In "The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Harold Russell (a real life war veteran) has lost the lower part of his arms in the US Navy after a fire broke out on his flat top ship whilst he was on active service.His childhood girlfriend, (Cathy O'Donnell) shows that her love for him transcends his physical injury and they marry after much soul-searching by Harold.A similar story is told in "The Men" (1950) this time with Marlon Brando playing the paraplegic soldier with the faithful fiancée played by Teresa Wright (who also appeared in the aforementioned film).
Society's prejudiced attitude to permanently injured members of the armed forces is again examined."They imagine how fragile they are and how it could so easily happen to them.It makes them nervous".In an almost duplicate scene of the 1946 film, the actor Ray Teal is again called on to patronise and express the futility of permanently injured members of the armed forces and he is again punched to the ground, in the 1946 film by Dana Andrews and in this film by a wheelchair bound Marlon Brando.The actor Everett Sloane probably never had such a good part as playing the senior doctor who administers the treatment of the injured veterans at his hospital.His talk to Marlon was prescient about the men trying to visualise the scenario reversed by the men imagining their wife/fiancée/girlfriend confined to a wheelchair and testing their love accordingly.We are all human with all the imperfection that implies.
This film has a powerful director in Fred Zinneman and a script by Carl Foreman.I liked the way that they carefully avoided the use of clichés and portrayed realistic emotions in all the actors.Real life paraplegics at the veterans hospital, played extras and received a credit in the film titles.We must never forget the sacrifice all members of the armed services personnel lay down in accepting permanent life-long physical injuries sustained in action for their country.
Society's prejudiced attitude to permanently injured members of the armed forces is again examined."They imagine how fragile they are and how it could so easily happen to them.It makes them nervous".In an almost duplicate scene of the 1946 film, the actor Ray Teal is again called on to patronise and express the futility of permanently injured members of the armed forces and he is again punched to the ground, in the 1946 film by Dana Andrews and in this film by a wheelchair bound Marlon Brando.The actor Everett Sloane probably never had such a good part as playing the senior doctor who administers the treatment of the injured veterans at his hospital.His talk to Marlon was prescient about the men trying to visualise the scenario reversed by the men imagining their wife/fiancée/girlfriend confined to a wheelchair and testing their love accordingly.We are all human with all the imperfection that implies.
This film has a powerful director in Fred Zinneman and a script by Carl Foreman.I liked the way that they carefully avoided the use of clichés and portrayed realistic emotions in all the actors.Real life paraplegics at the veterans hospital, played extras and received a credit in the film titles.We must never forget the sacrifice all members of the armed services personnel lay down in accepting permanent life-long physical injuries sustained in action for their country.