Best Years

This outstanding book's overview of the role movies played at a key moment in the nation's history provides an invaluable and wonderfully readable resource for scholars, students, and everyone who loves the movies. Robert Eberwein, author of Armed Forces: Masculinity and Sexuality in the American War Film

Just what was the movies' greatest year? Charles and Mirella Affron make a strong case for one moment, as World War II drew to a close, when Hollywood not only controlled the lion's share of the entertainment dollar, but spoke to a national audience from a position of financial stability and moral certainty. A fascinating guide to a season of movies, and movie culture, that today's fragmented audience can hardly imagine. Richard Koszarski, author of Hollywood on the Hudson

This remarkable book documents a turning point in US cinema—a period when WW II was ending, soldiers were returning, recreational time was increasing as the war machine shut down, and moviegoing in the US was at its height. Meticulously researched and richly detailed, the book ties films to the fabric of American existence—to places, persons, and things—persuasively arguing that for many reasons, 1945-46 was one of the key periods in the history of cinema. Packed to the brim with rare illustrations, this book succeeds admirably on every level. For anyone interested in the films of this era, this is the book to read. Essential. Choice

Best Years is a lucid and thought-provoking work that probes at some of Hollywood's most iconic films. The Affrons' work provides a comprehensive account of cinema's Golden Age that easily rivals any graduate-level film seminar. Jump Cut