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Robert David Hall: After WWII the movie "Best Years of Our Lives" with Harold Russell...
Harold created quite a splash with his performance. He won a supporting actor Oscar and a special
Oscar. The idea that people had given their limbs and their sight, and a lot of other
things -- their lives, for their country. People didn't want to openly feel guilty or
ashamed of their fears of disability they wanted to welcome the veterans home.
Kurt Yaeger: Watching the character Homer being treated differently when all he wants
to do is be treated normal and ... watching him have to go through that reminded me of
having to go through it and it's a very accurate portrayal of what it is. You know, you walk
home and your Dad's tryin' to stand there and be strong and your Mom just breaks down
and you know why. And only to be treated normal is all he ever wanted. One of the best parts
was when he was lighting his friend's cigarette with matches and they were like "No, no ... Let
us do that..." and he said "No, I've got it" and the way that he did it was so brilliant.
It moved me 'cause he opens it up, takes it out, lights the match, lights his, lights
someone else's and before he lights the third one ... you know there's that old rule that
you don't light three cigarettes with one match..."
Scene from movie: "Anybody superstitious? No, go ahead. Well, I am..." He puts it out
and does it again, which is a complicated task. He does it again still with ease, showing
the nimbleness of it. So it wasn't so much that he was gonna have the worst physical
time in the world 'cause he could do things, but he was almost setting up the audience
to show that once we get deeper and darker there's gonna be some heavier consequences...
but this isn't one of them. Danny Woodburn: Harold Russell's character
is concerned with the fact that he is missing his hands and how can he be a good husband?
How can he be a man, essentially? And it's all an internal struggle, but I have found
in my life the struggle is more external. The struggle is more about how society is
really seeing us and how society sees Harold Russell with no hands and how Russell's career
was very limited because of the ways society viewed his disability.
"The Projected Image: A History of Disability in Film"
Tuesdays in October. Beginning at 8pm ET. For a complete schedule and exclusive content
vist TCM.com/dif