# 188 The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

The Best Years of Our Lives is a post-war film about three servicemen who come home from the World War II and try to re-adjust to the society they used to be part of. All three of them come from different social classes: a banker, a soda jerk, and a football player, and they all find it hard to get on with their lives after the war.

I was about to exclaim, "Not another old movie!" when I saw what was next on the list, but as the movie progressed, I realized how interesting and warm-hearted it actually was. It's nothing overdramatic like Born on the Fourth of July or The Deer Hunter. I mean, those films have a point too, they show us, the people who have never been to war, what it was really like, and how much it messed up people's minds. But to those, who went through all of it themselves, I think The Best Years of Our Lives is the best film to watch because it shows how important it is to stay optimistic in any situation. It's so full of hope and encouragement, that I couldn't help enjoying it.

It's not all joyful though, it protrays many hardships demobilized soldiers go through, but in the end, there is a happy resolution for all problems. Not very realistic, some might say, and it may be true, but I think that's exactly what people needed right after the war, considering that the film came out in 1946, when almost every family could relate to it.

I felt like the ending was a little rushed. I'm talking about the wedding scene, where Fred and Peggy make up all of a sudden, and start discussing spending the rest of their lives together. To me the scene seemed really out of place, but I guess the screenwriter wanted to remove the uncertainty from their relationship. Anyway, this is the only flaw that I found, which makes The Best Years of Our Lives one of my favorite post-war movies.

Interesting fact: For his performance as Homer Parrish, Harold Russell became the only actor to win two Academy Awards for the same role.

Favorite quote: "I know what it is. How did I get these hooks and how do they work? That's what everybody says when they start off, "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" Well, I'll tell ya. I got sick and tired of that old pair of hands I had. You know, an awful lot of trouble washing them and manicuring my nails. So I traded them in for a pair of these latest models. They work by radar. Look".