacts on the ordinary soldier when they return home, the battle scars sometimes psychological. Brilliant score by Hugo Friedhofer.

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

OlivierPiel

Mar 21, 2019

This film is a marvel. It perfectly stands the test of time despite one or two antiquated special effects. Whilst it is as realistic as possible and tries to capture a fleeting moment in American history it manages to reveal the quintessence of the American soul, its extreme optimism,This film is a marvel. It perfectly stands the test of time despite one or two antiquated special effects. Whilst it is as realistic as possible and tries to capture a fleeting moment in American history it manages to reveal the quintessence of the American soul, its extreme optimism, strength in front of pain and adversity, as well as supreme magnanimity (what was foreseen and celebrated as the real übermensch by Nietzsche and, sadly, despised by Dostoyevsky)...exactly what has made American culture so universally revered and envied by its enemies to this day. This is the same artistic transcendence found in other American art forms such as jazz for instance.
Not only do the script, acting and editing manage to make this 3-hour film feel so engaging and entertaining, some of scenes' cinematography shows glimpses of brilliance.… Expand

2 of 8 users found this helpful26

CodyZamboni

Jun 22, 2019

Hollywood's first real honest look at the effects of war on veterans returning home. This deeply felt, extremely well performed movie shows the painful experiences of 3 WW2 veterans trying to cope with trauma of battle and the altered reality of homecoming, and the failings of trying toHollywood's first real honest look at the effects of war on veterans returning home. This deeply felt, extremely well performed movie shows the painful experiences of 3 WW2 veterans trying to cope with trauma of battle and the altered reality of homecoming, and the failings of trying to explain that agony to their family and friends… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

FreddoFazbeardo

Apr 12, 2020

I can not say much, but seeing it bored me, and It was also very bad!!!!!!!

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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