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The war has ended, and now all the soldiers are trying to get home. It's not as easy as it sounds, because the airlines are all booked solid with casual travelers and the aforementioned military personnel. Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) is finding this out at the airport. He's advised he'll probably have better luck going through the military's Air Transport Command, so Fred gives that a shot. In the ATC barracks, Fred comes upon Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) as both are told of a cargo flight that can get them home to Boone City (a fictional town situated on the map around where Cleveland is). Fred hands Homer a pen to sign for the flight, but is stunned to see Homer grab the pen with a hook and sign away. Homer explains he lost both of his hands from burns suffered when his aircraft carrier was sunk. He says he gets by just fine with the metal prostheses. His main concern is how his fiancé, Wilma (Cathy O'Donnell), will handle it. Wilma and the families know of the injuries and his prostheses, but actually seeing them could be a whole different story.
Aboard the bomber which is transporting them home, they also meet Al Stephenson (Fredric March). All three become fast friends as they check out the scenery during the flight and talk about the war. Upon arriving over Boone City, they all realize things home don't look to have changed all that much. All three take a taxi together, and they agree they'll all meet up in the near future at Butch's, the favorite bar of the town, for a few beers. The first stop is Homer's house. When they arrive, Homer tries to talk them all into going back to Butch's first, but they convince him to go see his family. Homer is worried about their reaction to his hooks. Homer and his family are elated to see one another, and Wilma comes from next door as well. All have a few seconds of stunned silence as they see the hook hands for the first time, with Homer's mom breaking into tears. From the taxi, Al realizes that when Wilma hugged Homer, Homer didn't put his arms around her as well as if he was afraid to use his hands at all.
Al returns home next. He lives in a posh apartment. His wife, Milly (Myrna Loy), and grown children Peggy (Teresa Wright) and Rob (Michael Hall) all celebrate Al's return. Lastly, Fred returns home to his parents. However, his wife, Marie (Virginia Mayo), doesn't live there anymore. Fred's father tells him that she works nights at a club and moved into her own apartment due to the schedule.
Al remarks to his wife after awhile that he almost doesn't recognize his kids. Peggy is an adult now, spitting out all this knowledge about the domestic sciences, and college freshman Rob knows all about atomic energy and seems to have mixed feelings about the war, which show primarily when Rob doesn't seem overly excited when Al gifts him with a flag and a sword from the battlefields. Rob eventually goes to bed, and Al decides that he and the girls are going to hit the town tonight to celebrate his return.
Meanwhile, Homer's and Wilma's families are all together catching up on things. There's an awkwardness over them all, however, which is exacerbated when Homer drops a glass. Homer decides he needs to go get some fresh air, which everyone understands. Homer turns out to pass Butch's and he sees Fred inside. They chat for a bit and then Al arrives as well with Milly and Peggy. Al's already at least two sheets to the wind by this point as they've been bouncing around a few bars and restaurants previously. Butch's is owned by a guy named...yep, you guessed it...Butch (Hoagy Carmichael), and Butch comes to Homer to let him know that Wilma phoned to check on him. Homer says everyone's acting weird at home because of his hooks, but he decides ultimately to head home when the others say it'll get better in short order once everyone is used to them. As Al and Milly dance to Butch's piano playing, Fred and Peggy hit it off. The crew, sans Homer, stay to closing time until the girls pour the drunken boys into the backseat and head to the Stephenson home.
Milly brings Al to their bed while Peggy put Fred into hers, and herself onto the couch. During the night, Fred has a nightmare, calling out to someone in what sounds like a wartime re-enactment. Peggy comes in and calms him down. The next morning, Fred awakens and takes a moment to gather his surroundings. Al wakes up and gets into the shower with his pajamas still on. Peggy has made breakfast. Fred tells Peggy he hopes he didn't get out of line last night, which he didn't. Peggy drives Fred home, and while in the car he recalls the dream from last night and thanks her for her kindness in not mentioning it thus far this morning. Fred has Peggy drop her off at Milly's apartment. Inside, Milly is thrilled that Fred is home and found her apartment.
Al's old boss, Mr. Milton (Ray Collins), calls him about returning to his old job. They agree to meet up, even though Al isn't too excited to return to work when he knows of other vets having trouble finding work now that the war's over. When Al meets Milton, Al's offered not only the bank loan officer position he held previously, but also a promotion to VP in charge of the small loans department. He accepts the position. Meanwhile, Fred visits the old pharmacy he worked at as a soda jerk. The pharmacy is now owned by corporate chain Midway. He's offered a chance to return to the pharmacy as well, but only part-time as a salesman and part-time behind the soda fountain. Fred returns home to learn Milly quit her job at the club, and she wants her and Fred to go out tonight with him in his military uniform. Fred isn't thrilled with that idea, and Milly is also not thrilled to learn Fred's likely returning to the pharmacy job.
Wilma visits Homer's family and is told Homer's in the shed practicing with his rifle. Homer's dad remarks that Homer seems to be keeping to himself a lot as he adjusts to returning to civilian life. While Wilma and Homer are chatting in the shed, a group of children that include Homer's younger sister are peeking in the shed window at them. Homer has an outburst as he thinks the kids are gawking at his hook hands, including breaking through the window with them. Homer immediately apologizes to the kids and to Wilma. Wilma offers to help him adjust however necessary but Homer insists this is something he has to figure out on his own.
The next day, Fred comes home from the pharmacy with cold cuts and other items for dinner. Milly first asks him about what he was dreaming about the prior night as he talking in his sleep (the recurring nightmare once again), and then throws a tantrum because she doesn't want to eat at home, she wants to go out. Fred wins the argument and Milly pouts in a chair with her fancy dress on.
Al is at his desk when a WWII vet comes into the bank looking to start a business with a loan. However, he has no collateral, and this presents a problem. Homer enters the bank and Al excuses himself for a moment to say hello to him. After a minute of that, Al returns to the vet and gives him the loan, saying he knows a man of character when he sees one. Elsewhere, Fred is working at the pharmacy and hating every moment of it until Peggy arrives. They head off for lunch. Things are fine until they leave and the two suddenly kiss in the parking lot. Both are a little shocked.
Towards the end of the workday, Mr. Milton questions Al giving that loan with no collateral. Al explains he trusted the vet but also is sure to let Milton know such a thing won't become a habit. Meanwhile, Fred returns home and Milly says that they ARE going out tonight because Peggy has invited them to join her and her date at the club. Milly also suspects Peggy may like Fred. Peggy confirms that at her own house when she tells her parents she's in love with Fred, and she invited Fred and Milly to the club so she could see the two of them together and get over Fred.
Al and Milly are at a banquet for his workplace, in which Al is being honored for his war record as well as his promotion. Al pounds a few quick drinks before he gives his speech, in which he expresses his feelings that everyone in America should support and help out all the veterans now returning from WWII. Al also says the bank will lead by example in that effort. Everyone, including Mr. Milton, applauds the speech.
At the club, Peggy's date is all putting the moves on her, and in doing so says the two of them would never be like Fred and Milly, who are obviously not at all happy together. Peggy sees it too, and while talking with Fred later, the two of them realize they are indeed in love. Later that night at home, Peggy tells her parents it's real with her and Fred, and she's going to do her best to break up Fred and Milly's sham of a marriage. Al disapproves, and meets with Fred the next day at Butch's. Al basically tells Fred to not see Peggy anymore. Then Homer arrives, and he and Butch play piano while Fred makes a call in the phone booth to Peggy, telling her the two of them need to stop seeing each other.
Later, Fred is at the soda fountain and Homer comes in for a bite. They chat about what happened at Butch's. Another customer sitting at the bar starts conversing with Homer, and the customer claims the war was fought against the wrong enemies. He and Homer get into an argument, during which Fred intervenes and knocks the man into a glass counter. Fred's boss comes out and before he can fire Fred, Fred quits and leaves with Homer. As they head home, Fred encourages Homer it's time to get over all his fears and marry Wilma. That night, Wilma visits Homer and tells him that her parents want her to leave Boone City to try and forget about Homer and move on. Homer brings Wilma to his room and shows her how his prostheses are removed each night before bed. Wilma doesn't care about any of that. She loves Homer and wants to marry him. The two embrace, with Homer finally wrapping his arms around her as best he can.
Fred arrives home. Milly isn't alone. Another veteran is there, although conveniently just about to leave. Milly complains to Fred and tells him she's divorcing him. Fred decides to leave town, and gives his father his medals and citations. At the airport, Fred books a seat on the first outbound aircraft to anywhere he can. While waiting, he wanders into a vast aircraft boneyard and climbs into the nose of a B-17. While peering out of the window, he relives the recurring nightmare he's had. The boss of the work crew calls for him to get out of the bomber, rousing him from his flashback. When the man says the aluminum from the aircraft is being salvaged to build housing, Fred persuades the boss to hire him, saying he can learn the trade quickly.
Time passes, and the film finishes with Homer and Wilma's wedding taking place in the Parrish home, with the now-divorced Fred as Homer's best man. Fred and Peggy watch each other from across the room. After the ceremony, he approaches and holds her, telling her that it will be a struggle before they become comfortable. She smiles, and they kiss and embrace.
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Wyler had flown combat missions over Europe while working on an earlier film of his, so he had little trouble in getting accurate descriptions of combat from the veterans he had encountered doing so. The original casting had featured a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Wyler wanted to change this upon seeing an army training film about the rehabilitation of wounded servicemen which featured Russell. Wyler cast Russell and had the script changed to reflect issues that could arise with getting used to prostheses. Russell legitimately lost his hands as the result of a defective fuse that detonated an explosive he was handling while making an earlier army training film. Russell was not a professional actor and never had any training, save for a couple of classes he was sent to by Goldwyn when cast here. Wyler put the kabosh on those lessons because he wanted Russell to just act naturally on film. Also, you may notice in the movie poster above there's no mention of Russell at all. This wasn't simply because he was an unknown, it was to maximize the impact on viewers seeing his character for the first time. Plus, Russell didn't mind being out of the spotlight anyway.
The Best Years of Our Lives was an immediate hit, bringing in $11.5M at the box office, which when adjusted for inflation puts it within the Top 100 highest-grossing films in history to this day. When the time came for Oscars, the film received a total of 8 nominations and won 7 of them, plus received 2 additional special Oscars. One was the Thalberg memorial award for Goldwyn, and the second was an Honorary Oscar given to Russell for his bravura performance. Beyond Best Picture, the competitive Oscars won were for Best Score--Drama/Comedy (Hugo Friedhofer), Best Film Editing (Daniel Mandell), Best Writing--Screenplay (Sherwood), Best Lead Actor (March), Best Director (Wyler) and in a surprise, Best Supporting Actor went to Russell, making Russell the first and still the only person in history to receive two Oscars for a single role. Russell was a long shot to win the competitive award, and the Honorary Oscar was given in part because of his odds for the Supporting Actor award, plus the Academy feeling it was absolutely necessary to honor Russell for his achievement. The only category this film didn't win was Best Sound Recording. In winning the top prize, it bested Henry V, It's a Wonderful Life, The Razor's Edge and The Yearling.
Russell only appeared in a handful of films after this, as his main calling in life was working with AMVETS and other organizations, including Chairman of the President's Commission on Employment of the Handicapped. He caused some controversy in 1992 when he consigned his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor to an auction, which was sold to a private collector for $60,500. Russell needed money for his wife's medical expenses. Russell defended his actions, saying, "My wife's health is much more important than sentimental reasons [to keep the Oscar]. The movie will be here, even if Oscar isn't." The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has required all Oscar recipients since 1950 to sign an agreement forbidding them from selling their award, but since Russell's win was in 1947, Russell was exempt from this provision. Russell also made it clear he was never going to sell off the Honorary Oscar, as that was the one that meant the most to him as it was a specific honor the Academy wished to give.
It's not always easy to sit through a 3-hour film, but The Best Years of Our Lives tells a great story that doesn't drag on for a moment. It's a movie that still resonates today, as unfortunately the issue of returning war veterans adapting to civilian life and finding steady employment remains a problem. In my view, this is a movie that doesn't seem to be given its due. We hear frequently of films that are considered amongst the "Best of the Best" as far as the 86 films that have been given Best Picture in history. I'm surprised this isn't one mentioned more often.
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