Nov. 30 movies: The Best Years of Our Lives. Thoughtful, deeply affecting movie about three soldiers just back from WWII, dealing with emotional and physical battle scars and trying to find a place for themselves back home. The performances are nicely restrained, giving realism to the sense of loss and alienation. There's beautiful camera work by Gregg Toland, with these deep focus scenes where different things are happening simultaneously in the foreground, middle ground and background.
It's interesting to compare this movie to Since You Went Away, which is all about waiting for the soldier's return, and makes it seem like everything will be sunshine and roses after he gets back. It makes me wonder, when Claudette Colbert's husband came home after the movie ended, did he feel like a stranger to his family? Did he have recurring nightmares? Did his job seem trivial and pointless?
The three soldiers were Fredric March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell, who was not an actor but a war veteran and double amputee. Russell's performance is heartbreaking. He's the only person ever to win two Oscars for the same role: Best Supporting Actor and a special award for being an inspiration to veterans. The movie also starred Myrna Loy as March's wife, Teresa Wright as his daughter, Virginia Mayo as Andrews' wife, and a small part for Hoagy Carmichael as Butch, the proprietor of a little bar. Carmichael played the piano a couple of times but alas, didn't sing.
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