Hollywood films explore challenging world of disabilities Sep 11, 2008
THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946): This was one of the first films to pay attention to the toll World War II took on those left behind and those returning home. The most powerful plot line deals with a vet who lost his hands and must decide whether his fiancee's devotion stems from love or pity. (The Augusta Chronicle)
Academy Awards Neglected Actresses Jul 14, 2008
Although usually not regarded as a dramatic actress, she gave strong performances as the wife of Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and in The Red Pony (1949) with Robert Mitchum. Loy was finally given a lifetime achievement award by the Academy in 1991. (Suite101.com)
R.A. Long grads say goodbye school, hello world Jun 16, 2008
"We've all heard these are the best years of our lives, and for many that has been true," Gosch said. But, "if that were true this would be the saddest day of our life," she said. (Longview Daily News, WA)
Larger Than Life: Charlton Heston Apr 14, 2008
A good example is the 1958 movie The Big Country, a powerful western directed by William Wyler (who would direct Heston in Ben Hur the next year and who was the director of the best American movie ever made, The Best Years of our Lives ). The Big Country is a really big movie in every way scope, landscape, music, performances and bodies. (New York Times)
Happy Birthday, George Bailey Dec 26, 2007
Oscar-nominated for best picture, director, actor, editing, and sound, it won nothing, losing out to The Best Years of Our Lives, which Wyler had directed for Samuel Goldwyn. Capra must have seethed. (Guardian Unlimited)
Capra's 'Wonderful Life' lingers as earnest chestnut Dec 8, 2007
But Life bombed, while The Best Years of Our Lives, opening the same week, was a huge hit and beat it for the top Oscar. Sam Goldwyn's postwar dream trumped Capra's. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Veterans are easily forgotten Nov 14, 2007
That is the point of The Best Years of Our Lives, a 1946 movie about an American town after World War II. Vietnam War veterans came home to a nation that didn't want to acknowledge their service. Thirdly, the Iraq War and Afghanistan occupation are marked by a civilian population that is almost totally disconnected from those who are making the ultimate sacrifice. (Lebanon Express, OR)
A new script for Hollywood war movies Oct 11, 2007
The Best Years of Our Lives was released two years after World War II, Men in War after the Korean conflict, Coming Home and The Deer Hunter after Vietnam and Three Kings after the Gulf War. "That these films are coming forward during the progress of a war and questioning it sooner may mean that the general public is rejecting what our leaders are telling us ... and want to know more about the war," she suggests. (The Star Online, Malaysia)
After The War Oct 7, 2007
The experience of World War II was over for the Greatest Generation, but for my generation the culture of war would give shape and substance to the best years of our lives. Walking down Carson Street, we could go into Breitweiser's or Ross's confectionery and thumb through the adventures in Marvel and DC Comics of super-heroes, like Captain America, who had single-handedly won the war. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Hollywood pitches in on war effort Jul 28, 2007
"Many of the best films made about war have come out after the wars have ended," says Irwin Winkler, citing "The Best Years of Our Lives," "Coming Home" and "Platoon," among others. "People need a period of time to reflect on them.". (Variety)
Honouring the original with a digital upgrade Jul 2, 2007
Deemed the third funniest and 26th "greatest" film by the American Film Institute, Dr. Strangelove was also among the first 25 films the National Film Preservation Board named as being worthy of protection for posterity in 1989 (the first that year was 1946's The Best Years of Our Lives). But there were problems. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
A foul, rotting stench; or, our first year at Yale Apr 29, 2007
This question carries special resonance when were assessing a transitional year, the expedited evolution of character overseen by the academic and spiritual pressure-cooker of college living in which an entire social structure, worldview, and educational procedure have been overthrown and replaced with a new set of mythologies and all beneath the banner of The Best Years of Our Lives. But if its too daunting to measure our holistic development as human beings in the first year of college, we... (Yale Herald, CT)
Your guide to what's playing this summer Apr 27, 2007
HOME OF THE BRAVE: "The Best Years of Our Lives" re-tooled for Iraq, with Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, Christina Ricci and 50 Cent.. 28 WEEKS LATER: Raging zombies rear their ugly heads again in a follow-up to "28 Days Later.". (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Presidents Men art director Jenkins dies Apr 13, 2007
Jenkins first work there was on The Best Years of Our Lives, the producers 1946 drama about World War II veterans that won the Academy Award for best picture. He went on to work on more than 30 pictures as an art director or production designer. (MSNBC -- Movies)
Oscar-winning art director Jenkins dies Apr 13, 2007
All the President's Men, has died. "His design for the 1979 film The China Syndrome earned him a second Oscar nomination.Jenkins was also the art director for 1962 movie The Miracle Worker. He and the director, Arthur Penn, had also worked together on the Broadway play on which it was based."From the first time I worked with him, we understood each other," Penn said. "So we went on to many, many projects together. (The Morning Star)
George Jenkins, 98; Oscar-winning production designer Apr 12, 2007
Producer Samuel Goldwyn, who had seen "I Remember Mama" on Broadway, invited Jenkins to Hollywood to work as an art director on what became Jenkins' first film: "The Best Years of Our Lives," director William Wyler's 1946 drama about returning World War II veterans that won the Academy Award for best picture. Among Jenkins' more than 30 movie credits as an art director or production designer are "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," "The Bishop's Wife," "Wait Until Dark," "The Subject Was Roses,"... (Los Angeles Times)
Adept at adaptations Mar 29, 2007
William Wyler directed Academy Award-winning movies "Mrs. Miniver" and "The Best Years of Our Lives" right before and immediately after his World War II service as a documentary filmmaker commissioned with the Army Air Corps. "Best Years" ended a long association with producer Samuel Goldwyn but had no immediate successor, in part because of an ill-conceived postwar business partnership with Frank Capra and George Stevens. (Washington Times, DC)
Cut! Are movies too long? Mar 1, 2007
Few fans would gripe that three-hour masterpieces such as The Best Years of Our Lives, Schindlers List or the first two chapters of The Godfather are too long. And cinema buffs reveled in the 1989 reconstruction of Lawrence of Arabia overseen by Steven Spielberg, which restored David Leans epic close to its original length of three hours, 40 minutes. Slide show. (MSNBC -- Movies)
Oscar coming to town Feb 28, 2007
DEMOPOLIS To kickoff the opening weekend of the Hellman-Wyler Festival, William Wyler's Oscar for The Best Years of Our Lives' will be on display at three locations in Demopolis this Saturday and Sunday ... Gantt said Wyler won three Oscars during his career, one for Ben Hur,' Mrs. Miniver' and for The Best Years of our Lives. (Demopolis Times, AL)
Today in History - Jan. 29 Jan 29, 2007
Actor Harold Russell, who received two Oscars for his sensitive portrayal of a disabled veteran in The Best Years of Our Lives, died in Needham, Mass. at age 88. (MSNBC -- Race)
Jared Leto Explains Why He Avoided Lindsay Lohan On 'Chapter 27' Set Jan 26, 2007
Last year was] one of the best years of our lives. so getting back on the road and celebrating it with everybody is what we're looking forward to doing. (VHI.com -- Music News)
WWII 'Lives' resonates (Gary Arnold) Jan 4, 2007
"The Best Years of Our Lives," William Wyler's durably absorbing and stirring movie about the homecoming experiences of three servicemen who reside in the same Midwestern metropolis, the apocryphal Boone City, was in the process of becoming Hollywood's most popular and acclaimed new release 60 years ago ... Claims of a better-than-ever society may have been exaggerated in some quarters, but "The Best Years of Our Lives" still seems an authentic impression of the hopes and obstacles that... (Washington Times, DC)
Home of the Brave Dec 22, 2006
Bookmark them and enjoy. SECTIONS MOVIES CHANNELS ; GET GAMES. (IGN FilmForce)
Trite script wins battle in Home of the Brave Dec 12, 2006
And you have single mother Vanessa Price (Jessica Biel), adjusting to life as an amputee after losing a hand in an explosion (the character forces an unfortunate comparison to the greatest of war homecoming films, The Best Years of Our Lives, which featured a remarkable performance from a real World War II veteran who lost his hands in combat). Director Irwin Winkler did a tepid take on Hollywood song-and-dance with his last film, De-Lovely, and his oversight of the battlefield... (MSNBC -- Movies)
ARMOND WHITE Nov 30, 2006
Fact is, those particular movies dealt with the post-war unease experienced by non-white or non-middle class Americans a more disturbing proposition than a fine, official post-war film like The Best Years of Our Lives, which came to be used emblematically, almost as a self-congratulatory palliative. But the original Home of the Brave belonged to that unofficial category known as either Problem or Protest Films, which doesn t pretend things would easily be made right after the trauma of war. (New York Press)
21 must-see World War II movies Oct 13, 2006
"The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) A trio of soldiers learn coming home can be just as hard as going to war. "Twelve O'Clock High" (1949) Gregory Peck stars in a high-flying tale of the Air Force's heroic raids over Germany. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Taking Names Sep 26, 2006
Later, after marrying Mel Ferrer in what turned out to be an unhappy union, Miss Hepburn (who died in 1993) took up with Robert Anderson, who wrote the screenplays for such classics as "The Best Years of Our Lives" and "Rebecca." She quickly told him about her desire to be a mother. "He took this as an implication that -- were she to leave Mel for him -- she wanted and expected to have children. With great sadness, Bob told Audrey that he could never be a father -- he was congenitally sterile."... (Washington Times)
Not quite love (Gary Arnold) Jul 15, 2006
For many people, the Hollywood attractions of the year were crowned by two Christmas season releases: William Wyler's "The Best Years of Our Lives" and Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life." Earlier highlights had included "Notorious," "The Big Sleep," "The Killers," "The Spiral Staircase," "My Darling Clementine," "Duel in the Sun," "The Yearling," "Cluny Brown," "Road to Utopia" and "The Harvey Girls." About a year after their domestic release, the British got "Henry V," "Brief Encounter,"... (Washington Times, DC)
More of this story May 28, 2006
Although there are many great war movies that come to mind, two of my favorite are "Paths of Glory" and "The Best Years of Our Lives" ... "The Best Years of Our Lives" focuses on a group of survivors from World War II making the difficult adjustment trying to pick up where they left off before military service. (The Enterprise, MA)
Buried, but not forgotten May 21, 2006
Dana Andrews of Collins, movie actor (The Best Years of Our Lives); 1909-1992; cremated, ashes given to family or friend. Jefferson Davis, a Kentucky native, president of the Confederate States and U.S. senator and representative, as well as state legislator, for Mississippi; 1808-1889; buried: Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Va. (The Clarion-Ledger)
Sleazy Hugh v Sweet Hugh May 16, 2006
Pity you forgot to mention - or don't even know - that Goldwyn produced plenty of movies that had much more than entertainment on the agenda, e.g. THE LITTLE FOXES, DODSWORTH and THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (which is probably as close you could get to a mainstream antiwar movie in America in 1946). Thirdly, who ever said political films aren't entertaining. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
The mysteries of 'United 93' Apr 28, 2006
"The Best Years of Our Lives," about the sometimes difficult acclimation of war veterans to civilian life, came out a year after the end of World War II. "Battleground," the stark story of a squad in the Battle of the Bulge, came out five years after that brutal engagement. Many other war movies have come out during wartime, and films about other subjects -- civil rights, infamous crimes -- have come out fairly close to the actual events they dramatize. (CNN)
