Dish of the Day
Just some film musings of a more succinct, spontaneous and sometimes seditious nature:
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Not too long ago in our film related chat room (readers are welcome to join here) a member made some criticisms regarding a film that doesn’t often receive any: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) citing its soap operatic nature, specifically the subservient attitude of its female characters.
Dana Andrews holding the Mayo… Virginia Mayo that is
I’ve decided to reprint my own response in the form of today’s Dish of the Day:
“There is some validity in your observations. Perhaps Al's wife Milly is a bit too ‘understanding’ when all is said and done and Wilma's lack of complexity makes her scenes with Homer appear overly devotional. When it comes to the women in Fred Derry's life, however, they are far from one dimensional or ‘... there just to prop up the shattered males’ as you have surmised. Fred's wife Marie slowly and effectively loses interest once her husband's military shine and money is gone. The blossoming love between Peggy and Fred also provides a most realistic and complex developmental fascination culminating in a showdown not only between Peggy and her father Al (she states unequivocally ‘I'm going to break up that marriage’ to which Al responds ‘… are you going to do it with an axe?!’) but between Al and the still married Fred as well. These unique character traits will add emotional resonance to the film's concluding moments when Fred says to Peggy: ‘You know what it'll be, don't you, Peggy? It may take us years to get anywhere. We'll have no money, no decent place to live. We'll have to work, get kicked around...’ to which Peggy just beams with joy. This emotional catharsis, true to the distinctive couple we’ve followed throughout their journey apart, brings them together in a sincere, genuine fashion and as removed from the artificially imposed world of melodrama as one can get.”
The Best Years of Our Lives is also one of my Top Ten: Motion Picture Music Treasures.
All responses are not only welcomed but encouraged in the comments section below.
Hope to see you tomorrow.
A.G.