#harold russell

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Remembering Cathy O'Donnell on her birthday #botd

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[Note: This poll is a re-do of an older poll, as the original poll received less than 2,000 votes.]

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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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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.

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Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Harold Russell, and Cathy O'Donnell in The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946)

Cast: Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Dana Andrews, Virginia Mayo, Harold Russell, Cathy O'Donnell, Hoagy Carmichael, Gladys George, Roman Bohnen, Ray Collins, Steve Cochran. Screenplay: Robert E. Sherwood, based on a novel by MacKinlay Kantor. Cinematography: Gregg Toland. Film editing: Daniel Mandell. Music: Hugo Friedhofer.

The Best Years of Our Lives is a very good movie, rich in characters and provocative incidents. It's not a great movie, but it's such a satisfying work of popular moviemaking that I'm surprised in this age of sequels and reboots, especially after the recent enthusiasm for the "Greatest Generation," no one has attempted a follow-up on the lives of its characters, taking them into the era of the Korean War, the nuclear buildup of the Soviet Union, the Cold War, McCarthyism, the civil rights struggle, and so on. Because there is something unfinished about the stories of Al, Fred, and Homer, not to mention Milly, Peggy, Marie, and Wilma, that perhaps director William Wyler and screenwriter Robert E. Sherwood couldn't possibly have foreseen in 1946. On the other hand, that's what makes The Best Years of Our Lives such a fascinating and useful document of its times. It's anything but an antiwar film -- although Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) has been mutilated, Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) suffers PTSD nightmares, and Al Stephenson (Fredric March) is well on his way to alcoholism, the film makes no effort to suggest that the war that inflicted these injuries on them was anything but just. The one naysayer, the "America Firster" who tangles with Homer and Fred in the drugstore, gets his just deserts, even if it costs Fred his job. What wins us over most is the performances: Fredric March overacts just a touch, but it won him the best actor Oscar. Harold Russell, the non-actor who received both a supporting actor Oscar and a special award, is engagingly real. And Dana Andrews proves once again that he was one of the best of the forgotten stars of the 1950s, carrying the film through from the beginning in which he seeks a ride home to the end in which he pays a nostalgic visit to the kind of plane from which he used to drop bombs. Neither Andrews nor Myrna Loy ever received an Oscar nomination, but their work in the film exhibits the kind of acting depth that makes showier award-winners look a little silly. Loy makes the most of her part as the wryly patient spouse, Teresa Wright manages to make a role somewhat handicapped by Production Code squeamishness about extramarital affairs convincing, and Virginia Mayo once again demonstrates her skill in "bad-girl" roles.  Wyler was a director much celebrated by the industry, with a record-setting total of 12 nominations, including three wins: for this film, Mrs. Miniver (1942), and Ben-Hur (1959). He's not so much admired by those of us who cling to the idea that a director should provide a central consciousness in his films, being regarded as an impersonal technician. But Best Years is a deeply personal film for Wyler, who had just spent the war serving in the army air force, flying dangerous missions over Germany to make documentary films, during which he suffered serious hearing loss that threatened his postwar directing career. His experiences inform the film, especially the character of Fred Derry. In addition to the best picture Oscar and the ones for Wyler, March, and Russell, Best Years also won for Sherwood's screenplay, Daniel Mandell's film editing, and for Hugo Friedhofer's score. The last, I think, is questionable: Friedhofer seems determined to make sure we don't miss the emotional content of any scene, almost "mickey-mousing" the feelings of the characters with his music. It feels intrusive in some of the film's best moments, such as the beautifully staged reunion of Al and Milly, or the scene in which Homer, fearful that the hooks that replace his hands have destroyed his engagement to Wilma, invites her up to his room to help him get ready for bed, demonstrating the harness that holds his prostheses in place. It's a moment with an oddly erotic tension that doesn't need Friedhofer's strings to tell us what the characters are feeling.

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Let’s talk about Harold Russell

AKA: The only person to win two Oscars for the same performance.

Russell wasn’t a professional actor. He was an US Army veteran who lost both of his hands in a training accident during WWII. After the accident he was the subject of “Diary of a Sergeant” (1945), a propaganda film about his recovery.

Director William Wyler saw the film and cast Russell as Homer Parrish in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), a film about three veterans struggling to readjust to society after WWII. Russell starred alongside established actors Frederic March, Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy, and others.

The film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Russell was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but The Academy did not believe he would win. In order to honor him regardless, they gave him an Honorary Oscar. Russell ended up winning Best Supporting Actor as well, and the rest was history.

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🍂Must be the season of the witch!🍂

[haroldramistwinkie]

The no music in the background is killing me lol, including Egons 😏 and how Peter says “roach breeding”

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hey so i watched stripes

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[citizenscreen]

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.

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Does 2D even have a chance to win?....

[doctor-spengler]

Stripes: Bill Murray and Harold Ramis get in trouble with the goverment

Ghostbusters: Bill Murray and Harold Ramis get in trouble with the goverment (Sci-Fi Edition!)

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How is this gorgeous, sweet and funny man so hot

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