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By
NICK ZEGARAC
Director William Wyler's The
Best Years of Our Lives (1946) is often sited as
producer Samuel Goldwyn's most enduring cinematic
masterwork; an unvarnished, often frankly poignant
and disquieting examination of the postwar fall
out facing American soldiers returning after WWII.
The film charts the re-assimilation of three
valiant heroes; Al Stephenson (Fredric March),
Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) and Homer Parrish (real
life double amputee, Harold Russell).
Al, a once stoic -- family man and banker, whose
ever doting wife, Milly (Myrna Loy) has kept the
home fires burning while he's been away, promptly
returns to Milly's side before taking her on a
wild bender to celebrate his homecoming. Fred
realize that his old job as a soda jerk has been
filled by a boy who did not go off to fight, and
that his fashion plate wife, Marie (Virginia Mayo)
has been off having a time for herself with
another man. Homer, who lost both arms during a
bombing raid, returns to his ever-loyal fiancée,
Wilma Cameron (Cathy O'Donnell), who is determined
as ever that they should be man and wife.
Eventually, Fred -- the stoic loner of this trio,
who spends his nights at a local watering hole run
by his piano player buddy, Butch Engle (Hoagy
Carmichael), reforms, accepts that his marriage is
at an end, and begins to develop feelings for Al's
forthright, upright daughter, Peggy (Teresa
Wright).
What sets apart The Best Years of Our Lives from
the compost of most melodramatic fare is 'the
Wyler touch' -- a directorial hallmark grounded by
the human element. Rather than relying on another,
buddy's come home from war 'feel good' scenario,
Wyler imbues every frame of this magnum opus with
a sense of verisimilitude; a genuine realization
of and empathy for the human condition reflected
in the war torn faces of its returning warriors
and mirrored back at them in the longing felt by
those they left behind. In the end, the film is
much more of a cinematic docu-tainment than mere
time capsule; framing the bittersweet context of
life in a pantheon of high art and coming across
as both artistic and life-like.
MGM has released The Best Years of Our Lives on
DVD once again. This is the third outing for this
magnificent film. Sadly, third time is not the
charm! The first incarnation was for HBO with an
isolated score, a featurette with interview
commentary from Teresa Wright and a rechanneled
Chace Stereo audio track.
In repackaging the film under the MGM banner,
these extras have been inexplicably jettisoned.
Sadly, the limited quality of the film on all
three incarnations has been directly imported onto
this latest MGM 'Awards Series' re-release. The
B&W movie exhibits a very weak picture with poor
contrast levels, aliasing, edge enhancement and
pixelization throughout. Film grain and
age-related artifacts are everywhere. The audio is
presented in its original Mono and is passable.
There are NO extras. |
