The Best Years of Our Lives

Powerline ^ | 11/11/2025 | Scott Johnson

[packrat35]

About Virginia Mayo, I wrote her many times as an autograph collector and she was very nice about signing stuff.

I really hated her in this movie. She played the part well.

[packrat35]

I got to ride in a B-17 a few years ago and one of the guys there said that was how they got in the plane back then, but he couldn’t do it now. We all laughed as none of us were in any shape to get in the plane that way either.

[rlmorel]

100%. That was one of the reasons I became so angry at the treatment of the Vietnam Veterans. It was so beneath us as a country.

[rlmorel]

FRiend, you do have it backwards. There are many links that describe this, the link below is from the USO, but others describe it as well:

LINK: Understanding the Difference Between Memorial Day vs. Veterans Day

Memorial Day: Honoring Those Who Died in Military Service
Memorial Day, which is celebrated on the last Monday in May, honors service members who have died in military service to the nation. The holiday has roots dating back to the post-Civil War era, when citizens would informally place spring flower memorials on the graves of fallen soldiers.

Veterans Day: Honoring All Those Who Served in the Military
Veterans Day, a federal holiday that falls on November 11, is designated as a day to honor the more than 19 million men and women who have served in the U.S. military.

By the way, I don't fault you for getting it backwards. A lot of people do. But it is good to know the difference.

[Chainmail]

"Since most fighting age males did fight in the war, they had to compete with each other after the war. Sure you might have been a ‘hero’, but so were millions of other men who were returning."

I have no wish to be argumentative, but there were different levels of exposure to the death and misery of the war. At the very worst level were the infantry veterans who survived direct combat - the campaigns in Guadalcanal, North Africa, Sicily, New Guinea, Peleliu, Luzon, Normandy, Iwo Jima, the Bulge, Hurtgen, Aachen, Okinawa.

The survivors had a much more difficult time on their return to civilian life but if you haven't experienced it, you can't know how much different their recovery was compared to the folks who performed the many critical supporting positions that long distance wars require. They amounted to about 90% support to the 10% or so that were involved in the really heinous job of killing the enemy and watching your friends die around you.

That is the only minor quibble I have with "the Best Years of our Lives" is that Frederick March character didn't seem to suffer a bit for his long experience of infantry war in the Pacific bloodbath. In real life it was a lot harder for those men to return to normalcy.

[rlmorel]

I had absolutely the same impression of Dana Andrews hoisting himself into that plane...I have no doubt he consulted guys who knew just how to do that!

I love the female casting in the move-all of them, but most of all, Myrna Loy seemed perfectly cast for the wife of Frederick March’s character. The daughter was quite attractive as well.’’

Virginia Mayo’s character was not at all likable, and I tip my hat to her for playing it so well.

[dfwgator]

A great scene from the ending of “The Pacific”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=994TZ8O0ITg

[Savage Beast]

We were supposed to hate Virginia Mayo in The Best Years of Our Lives. But her beauty and true nature came through anyway. It was easy to tell that she was just acting.

[Thank You Rush]

“”We all laughed as none of us were in any shape to get in the plane that way either.””

Plane or not - are any of us in the shape we were in years ago? Mentally OR physically!

[packrat35]

I was a big fan of Virginia Mayo. She didn’t play the bad girl in many films that I have seen. I have several autographed photos of her.

[dfwgator]

I was a big fan of Virginia Mayo. She didn’t play the bad girl in many films that I have seen. I have several autographed photos of her.

---

A lifelong Republican, she endorsed Richard Nixon in 1968 and 1972, and longtime friend Ronald Reagan in 1980.

[Savage Beast]

I think Virginia Mayo was beautiful! She had a slightly crossed eye--I think that was it--which made her even more beautiful. Often some slight defect enhances beauty. It always seemed to me that she must be very sweet and loving.

I loved Jeanne Crain too. I have never known anyone to have such poise.

[Chainmail]

That series is one of the best - and Season 10 is excellent in its portrayal of the returning veterans. I binge watched all 10 episodes today.

[packrat35]

I liked Jeanne Craine also. I have her autograph also. I collected all the old silver screen actresses back in the day.

[Responsibility2nd]

That is the only minor quibble I have with "the Best Years of our Lives" is that Frederick March character didn't seem to suffer a bit for his long experience of infantry war in the Pacific bloodbath. In real life it was a lot harder for those men to return to normalcy.

 

I think he suffered a lot. His alcoholism affected his family and his job back at the bank.

The first night back he got wasted on booze. Throughout the movie his wife kept trying to limit his drinking and his drunken rambling speech he gave in front of his boss and co-workers was awkward.

Just a few examples.

[chrisinoc]

Going a little off the original topic:

Virginia Mayo was considered for the part of Lisa Douglas in Green Acres, which went to Eva Gabor.

[dfwgator]

About Theresa Wright:

Goldwyn immediately hired the young actress for the role of Bette Davis’ daughter in the 1941 adaptation of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes, signing her to a five-year Hollywood contract with the Goldwyn Studios. Asserting her seriousness as an actress, Wright insisted her contract contain unique clauses by Hollywood standards:

The aforementioned Teresa Wright shall not be required to pose for photographs in a bathing suit unless she is in the water. Neither may she be photographed running on the beach with her hair flying in the wind. Nor may she pose in any of the following situations: In shorts, playing with a cocker spaniel; digging in a garden; whipping up a meal; attired in firecrackers and holding skyrockets for the Fourth of July; looking insinuatingly at a turkey for Thanksgiving; wearing a bunny cap with long ears for Easter; twinkling on prop snow in a skiing outfit while a fan blows her scarf; assuming an athletic stance while pretending to hit something with a bow and arrow

[Chainmail]

You're right: I guess that the excess drinking was indicative of his hidden suffering. I guess everyone went through their return in different ways. It just seems to me that anyone who went through years of fighting the Japanese, particularly an older guy, in one would assume New Guinea/the Philippines would be a bit grimmer.

I used to talk to WWII veterans a lot while I was in high school (oddly, they were happy to talk to me - because I showed interest, I guess) and their memories were still raw 20 years after their war.

Still, that movie does the best of all of them when they portray the returning combat vets.

[Lurker]

She did cook breakfast for Dana Andrews.

L