Despite numerous racist restrictions on their enlistment, more than 1 million Black GIs served during World War II. “Jim Crow in uniform,” however, tormented them constantly.

It is the film’s willingness to address the characters’ struggles in a relatable way that keeps “Best Years” modern. Cartoonist and war correspondent Bill Mauldin may have put it best in a letter he wrote to Goldwyn praising the film as “the first honest-to-God sincere thing I’ve seen about the war and its aftermath.”