I was scared to watch this movie because it's long, it's a drama, I'd never heard of it, and it's in black & white. But I pretty much want to marry this movie.
It's another movie like Mr. Smith Goes To Washington that I was surprised to see made right after the war. Basically 3 veterans come home from the war and the story of their re-adjustment to life at home unfolds. All the performances are quite good and the story gets going very quickly. I was just plain surprised at how much I liked this movie.
I was severely impressed by the choice of Harold Russell as Homer. Basically Russell was an actual vet who had lost both his hands above the wrist, and had prosthetic hooks. The opening scene where his 'hands' are revealed is very powerful, and then when you actually see him using the hooks to light a cigarette you realize they actually chose a real war amp to play the part. I thought that was very bold, and it works very well, even though Russell is pretty stilted in some scenes. His inexperience is more than compensated for by his remarkable use of his 'hands', and the power of watching him come to terms with his handicap.
As I delve further into the list, I am surprised to see that Hollywood has always made films that are relevant and topical, and even controversial. I have always just had the naive assumption that all of the sudden movies became topical in like 1977 or something. But movies like this prove that is not the case.
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