The Best Years of Our Lives (also known as Glory for Me and Home Again) is a 1946 American drama film directed by William Wyler and starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo and Harold Russell. The film is about three United States servicemen re-adjusting to societal changes and civilian life after coming home from World War II. The three men come from different services with different ranks that do not correspond with their civilian social class backgrounds.
The film was a critical and commercial success. It won seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler), Best Actor (Fredric March), Best Supporting Actor (Harold Russell), Best Film Editing (Daniel Mandell), Best Adapted Screenplay (Robert E. Sherwood), and Best Original Score (Hugo Friedhofer).
In addition, Russell was also awarded an honorary Academy Award, the only time in history that two such awards were given for a single performance.
It was the highest-grossing film in both the United States and United Kingdom since the release of Gone with the Wind, and is the sixth most-attended film of all time in the United Kingdom, with over 20 million tickets sold.
In 1989, The Best Years of Our Lives was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
At the end of World War II, three veterans meet on a flight to their midwestern hometown of Boone City: USAAF bombardier captain Fred Derry, U.S. Navy petty officer Homer Parrish, and U.S. Army sergeant Al Stephenson. The three veterans had very different lives before the war:
Fred Derry was a drug store soda jerk who lived with his parents in the poorer part of town. Shortly before shipping out, Fred married Marie after a whirlwind romance; she has since been working in a nightclub, and enjoyed the extra income that Fred's military pay afforded her, without much thought to her husband.
Al Stephenson was an executive at the local bank and lived in an upscale apartment with his wife Millie and their children Peggy and Rob.
Homer Parrish was a star high school athlete living with his middle-class parents and younger sister. Homer had also been dating his next-door neighbor Wilma, whom he intended to marry upon his return.
Each man faces challenges integrating back into civilian life. Homer lost both hands in the war and though he has become quite functional in the use of his mechanical hooks, he cannot believe that Wilma will still want to marry him. Al, tired and jaded from the war, returns to the bank and is given a promotion, but wrestles with alcohol. Though highly decorated, Fred suffers from PTSD flashbacks by night, is unable to find a better job than soda jerk and returns to the same drug store.
Fred and Peggy develop an attraction for each other, which ultimately puts the married Fred at odds with Al. Although proficient in managing the challenges of his disability, Homer is frustrated by his loss of independence and adjusting to his relationship with Wilma, who loyally remains by his side. Al continues to struggle with re-entry into normal life. Widely respected by the bank's senior management for his past business acumen, Al approves an unsecured loan to a farmer and fellow veteran. His behavior is made worse by his excessive drinking.
When Homer visits Fred at the drug store, another customer criticizes U.S. involvement in the war and tells Homer his injuries were not necessary. Homer responds in anger, and Fred intervenes on Homer's behalf, punching the customer and then being fired for it. Meanwhile, Fred's wife, Marie, frustrated with his lack of financial success and missing her past nightlife, tells Fred she is getting a divorce. Bitter, and seeing no future in Boone City, particularly with Al telling Fred to stay away from Peggy, Fred decides to pack up and catch the next plane out. While waiting at the airport, Fred walks into an aircraft boneyard, where he climbs into one of the decommissioned B-17 bombers. Sitting in the bombardier's seat, Fred has another flashback. He is roused out of his stressful memories by a work crew foreman, who informs him that the planes are being demolished for use in the growing pre-fab housing industry. Fred asks him if they need any help in the budding business, and is hired.
Al, Millie, and Peggy attend Homer's and Wilma's wedding, where Fred is best man. Now divorced, Fred reunites with Peggy after the ceremony. Fred expresses his love but tells her things may be financially difficult if she stays with him. Peggy's smile makes it clear she will remain committed to Fred.