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Movies / On DVD / The Best Years of Our Lives
The Best Years of Our Lives

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The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

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Reviews Counted:35

Fresh:34

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.6/10

Consensus: An engrossing look at the triumphs and travails of war veterans, The Best Years of Our Lives is concerned specifically with the aftermath of World War II, but its messages speak to the overall American experience.

Runtime: 2 hrs 52 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Perhaps the most memorable film about the aftermath of World War II, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES unfolds with the homecoming of three veterans to the same small town. The leads all touch emotional... Perhaps the most memorable film about the aftermath of World War II, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES unfolds with the homecoming of three veterans to the same small town. The leads all touch emotional truths: Myrna Loy seems able to express longing, joy, fear and surprise--mostly with her back turned--in a particularly poignant welcome home. The movie never glosses over the reality of altered lives and the inability to communicate the experience of war on the front lines or the home front. A landmark achievement. WWII vet Harold Russell, who lost his hands in the war, is the only person to win two Oscars for the same role, Best Supporting Actor and a special Oscar "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance." [More]

Starring: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright

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

Director: William Wyler

Director: William Wyler
Producer: Samuel Goldwyn
Composer: Hugo Friedhofer

[See More Credits]

Reviews for The Best Years of Our Lives

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
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It may be corny, but you'd have to be a real cynic not to be drawn in.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
02/19/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This is intelligent, admirably unsentimental and utterly involving for its full three-hour running time.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
07/07/04
David Parkinson
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Overlong, perhaps, but this tender and occasionally tough look at the plight of returning war veterans is one of Wyler's best films.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment 1 Comment
02/18/07
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

The best coming home movie ever made.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's priceless -- one of those pictures every producer hopes to make.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Boxoffice Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Like most good mass entertainments, this picture has occasional moments of knowing hokum; but unlike most sure-fire movies, it was put together with good taste, honesty, wit -- and even a strong suggestion of guts.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
02/17/09
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the best pictures of our lives.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
02/19/08
Abel Green
Abel Green
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Post-war Hollywood drama at its heartfelt best.

comment Comment
02/03/06
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
10/06/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

No review available.

comment Comment
03/08/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

No review available.

comment Comment
12/18/02
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide

The film is very proud of itself, exuding a stifling piety at times, but it works as well as this sort of thing can, thanks to accomplished performances by Fredric March, Myrna Loy, and Dana Andrews, who keep the human element afloat.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
12/12/06
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

Wyler and Goldwyn have made a glorious 'intimate epic,' one worthy of every honor bestowed upon it.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
02/10/05
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
07/26/02
David Poland
David Poland
Hot Button

One of the few films that deserved all the awards heaped on it from the Oscars.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
03/17/07
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Although it contains moving passages, Best Years is not much more than a conventional drama on the problems of servicemen attempting to adjust to life in postwar America, well served by an all-star cast and Toland's ingenious deep-focus setups.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
02/19/08
Elliott Stein
Elliott Stein
Village Voice

The film captured the mood of post-WWII America so well that even harsher critics like James Agee failed to see the film's dramatic flaws, instead stressing its realism and black-and-white deep focus photography by Gregg Toland.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
07/22/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

The feeling of warmth and satisfaction that accompanies the conclusion is the hallmark of a great drama.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for The Best Years of Our Lives

June 22, 2007: AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time ... Again
Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was done they churned out 15 other lists every few years. And then last night they... More...

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