WWII
In World
War II, Wyler joined the armed forces. He made war films,
most notably, THE MEMPHIS BELLE (1944). For this story of
an air raid by American flyers based in England, Wyler cut
aerial battle footage that he and his photographers had
captured over Germany to a spare, rhythmic, poetic narration
written by Lester Koenig. The result is a remarkably powerful
documentary.
The film prior to this documentary was MRS. MINIVER (1942),
a film that takes place in England, really captured the
feeling of the people living amongst the war. After MRS.
MINIVER was shown at the White House, President Franklin
D. Roosevelt, who had been was transfixed throughout, said,
“This has to be shown right away, everywhere.”
Wyler’s first feature after the war was his last with
Goldwyn. Perhaps his own military service, which left him
deaf in one ear and with only partial hearing in the other,
gave Wyler the experience needed to sympathetically realize
the problems of military personnel returning to civilian
life. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946) is a beautiful
picture and wonderfully well acted by Fredric March, Dana
Andrews, Myrna Loy, Harold Russell, Hoagy Carmichael, Cathy
O’Donnell, and Teresa Wright.
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