12 MEMORABLE BEST PICTURE WINNERS #3

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)

19h Academy Awards

Nominated With:
Henry V
It’s a Wonderful Life
The Razor’s Edge
The Yearling

Directed By:
William Wyler

Starring:
Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O'Donnell, Hoagy Carmichael, Gladys George, Harold Russell, Roman Bohnen

Synopsis:
Winning seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture), this classic drama follows three World War II veterans as they return to small-town America. Homer (Harold Russell), Al (Fredric March) and Fred (Dana Andrews) are desolate as they try to come to terms with their experiences. Best Supporting Actor Russell, a real veteran who lost his hands in the war, also won an Honorary Oscar "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans."

Why this is a great choice:
1946 marks one of the greatest years in Hollywood film history. There are so many classics as it saw the height of film noir as well as the emerging auteurs of the studio era (Hitchcock, Hawks, Ford, Capra, Welles). Among those auteurs was the great William Wyler and in 1946 he made his masterpiece The Best Years of Our Lives. While the film may not be as memorable today as the beloved classic It’s a Wonderful Life (which was also nominated that year for Best Picture), it remains a masterwork of filmmaking and easily one of the most perfectly made films to ever come out of a Hollywood studio. I love It’s a Wonderful Life, but The Best Years of Our Lives is an equal (if not superior) classic.


12 Memorable Best Picture Winners -- previous enteries:
- Casablanca (1942)
- How Green Was My Valley (1941)