Wednesday, November 23, 2022

"I Don't Need To Be Beautiful"


Came across this story on Harold Russell, who lost both his hands in a training accident during WW2 and then, in his only acting role, appeared as a disabled veteran in the great film, The Best Years Of Our Lives, winning an honorary Oscar for his affecting performance.   I wrote about the film in the post Five Came Back. The author writes of his recovery:

Given a choice of steel hooks or plastic hands, he took the hooks. They were articulated; each tip had two gleaming prongs that allowed him to grasp objects. "I don't need to be beautiful," Russell said.

The movie was also a breakthrough:

At a time when people with physical disabilities were never seen in movies, except as monsters or freaks, Best Years showed Homer going through life as normally as anyone else plucking a cigarette from a pack, dialing the telephone, and, yes, gently sliding a wedding ring on his fiancee's finger.

There are many memorable scenes in the film.  This is one most people remember.


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