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citizenscreen · 5 months

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What a day for premiere anniversaries!

William Wyler’s THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES enjoyed its world premiere in New York City on November 21, 1946. #OnThisDay effective, deliberate, moving. an extraordinary telling of ordinary lives.

#the best years of our lives #dana andrews #fredric march #myrna loy #teresa wright #harold russell #virginia mayo #cathy o’donnell #william wyler #old hollywood

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annoyingthemesong · 5 months

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SUBLIME CINEMA #673 - THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES

Criminally difficult to find a good transfer of this film - Criterion has ignored It, and it's unusual for a movie that once took home eight Oscars to have been so forgotten. But this is a profound, understated masterpiece, with some incredible cinematography by Citizen Kane's Gregg Toland.

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haveyouseenthismovie-poll · 9 months

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#movies #polls #the best years of our lives #best years of our lives #40s movies #william wyler #old hollywood #myrna loy #have you seen this movie poll

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hollywoodlady · 2 months

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Dana Andrews in 'The Best Years of Our Lives' (1946).

#dana andrews #The Best Years of Our Lives #40's #by lady hollywood

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loliwrites · 28 days

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#reblog for a bigger sample size #loli polls #full metal jacket #everything everywhere all at once #blazing saddles #lean on me #hope floats #alice doesn't live here anymore #the best years of our lives #the other boleyn girl #slumdog millionaire #life as we know it #anatomy of a fall #the longest ride

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whatisthismandoinghere · 1 year

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Allow me to introduce you to Harold Russell, best known for his role as Homer Parrish in the movie The Best Years of Our Lives (which if you haven’t seen it, you need to. I can’t even begin to describe how good of a movie this is, but that is for another post)

He served in the U.S. Army during World War Two and lost both of his hands due to a defective fuse while teaching demolition work. Later he was cast in The Best Years of Our Lives as Homer Parrish, a U.S. Navy sailor who lost both hands while serving during World War Two.

The movie goes on to depict his struggle really well, the frustration, the adjustments, the wanting to be treated normally, and shutting people out, including the girl he loves. He did amazing in this role. Honestly, some of the best acting and representation I have ever seen, and the man wasn’t even a professional actor.

At first, he was awarded an honorary Oscar because they wanted to recognize Russell for his work, but they thought he didn’t have a chance at winning an actual Oscar. But, to their surprise, he ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, so here he is with his two Oscars. It was the only time in the history of the Oscars that two Oscars were awarded for the same role. I think that is just lovely. For sure one of my favorite bits of trivia by far.

The director of The Best Years of Our Lives, William Wyler, said that Russell’s work in his movie was “the finest performance I have ever seen on the screen.” And he is absolutely right. It was perfection, plain and simple. The movie as a whole did such a good job portraying three completely different men and their struggles adjusting back to civilian life after the war. A true eye opener and a must-see.

Anywho, there’s your fun fact for the day. And if you have a chance to watch this movie, I highly recommend you do so. You will not regret it.

#the best years of our lives #harold russell #homer parrish

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disabilityhealth · 2 years

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Representation done right

Now, I know that it’s unrealistic to expect every disabled role to be played by a disabled actor. If that rule were adhered to, I don’t think we’d get to see as many disabled characters on the screen. Since we’re already running low, I can begrudgingly accept the realities of casting films/tv.

However, when I watch an abled person in a disabled role, I can’t help but wonder if the portrayal is accurate - and not just in physical movements or speech patterns. I ask myself, “Is this how a person with this disability would want to be represented? Is this actually how a person with this disability would interact with the world?”

It’s an uncomfortable feeling - and it’s only accentuated when I see disabled actors portraying their own disabilities on screen.

The movie that made me realize how powerful accurate representation can be was, unexpectedly, made in 1946.

The Oscar-winning film The Best Years of Our Lives came out after the end of World War II. The film focuses on three American veterans returning home to a town in the midwest. One of these veterans, Homer Parrish, was badly injured, losing both of his hands in an explosion at sea. This character was played by Harold Russell, who was also a veteran with the same injuries as the character he portrayed.

After Russell’s accidental injury during training, he was given prosthetics with hook attachments, which he used extensively while filming The Best Years of Our Lives. There’s a scene in the film where he has to button up his shirt, and he does it so casually and naturally that it absolutely blew me away. It was so intimate and real that I still tear up just thinking about it.

Finally, I was seeing a disabled person controlling the narrative, controlling how their own disability was seen by an audience. Finally, I didn’t have that niggling feeling that something was ever-so-slightly off.

Although Russell had never acted before, he won two Oscars for his portrayal of Homer. One award was for Best Supporting Actor, while the other was a special award for his work in bringing comfort to disabled veterans. It was the first and only time an actor has ever received two Oscars for the same performance.

Russell went on to be the National Commander of AMVETS and was otherwise an active advocate for veterans through various other organizations.

I can’t recommend the film enough and I think it signifies an important part of disability history that isn’t talked about enough.

If anyone has any other recommendations for films with disabled actors playing disabled roles, please share in the comments/tags.

#representation #long #text post #disability #disabled #disability rights #disability representation #important #the best years of our lives #oscar #academy award

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audiemurphy1945 · 2 years

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The Best Years of Our Lives(1946)

#film #the best years of our lives #1946 #dana andrews #virginia mayo #william wyler #40s #old hollywood #vintage #fave #...

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citizenscreen · 5 months

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William Wyler making THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946) #BehindTheScenes

#the best years of our lives #william wyler #behind the scenes

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shiningwizard · 4 months

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The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946)

Impeccable for what it is, when it is and who it was made for. People who’ve only had taste of the war through newsreels preceding films: here’s some small piece of reality of what happened over there(s) through the bodies and minds sent and the scars they came back with. People who went: here’s the America you fought for. Recognise it? Time seems to have swept away all nuance and known harshness of the immediate post war. As well as a fine motion picture in every sense, this is an important document of that small parcel of time, all through a major Hollywood production, a Samuel Goldwyn one no less. The only way we could and should have experienced Frederic March hushing his kids as he returns home, Dana Andrews visiting that plane graveyard, Harold Russell showing Cathy O’Donnell how he dresses for bed. Any scene with Cathy O’Donnell in really

#the best years of our lives #last movie i saw #A-

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autumncottageattic · 1 year

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The Best Years of Our Lives (also known as Glory for Me and Home Again) is a 1946 American epic drama film starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo and Harold Russell.

#the best years of our lives #the best years of our lives 1946 #drama film #old hollywood drama #romantic drama #war romance #old hollywood #vintage hollywood #old hollywood movies #golden age of hollywood #old movies #old hollywood classic #Harold Russell #Cathy O'Donnell #Virginia Mayo #Teresa Wright #Dana Andrews #Fredric March #Myrna Loy

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now-watching · 2 years

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Recommendations 61-65:

61. THE NEW WORLD (2005), dir. Terrence Malick

“ONCE DISCOVERED, IT WAS CHANGED FOREVER.

A drama about explorer John Smith and the clash between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century.”

Availability: Available for rental on GooglePlay, AppleTV, VUDU, Amazon, and YouTube.

62. MUDBOUND (2017), dir. Dee Rees

“In the post–World War II South, two families are pitted against a barbaric social hierarchy and an unrelenting landscape as they simultaneously fight the battle at home and the battle abroad.”

Availability: Available on Netflix.

63. THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940), dir. John Ford

“THE JOADS STEP RIGHT OUT OF THE PAGES OF THE NOVEL THAT HAS SHOCKED MILLIONS!

Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle’s farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life… Hopefully.”

Availability: Available for rental on GooglePlay, AppleTV, VUDU, Amazon, and YouTube.

64. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946), dir. William Wyler

“THREE WONDERFUL LOVES IN THE BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR!

It’s the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare. Captain Fred Derry is returning to a loveless marriage; Sergeant Al Stephenson is a stranger to a family that’s grown up without him; and young sailor Homer Parrish is tormented by the loss of his hands. Can these three men find the courage to rebuild their world? Or are the best years of their lives a thing of the past.”

Availability: Free on PlutoTV and available for rental on AppleTV and Amazon.

65. MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944), dir. Vincente Minnelli

“M·G·M’S GLORIOUS LOVE STORY WITH MUSIC!

In the year before the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, the four Smith daughters learn lessons of life and love, even as they prepare for a reluctant move to New York.”

Availability: Available on The Criterion Channel and HBOMax with subscriptions and available for rental via YouTube, GooglePlay, AppleTV, VUDU, and Amazon.