The Best Years of Our Lives

Dir: William Wyler, 1946 (10*)

Best Picture (AA, BAA)

AFI Top 100

This terrific post-war film is one of the great American movies. It's also a brave one, an anti-war film made just after World War II. It concerns a group of three soldiers from different backgrounds who share a military aircraft ride home when returning from the war and become friends; the film shows the difficulties each has adjusting to civilian life after life-changing wartime experiences, and the effect of the war on their relatives. Fredric March won an Oscar for Best Actor (his 2nd); William Wyler for Best Director (his 2nd of 3) and Screenplay, and Harold Russell, a non-actor who lost his hands in the war, won Supporting Actor (and an Honorary Oscar) in a deeply touching role. Everything about this movie is superb, an all-time top 10 for me, and a Top 12 for Orson Welles. This film kept It's a Wonderful Life from winning any AA's. 6 Oscars