Weston Film Club — THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES - Please Note: this week's film starts at 1:15

Thursday, November 71:15—4:15 PMCommunity Room Weston Public Library87 School Street, Weston, MA, 02493

In the category of VETERANS ON FILM

The Best Years of Our Lives

1946, 172 minutes

PLEASE NOTE: This week's film starts earlier than usual.

Of all the Hollywood directors to make films during World War II, William Wyler went furthest into harm’s way. Following his Oscar winning Mrs. Miniver, Wyler made the documentary Memphis Belle, flying on a number of missions over Nazi-held territory and losing his cinematographer in combat. Upon the war’s end, Wyler was determined to pay tribute to those who served, and in his epic The Best Years of Our Lives, he gave voice to the millions coming home.

The film is about a soldier, a sailor, and a flyer who return to a Midwestern city, forming a fast friendship during the drawn-out trip home. Frederic March plays the Army sergeant, the oldest of the group—a former banker back from combat in the Philippines with a drinking problem. Dana Andrews plays a decorated Air Corps captain with PTSD coming home to a shaky marriage and his old job as a soda jerk. The hardest return befalls Harold Russell, who portrayed a Navy petty officer with two claws in place of his hands. With some of their family members trying harder than others to grasp what they have experienced, the three men struggle to adapt to a changed country that wants to move on.

Please Note—At almost three hours, this is a long film. It is UN-RATED, with smoking, drinking, ethnic slurs specific to the period, chauvinism, brawling, traumatic flashbacks, and combat-related injuries.

No Registration Required