The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Posted on August 2, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Directed by William Wyler, the film chronicles the lives of three men as they return from World War II. They feel joy and then angst trying to integrate back into society with lives that are strangely different from when they left. They face various struggles like finding a job, holding a marriage together, to just trying to get used to a disability. Although they each have their own lives which we get to see first hand, they are still intertwined. Together these three men find it within themselves to make these the best years possible. Full of both highs and lows, this movie is extremely touching and leaves you with a smile. The cast is superb including Dana Andrews, Fredric March, Harold Russell (real life amputee), Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, and of course Hoagy Carmichael. This film is great because it does not try to glamorize and it stands the test of time in my mind.

5/5 Stars

The Heiress (1949)

Posted on July 23, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Starring Olivia de Havilland and Montgomery Clift with director William Wyler, the film takes place in New York in the 1840s. Catherine is a shy and awkward young woman who lives with her domineering father who is a prominent widowed doctor. At a party a young man introduces himself and begins seeing Catherine frequently. Quickly their plans turn to marriage but her father will not approve. Since her lover is not rich, he sees him as a fortune hunter. Catherine decides to elope with her love, but he never returns leaving her feeling rejected and forlorn. soon the doctor gets ill and dies, but the relationship does not end will since Catherine blames her father. And in the process she has grown cold. Clift’s character finally returns and after some reluctance Catherine seems to agree to get married. he leaves to gather some belongings only to return to a bolted door. Catherine gives him some rejection of his own after what she endured. This films becomes interesting because you do not know who was truly in the right. First Clift seems to be the heel and then de Havilland evolves so much the audience turns on her.

4/5 Stars

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Posted on April 6, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, and directed by William Wyler, this film tells the touching if not sad story of an English family. We follow their life from the happy moments before World War II to the hardships in the midst of it. Through it all Mrs. Miniver is a quietly strong wife and mother who holds her family together. Whether she is waiting in a bomb shelter, capturing a German parachutist, or simply taking care of her family, she exhibits amazing courage and fortitude. She is a testament to those fighting on the home front Mrs. Miniver is not a part of Dunkirk like her husband. She is not flying like her son but her role is just as important. Even in the closing when tragedy has hit Britain, the country and its Mrs. Minivers stay resilient. First used as a propaganda device in the 1940s this film is till moving today. When you see any of these people rejoice or suffer you too are moved.

4/5 Stars

The Little Foxes (1941)

Posted on April 6, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Starring a cast including Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, and Teresa Wright, the film opens in the South circa 1900 and it revolves around a greed woman and her two conniving brothers who hope to make millions off mills. Regina sends her innocent daughter Alexandra to bring her ill father home so the deal can be settled. He returns very worn down and he will not take part in the venture. It leaves his wife angry and her brothers dishonestly acquire the rest of the funds they need. Horace inadvertently finds out but he will not let Regina tell on them. However, Regina coldly looks on when the sick man needs her most and very soon after he passes away. Now she has her brothers where she wants them, allowing her greed to show through completely. She has gained so much and yet in the process she loses something so valuable in her daughter. The title comes from the book of Songs of Solomon and it perfectly describes these greedy people. I felt the main actors did a wonderful job in this film under the direction of the great William Wyler.

4.5/5 Stars

Ben Hur (1959)

Posted on September 25, 2012 by 4 Star Films

Ben Hur, directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston, tells the tale of Christ in connection with the young nobleman-turned slave, Judah Ben Hur. We follow Hur as a friend turns against him and he and his mother and sister are imprisoned. Soon he is doomed to a life rowing on a galley but on the way there a kind , mysterious stranger gives him a drink to quench his thirst. It takes a few years but Hur’s fortune turns and he is no longer a slave but a great chariot racer. The time comes to seek revenge and he beats his former friend in the ultimate chariot race. However, his victory is shorlived since he learns his kin are now lepers and the man who showed him kindness years before is now to be crucified. Returning the favor, he gives the suffering man water before He is hung on the cross. Despite the man’s death, miraculously his mother and sister are freed from leprosy. This epic is monumental and tells a wonderful story intertwined with the Gospel.