came to an end, what was next for director wyler? five directors i wrote about, was the only one to come back as a disabled veteran. he received a disability check for the rest of his life. something he was very proud of. he poured all of his experience into what i think still stands as a true american masterpiece and the greatest movie about the aftermath of the war, which is the best jeer years of our lives. the best years of our lives is the story of three soldiers who are coming home. different classes, different ages, different ranks within the war. and it's about their adjustment to an america that had gone on without them. the extraordinary thing about this movie is that wyler put himself with the aid of his really brilliant screen writer robert sherwood into all three of these characters. one of the men was like wyler, a family man, who was middle aged and had left cushy and comfortable circumstances and was now coming back to a wife and children that he really didn't know that well anymore. and trying to find his place back

you know, wyler was shooting in unpressurized cabins.with that, literally overnight, his army service was over in this very unexpected way. so the completion of "thunderbolt" became terribly important to him, even though by the time he was recovered enoughr. to finish the movie, the war was over and there was simply no use for this kind of propaganda film anymore about u.s. military d he f might. so that's why you have the anomaly of a movie like "thunderbolt" which was intended for war time consumption, not n this v being shown until 1947. and then, even then, being barely seen. when wyler finished his print and took it to washington and showed it to army brats, a general stood up after the screening and said, willy, what is this movie for? and he really had no answer ymore ab because the timeline of world war ii had just outraced him. >> it is a 42-minute film. and it's titled "thunderbolt" ike from director william wyler. mark harris, thanks for being mption with us. now a chance to see the film in its entirety. ♪ >>> this picture was

and it's titled "thunderbolt" ike from director william wyler. mark harris, thanks for being mption with us. now a chance to see the film in its entirety. ♪ >>> this picture was photographed in combat zones by cameronmen of the mediterranean allied forces and by pilots of the 12th air force who joined missions against the enemy, whprin rm operated automatic cameras in that plane. behind the pilot, shooting forward and back.y ha under the wing. in the wing. timed with the guns. in the wheel well.e in the instrument panel.iam wyle photographing the pilot himself.nqdyz ♪ >>> this picture was photographed in combat zones by cameronmen of the mediterranean allied forces and by pilots of the 12th air force who joined missions against the enemy, operated automatic cameras in that plane. behind the pilot, shooting forward and back. under the wing. in the wing. timed with the guns. in the wheel well. in the instrument panel. photographing the pilot himself. >> the commander counter of the united states air force is general carl spots has asked me to tell

wyler also directed the

hollywood, started to build a reputation as a screenwriter, particularly with the help of william wyler, who was something of a mentor, and very good friend to him. and then just before pearl harbor, had his breakthrough success with the first movie he directed, the maltese falcon. and you know he had a chance to make about one and two-thirds more movies. he had to leave for the war and his service in the war before completing a movie he was making, which reunited the cast of the maltese falcon called across the pacific. >> so much focusing on the post traumatic stress of those who returned from vietnam or more recently in iraq and afghanistan, i want to ask you about one of two films that he put together, this one from 1945, "let there be light." what did he bring to the american audience about this condition, and these servicemen, mostly men, who returned from world war ii and what they faced? >> well, "let there be light" is a remarkable documentary. it -- huston was asked about making what the army felt would be a propaganda film about psychologically scarred veterans in an army hos