The book that @TomDohertyfilm in CINEASTE praised as “intelligent, sensitive, and respectful…discerning and affectionate" about the making of #TheBestYearsofOurLives—now in paperback! Available where books are sold. #TCMParty #BehindTheScenes #Veterans #WWII

On the 1946 set of #TheBestYearsOfOurLives: #DanaAndrews refuses to serve milkshakes to DP #GreggToland and #WilliamWyler. #TCMParty #drugstorecowboy

F. Scott Fitzgerald was the first writer to tackle #MGM's film adaptation of #TheWomen. Outlining Clare Boothe's play, he described Crystal Allen (#JoanCrawford) as "a low-grade bitch" whose "vulgar pugnaciousness is stronger than Mary's well-bred misery." #TCMParty #nextbook

An ad for Parker Quink pens featuring #DanaAndrews in advance of the November 1946 release of #TheBestYearsofOurLives. #TCMParty

In mid-October 1946, the first preview of #TheBestYearsofOurLives screened at United Artists Theatre in Long Beach, CA. Of the 314 cards returned, 200+ ranked the movie as "excellent," "very good," "wonderful" and"best ever" despite the long running time. #TCMParty 📷 Mahan Coll.

Oct. '47: #HaroldRussell writes "These Are My Hands" for U.S. papers. "If you saw the picture #TheBestYearsofOurLives, you probably felt sorry for the sailor who lost both of his hands. That fellow is me. But I don't feel sorry for myself." #TCMParty #Veterans #DisabilityRights

On the eve of #WorldMentalHealthDay2026, a still from Fred's nightmare in #TheBestYearsOfOurLives. The dramatic sequence required numerous takes partly because of the multiple set-ups (#DanaAndrews and #TeresaWright in two-shots and separate close-ups, etc.). #TCMParty #PTSD

The list of cast “suggestions” for Clare Boothe’s 1936 play #TheWomen from her archive at the Library of Congress. Film actresses being considered included #LillianGish & Patricia Collinge as Mary, Jesse Royce Landis as Sylvia, and Shirley Booth as Crystal. #TCMParty #nextbook

#HaroldRussell and wife Rita in the Cub Room of the Stork Club in NYC ca. 1946. #TCMParty #TheBestYearsofOurLives #Disability

#TCM Star of the Month #MyrnaLoy describing her performance method shortly after she made #TheBestYearsofOurLives: "I like to play drama under comedy." #TCMParty #BehindTheScenes

A glimpse of #DanaAndrews to start the week! Shown here taking a break on the set of #TheBestYearsofOurLives with #WilliamWyler and art director Perry Ferguson. #TCMParty #BehindTheScenes

#NormaShearer had casting approval for the part of late husband #IrvingThalberg in MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES, on #TCM tonight. She discovered women's wear exec #RobertEvans vacationing at the Beverly Hills Hotel, brought him to Universal, and launched his career. #TCMParty

The advert that inspired the title for my Spring 2027 book about the making of #TheWomen from play to film through the eyes of #GeorgeCukor, #NormaShearer, and #JoanCrawford. "Out of the boudoir...on to the screen....See them with their hair down and their claws out!" #TCMParty

In the setup to the dramatic soda fountain scene in #TheBestYearsofOurLives, Fred (#DanaAndrews) makes sundaes for a teen couple. The boy's bubblegum habit was an issue in later shots, with the script clerk writing one take was ruined because he was "chewing gum madly." #TCMParty

DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE--the film that earned #FredricMarch an #Oscar & inspired the gripping transformation scene he performed without F/X while entertaining troops during #WWII. (And that sealskin top hat now lives in his niece's closet 🎩) On #TCM today! #TCMParty

A throng of girls swarms #DanaAndrews as he gets some training behind the soda fountain at the Owl Drug store (Hollywood and Vine) in preparation for his role as "drugstore cowboy" Fred Derry in #TheBestYearsofOurLives. 📸 Bettmann #TCMParty

From the Clare Boothe Luce archive: A 1955 cast photo for the NBC broadcast of the play that inspired the #MGM film #TheWomen. NBC ensemble included #ShelleyWinters as Crystal Allen, #PauletteGoddard switching it up as Sylvia Fowler, and #NancyOlson as Peggy. #TCMParty #nextbook

The Wardrobe Plot Book for #TheBestYearsofOurLives was a thick stack of 3-hole scrapbook pages with b/w photos and lots of detail, like which actors wore their own jewelry (Wright) and who wore fingernail polish (Loy). Here, #TeresaWright wearing one of my fave dresses. #TCMParty

In Basinger/Wasson's HOLLYWOOD, Adela Rogers St. Johns said L.B. Mayer acted out MRS. MINIVER to convince #GreerGarson to play the role of the mother of a grown son: "And when he finished...she was crying...[Garson] says, 'I'll play it.'" On #TCM today! #TCMParty #TeresaWright

The November '46 premiere for #TheBestYearsofOurLives was a starry event. Even the #DukeandDuchessofWindsor were there (#10) as guests of #SamuelGoldwyn. I just finished Melanie Benjamin's THE WINDSOR AFFAIR & highly recommend to #RoyalUK fans. Juicy historical fiction! #TCMParty

Writing to #FredricMarch before filming on #TheBestYearsOfOurLives, #WilliamWyler reminded him that Al needed to look like he’d been on combat duty in the Pacific. “...very important that your figure suggests a K-ration diet, rather than the '21 Club'." #TCMParty