#40 - THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES

BACKSTORY: “The Best Years of Our Lives” is one of the most beloved movies of its time. It was directed by the acclaimed William Wyler and released in 1946. Wyler had earlier done the famous documentary “Memphis Belle”. Producer Samuel Goldwyn wanted to make a movie about returning veterans so it is set in the period immediately after WWII. It is based on a blank verse novel by MacKinley Kantor and was adapted into the screenplay by Robert Sherwood – two heavyweights. The movie was a box office smash in America and was actually even more popular in England. It won seven Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Frederic March), Best Supporting Actor (Harold Russell), Editing, Adapted Screenplay, and Original Score. AFI ranked it as the 37th best motion picture of all time. The movie is famous for the casting of Harold Russell a a disabled vet.  Russell had lost his hands due to a faulty fuse setting off some explosives during a training session. He is the only actor ever to win two Oscars for the same performance. The Academy felt he would lose for Best Supporting Actor so they gave him an honorary Oscar. Besides Russell, Wyler insisted on the film crew being veterans.

OPENING: We are introduced to the three main characters as they meet on a flight home. Homer (Russell) is a disabled sailor who has mechanical hook prostheses. He is returning to his fiancé. Al (March) was a sergeant in the infantry. He is returning to his wife and children. Freddy (Dana Andrews) is a decorated bombardier. He is returning to a wife he married just before leaving. Each is facing their reunions with trepidation. Al says “it feels as though I’m going to hit a beach.”

SUMMARY: Part one: the reunion section. Al’s reunion is surprisingly joyful, but he feels awkward at home so he takes his wife Milly (Myrna Loy) and adult daughter Peggy (Teresa Wright) out for drinks. He gets drunk. A vet with a drinking problem – actually kind of daring for a movie made in 1946. Guess who they meet at Butch’s bar? It’s a small world. March and Andrews do good drunks. What’s going on with Peggy and Freddy? There’s some chemistry there. When Freddy sleeps off his drunk at Al’s he has a nightmare involving a bombing raid.  (It looks like Freddy is the one who is going to have PTSD.)  Peggy is there to comfort him.

 

Freddy finally finds his wife Marie (Virginia Mayo) and she is surprisingly thrilled to see him. This feeling will not last. Marie is a tramp and is used to independent life and has a night club job and a night club personality. She is unimpressed when Freddy is forced to take a deadend job at a drugstore.

Part two: the job section  Al is back at work at his bank. Freddy is selling perfume at the drugstore. Freddy has lunch with Peggy. It costs $.85. They kiss. This does not bode well for Marie’s character development. She’s going to have to get trampier for this to work cinematically. Al gets in trouble with his banker boss when he humanely makes a loan to a vet who has no collateral. The war has apparently thrown off his banker mentality. He sardonically says  “Last year it was kill Japs, now it’s make money.” Al follows this up with a drunken speech at a business dinner. He finishes strong with a plea to gamble on small business owners. Listen up, bankers in the audience.

       Peggy double dates with Freddy and Marie to try to get rid of those pesky feelings, but instead she discovers that Marie is quite the trollop. Peggy then resolves to break up the marriage. When Al learns what is going on, he confronts Freddy like grown men should. The dialogue is great in its adultness. Freddy agrees to not see Peggy.

      Freddy gets fired from his perfume job when he punches a customer who is spouting about how the war was a waste because we were fighting the wrong countries. Huh?  Shaky plot development. This seems too early in the Cold War for him to be talking about the Russian communists. This opinion would have been bizarre for 1946 so it seems like a weird way to advance the plot.  Why not punch him because he is deriding chumps who went off to war when the economy was booming?

Homer tickles the ivories

      Meanwhile, Homer’s problems are not on the job front. Things are very awkward at home with his parents. Homer feels he is not good enough for his fiancé Wilma (Cathy O’Donnell) and he tries being mean to her to get her to move on with her life. Wilma is an American girl-next-door type so she is not easily dissuaded. (Plus she knows many girlfriends of disabled vets will be watching the movie and she will be a role model on how to handle this situation.) Hollywood has her do the right thing. In a great scene, she puts Homer to bed without flinching and when he finally hugs her, the look on her face is priceless. Upping the heart-tugs, Homer sheds a tear when she leaves.

      Part three: marching into the future  Freddy catches Marie with another man. She wants a divorce. Problem solved! And she comes off as the bad guy.  Mission accomplished. Freddy plans to leave and start a new life. While waiting on his flight, he wanders into an airplane graveyard (symbolic of the vets?). The contractor that is going to use the planes for materials for building homes offers him a job.

CLOSING: Homer and Wilma get married. He screws up the vow, but they get through the ceremony. (Russell actually flubbed the lines and Wyler left the take alone – very nice!) Freddy and Peggy rekindle with a kiss. It looks like everyone will live happily ever after.

RATINGS:

Acting - 9


Action - N/A


Accuracy - N/A


Realism - 8


Plot - 8


Overall - 8

WOULD CHICKS DIG IT? Absolutely. It is not a typically macho war movie. It even has some romance. The female characters hold their own. Myrna Loy and Virginia Mayo were highly respected in their day. The film has just the right dose of smoochiness. The ladies will have their hanky moments and the guys will be able to tolerate them.

HISTORICAL ACCURACY: Accuracy is not really an issue here. The story is fictional. However, the three main characters do fit many of the returning veterans.

CRITIQUE: It is easy to see why “The Best Years of Our Lives” is so beloved. It was the perfect movie for its time. It really struck a chord. People were making the transition from wartime to peacetime and the adjustment was difficult. Millions of veterans were returning to lives that were not only different from Depression-era America, but drastically different from their military experiences. Some came home disabled and wondering about their place in society. Some came home to stable families and jobs, but found that boring and unfulfilling. Some came home to faulty wartime marriages and unclear occupational futures.

     The movie is very well made. Wyler is at the top of his craft and used his experience filming “Memphis Belle” to get a realistic veteran vibe. The movie has a different look to it. Wyler insisted on a type of cinematography called “deep focus”. When you watch a scene, everything in the background and foreground is in focus. It gives the scenes incredible depth. The framing is also nicely done. Many of the scenes feature doorways like in “The Searchers”.  Although Wyler did not like the score, it matches the moods well.

       The cast is all-star. The acting is top notch. Just the facial expressions alone are amazing. Russell is the standout because of his background. He does real well for a rookie. (Wyler insisted he not take any acting lessons.) Of course, it helped that O’Donnell is a poor actress and anyone would look talented opposite her.

      The movie holds up surprisingly well considering it came out right after the war. You would expect a good bit of patriotism and sentimentality. It keeps those elements to a minimum. The way characters in the movie behave is true to life. The one problem is the tidy ending is not true to life. It is asking too much of 1940s Hollywood to have a depressingly realistic ending. All three story arcs portend positive futures. That’s 100%. It would have been nice if 100% of actual WWII veterans had bright post-war lives.

CONCLUSION: “The Best Years of Our Lives” is one of the best of the small subgenre of post-war home front movies. It is an excellent companion to all the good American WWII movies. Many of the survivors in those movies would have had experiences similar to Al, Freddy, and Homer. It’s almost like a sequel to many of those movies. It is definitely a must-see, but a bit overrated because of its overly optimistic ending. Contrast it to the second half of “The Deer Hunter”. But then again, perhaps that movie was too pessimistic.  "The Best Years of Our Lives" seems to be appropriately placed in the Greatest 100.

THE TRAILER

THE FIRST STOP

#70 - Hail the Conquering Hero

BACK-STORY: “Hail the Conquering Hero” is a comedy war movie set in home front America in World War II. It was released in 1944 and is a black and white classic directed by Preston Sturges. It is considered by many to be his best movie. He was nominated for the Oscar for Best Screenplay. Fans of Sturges will recognize several familiar faces from his “stock company” including William Demarest who made ten movies with Sturges. The movie came out a year after another Sturges home front satire, “The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek” (which also starred Demarest and Bracken).


OPENING: In a bar, the depressed Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith (Eddie Bracken) is drowning his sorrows. His father was a WWI hero who was killed at Belleau Wood and it had been Woodrow’s dream to follow in his father’s footsteps, but a case of hay fever got him discharged from the Marines and now he is too ashamed to return home. When a group of Marines cannot afford to buy any more beer, Woodrow pays for a round thus catching their interest. When Sergeant Heppelfinger (Demarest) learns of Woodrow’s plight and his love of the Corps ( he can recite all the battles the Marines have fought in), he and the others decide to escort Woodrow home.

SUMMARY: The reluctant Woodrow hops a train with the six Marines and when they arrive the guys insist that he don a Marine uniform replete with medals. Heppelfinger insists he will “just slip in”, but there are four brass bands (playing four different songs) and the whole town waiting to greet him at the station since one of the Marines had called ahead. The now very reluctant Woodrow is forced off the train by his buddies. A young boy asks him “How many Nips did you get?” Woodrow is in deep.

The six Marines are put up at Woodrow’s home where his mother is naturally very proud of her boy and is small town hospitable to the Marines. A typical example of Sturges’ sharp satirical dialogue comes when she serves pancakes and the Sarge suggests they would be better with butter. Mrs. T: “Maybe you haven’t heard Sergeant, but there’s a war on”. Woodrow discovers that his girlfriend Libby (who he had written to not wait for him) is engaged to the mayor’s son (who could not volunteer because of – hay fever).

At Mass, the sermon is about our hero and the town has been inspired to pay off his mother’s mortgage. The hole gets deeper. The opponents of the pompous Mayor Noble get a bright idea for a candidate that can oust him in the upcoming election. Can you guess who they decide to run? He’s a war hero and plus he is honest! His attempts to avoid the noose confirm his admirable modesty. The deal is sealed after the Sarge compounds the lie by telling a crowd how Woodrow saved his life in combat. (Why would he do this when he knew Woodrow was already in a deep hole that the Sarge had assured him he would not get in?)

Woodrow is heading for a landslide win. They are singing songs about him. Libby is having second thoughts about her engagement. The Mayor’s campaign manager decides to see what dirt he can dig up on Woodrow. He discovers the truth. To preempt the tarring and feathering moment in his immediate future, Woodrow comes clean at a campaign rally.

FINAL SCENE: After Woodrow’s confession and exit, the Sarge takes the podium. At the train station, Woodrow prepares to slink out of town. Libby wants to go with him. Suddenly a crowd comes marching forward (to lynch him?). It seems the Sarge convinced the town that love of mom equates to good mayorship. He insisted that Woodrow’s confession was the bravest thing he had ever witnessed. This is coming from a veteran of Guadalcanal. So Woodrow is destined to be the new mayor. In politics, if the populace wants you, they want you. They don’t need reasons. That’s small town politics. The six Marines leave town to the strains of the “Marine Corps Hymn”.

RATINGS:

Action – N/A


Acting – 8


Accuracy – N/A


Realism – 6


Plot – 6


Overall – 6

WOULD CHICKS DIG IT? Since this is not really a war movie, it will probably appeal to women who do not like war movies.  It does star every woman's dream - Eddie Bracken!  Actually, a good reason to get your girl to watch this movie with you is hopefully you can compete with Eddie (Brad Pitt, he ain't). 

However, keep in mind it is a 1940’s satire which is not for everyone. Also, much of the humor is lost to anyone not familiar with the home front in WWII (which would be pretty much every woman less than 70 in America). Don’t forget satire requires intellect and old satire requires historical intellect. This is a warning to both men and women. That does not mean the movie is not entertaining for a modern clueless audience. It just means most will not get all the jokes. 

ACCURACY: Accuracy is not really an issue with this movie. With that said, it does a fine job of portraying life in small town America during WWII. Keep in mind that it is a satire so it paints the town and its people in broad and humorous strokes.

The movie does reflect the concern in 1944 that the populace was becoming less patriotic and more lazy as the war effort was waning a bit. Although the government did not encourage Sturges to tackle this problem, it must have been pleased with the film.

CRITIQUE: “Hail the Conquering Hero” is an excellent example of 1940’s comedy and in particular the satirical style typified by Preston Sturges. This makes it more comfortable in a time capsule than a modern movie theater. Check out this exchange in the bar. Woodrow (complaining about a sentimental song being sung): “Why don’t they sing something gay?” Bartender: “Why don’t you acquire a gay viewpoint?” See what I mean. I like old comedies, but this one is not particularly funny. It has its great lines, but seldom is LOL funny.

The movie’s theme of how hero worship can get out of hand is well done and must have struck a chord in WWII America. It appears that Sturges was anticipating post-war America where heroes would be a dime a dozen. The movie also has some sharp things to say about small town politics. The mayor is basically a political boss, but there is still the democratic spirit that allows a hero to come from out of the blue and get elected. Sturges also taps into the American cynicism about the political process. At one point, the Sarge opines “Those ain’t lies, those are campaign promises – they expect them”. Even today, that line resonates.

Most importantly, the movie reflects small town America culture. This is important because American culture was based in small towns back then as opposed to modern America’s big city culture. The word quaint comes to mind in describing Woodrow’s home town. His mother is typical of mothers. He is in love with the girl next door. Everyone knows everyone. People say “jumping jehosofat!” and “holy mackerel!”. People are very patriotic.

Sturges directs with verve and there is snappy dialogue throughout. There are usually lots of people in a scene and overlapping dialogue. His stock company plays stock characters – the blowhard mayor, the cynical campaign manager, the stick in the mud fiancé, the saintly mom, etc. All are funny and comfortably within the box that was 1940s satire. The main actors – Bracken and Demarest – are outstanding. Bracken’s facial expressions are priceless. Raymond Walburn as the mayor is also quite good and some of his exchanges with his wife are hilarious. (Mrs. Noble: "Everett, I just have a feeling you're going to make an ass of yourself and I'm just going to pretend I don't know you." Mr. Noble: "I wish you didn't have to pretend!")

CONCLUSION: First, let me make it clear – this is not a war movie by any reasonable definition of what a war movie is. As my peer (All About War Movies) says, it is a movie set in a war. Of my top three war movie guides, only the most comprehensive (Brassey’s Guide to War Films) includes it. It is my opinion that it does not belong on the 100 Greatest list, much less at #70!

It’s a nice little movie with some good performances and some funny lines. It actually holds up pretty well for a black and white movie that is more than 60 years. However, two similar movies are much funnier and if you want to stretch the definition of war movie, then the Military History magazine panel could have embarrassed themselves less by choosing “The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek” or better yet, Jack Benny’s “To Have or Have Not”.

Next up:  #69 - Guadalcanal Diary