Attention U.S. TCM Subscribers: After World War II, many returning servicemen were disillusioned to find jobs were scarce and their wives’ (or girlfriends’) faithfulness even scarcer. The Best Years of Our Lives addresses this reality head on when the Dana Andrews character finds it impossible to please either his previous employer or trophy wife upon his return to civilian life. Perhaps for this narrative distinction, authors Borde and Chaumeton in the filmography of their highly respected book Panorama of American Film Noir 1941 - 1953, and the first to be published on the subject, included The Best Years of Our Lives as film noir. (More here including Monday's late afternoon showtime information throughout the U.S.):
Among the best films ever made, and another film I would rate well above Citizen Vain.
The entire cast is superb (superb!) Dana Andrews' performance is routinely overlooked, but it has always resonated with me, and I'm sure many, many others. The scen in the bomber in which he experiences PTSD is one of the most impressive audio-visual-acting collaborations I've ever seen.
I also like when he punches out the fascist sympathizer (through a glass case yet!).
Virginia Mayo was gloriously hideous and shallow in a nasty role played to perfection.
Among the best films ever made, and another film I would rate well above Citizen Vain.
The entire cast is superb (superb!) Dana Andrews' performance is routinely overlooked, but it has always resonated with me, and I'm sure many, many others. The scen in the bomber in which he experiences PTSD is one of the most impressive audio-visual-acting collaborations I've ever seen.
I also like when he punches out the fascist sympathizer (through a glass case yet!).
Virginia Mayo was gloriously hideous and shallow in a nasty role played to perfection.
I cannot praise this film highly enough.
And contains one of the greatest film scores of all time (which earned Hugo Friedhofer his only Oscar). And that scene with the bomber is one of the best scored scenes of all time with the orchestra imitating the sound of machine gun fire with a snare drum.
I never had a problem with the sound of the original Preamble CD. I always liked it, but the label thought it needed something, so they re-mixed it and released a second edition. This was years ago. If you like this Oscar winning score, either CD will do nicely:
Thanks for the enthusiastic responses, guys! As you may know I provided a link to my article re the film's Academy Award winning music (after my comments above in blue) if you're interested.
