What is The Best Years of Our Lives about?

Fred, Al and Homer are three World War II veterans facing difficulties as they re-enter civilian life. Fred (Dana Andrews) is a war hero who, unable to compete with more highly skilled workers, has to return to his low-wage soda jerk job. Bank executive Al (Fredric March) gets into trouble for offering favorable loans to veterans. After losing both hands in the war, Homer (Harold Russell) returns to his loving fiancée, but must struggle to adjust.The Best Years of Our Lives / Film synopsis

Why is it called The Best Years of Our Lives?

“The Best Years of Our Lives” originated in a recommen- dation from producer Samuel Goldwyn’s wife that he read a “Time” magazine article entitled “The Way Home” (1944), about Marines who were having difficulty readjust- ing to life after returning home from the war.

How does The Best Years of Our Lives end?

If Homer’s story, which ends The Best Years of Our Lives on a pleasant note, with Homer and Wilma’s marriage, represents the film at its most optimistic, Al’s story fulfills another kind of arc. Married for twenty years, Al returns to an idyllic nuclear family and a new job as vice president of small loans.

Where does The Best Years of Our Lives rank?

34th
The Best Years of Our Lives is ranked 34th – The Greatest Films.

What happened to Harold Russell?

On January 29, 2002, Russell died at a nursing home in Needham, Massachusetts.

Who was the piano player in The Best Years of Our Lives?

Hoagy Carmichael
Consider a scene in Butch’s where Homer proudly shows how Butch (Hoagy Carmichael) has taught him to play piano with his hooks.

Where is Boone City Best Years of Our Lives?

Cincinnati
Novelist MacKinlay Kantor modeled Boone City, the setting for The Best Years of Our Lives on Cincinnati. Although they were cast as mother and daughter, Myrna Loy was only 12 years older than Teresa Wright.

Is The Best Years of Our Lives on Netflix?

Is The Best Years of Our Lives on Netflix? The Best Years of Our Lives cannot be found on Netflix.

What did Harold Russell do for a living?

Russell was a nurse and where Harold started working at odd jobs at the age of 10. After high school he worked in a food market. Mr. Russell said he ”made a rush to the recruiting office” after Pearl Harbor was bombed, not out of patriotism but because he thought of himself as a failure.

Did Harold Russell really lose his hands?

Harold John Russell was born in Nova Scotia in 1914. His family moved to Cambridge Massachusetts when his father died in 1919. He was training paratroopers at Camp MacKall NC on June 6, 1944 when some TNT he was using exploded in his hands. He lost both hands.

Who won Oscars for Best Years of Our Lives?

Fredric March
The Best Years of our Lives also won Academy Awards for Best Actor (Fredric March), Best Supporting Actor (Harold Russell), Directing (William Wyler), Film Editing (Daniel Mandell), Music – Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Hugo Friedhofer), and Writing – Screenplay (Robert E. Sherwood).

How old was Dana Andrews when he made The Best Years of Our Lives?

36
At the time of filming Fredric March was 48 and Dana Andrews was 36. Teresa Wright was 27. March’s and Wright’s ages make good sense for their father / daughter roles but Andrews was a bit old.