A War of the People: Destruction, Community, and Hope in William Wyler’s Wartime Films

Wyler’s own military service during the Second World War demonstrates the director’s personal commitment to defeating fascism. This chapter, by examining Mrs. Miniver(1942), and The Best Years of Our Lives(1946), and the wartime documentaries, The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress(1944), The Fighting Lady(1944), and Thunderbolt(1945, released 1947), argues that rather than producing a muddled political message, the overall feeling of Wyler’s wartime films, both his fictional narratives and his documentaries, is a clear call to action and a strong sense of community. It also asserts that these films combine a sense of duty with the breaking down of social barriers, and by finding the common ground of self-sacrifice, and the healing of wounds both seen and unseen. Author: Robert Ribera