

The Best Years of Our Lives
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.
TMDB
7.7/10
772 votes
IMDb
Not rated yet
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- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $2.1M
- Box office
- $23.7M
- Language
- English
- post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd)
- war veteran
- world war ii
- bodily disabled person
- rehabilitation
- black and white
- veteran
- dramatic
- romantic
- return from war
Top billed cast

















Behind the camera
Director
Writers
Music
Produced in
United States of America
Where to watch
All optionsAvailability for United States. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.
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Videos
Release dates
United StatesUS
- PremiereNR(New York City, New York)21 Nov 1946
- Theatrical (limited)(New York City, New York)22 Nov 1946
- Theatrical (limited)(Chicago)18 Dec 1946
- Theatrical (limited)NR(Los Angeles, California) & (Boston)25 Dec 1946
- TheatricalNR(re-release)3 Feb 1954
- TheatricalNR(New York City, New York) (re-release)6 Jun 2014
United KingdomGB
- TheatricalU15 Jan 1947
ArgentinaAR
- Theatrical1317 Jun 1947
AustriaAT
- Theatrical29 Oct 1948
BrazilBR
- Theatricale 1231 Dec 1946
DenmarkDK
- Theatrical24 Nov 1947
- Theatrical(re-release)19 Feb 1951
- Theatrical(re-release)29 May 1961
FinlandFI
- TheatricalS24 Dec 1948
- TheatricalS17 Jan 1964
FranceFR
- Theatrical3 Oct 1947
- Theatrical(re-release)20 Nov 2002
GermanyDE
- Theatrical1 Jun 1948
- Premiere12(TV premiere)15 Jun 1974
Hong KongHK
- Theatrical18 Dec 1947
ItalyIT
- Theatrical28 Mar 1948
JapanJP
- Theatrical15 Jun 1948
Frequently asked questions
The Best Years of Our Lives was released on 22 November 1946.
Audience reviews
2- A8/10
Andres Gomez
4/16/2015
Another great Willy Wyler movie. The story, with time, is quite expectable but the characters are well defined and developed by the cast. Also, it is a good (and probably, too positive) review of the after WWII war lives of the US veterans. A must to be seen.
- C7/10
CinemaSerf
7/7/2022
This is really quite a touching story, recounting the experiences of three American veterans of WWII who return home and have to adapt to their new, not always welcoming, circumstances. Frederic March is "Al" who returns to a senior position in a bank - responsible for helping other returning soldiers with loans to start to get their lives back together; "Fred" (Dana Andrews) returns to a far less optimistic outlook,…
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