Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946)

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The intertwined stories of three returned servicemen struggling to reintegrate into a society that had learned to get along without them: Fred (Dana Andrews), a bomber captain with no marketable skills; Al (Fredric March), an older, wealthier man returning to a white collar job; and double amputee Homer (Harold Russell, the first non-professional actor to win an Oscar).

It's sad how modern most of it feels, from Fred's PTSD to Homer's alienation: we keep telling the same stories about different wars. Where it has aged less well is in its lack of sympathy for those left at home -- there's no professional woman here forced to go back into the kitchen when the menfolk get home, for example, just unsympathetic managers; Fred's wife Marie (Virginia Mayo) is practically a caricature of harridan-whore.

But taken on its own terms it's a wonderful study of the characters it cares about and a masterclass in the Hollywood style. And whether it's realistic or not, in true old Hollywood style it even has a happy ending.

- Sam - 2022-01-02 06:58:45