The plot follows the lives of three veterans returning from service at the end of World War II to the fictional midwestern town of Boone City: USAAF bombardier Fred Derry, naval petty officer Homer Parrish, and platoon sergeant Al Stephenson. Before their respective military service, Fred was a soda jerk who married Marie shortly before shipping out. Al was a banker living with his wife Millie, adult daughter Peggy and teen-aged son Rob. Homer was a star high school athlete living with his parents and sister, next door to his girlfriend, Wilma. Homer lost both hands during the war and returns with mechanical hook prostheses.

Each man faces challenges integrating back into post-war society. Homer deals with the adjustments he and his family and Wilma face in light of his disability. Al's penchant for alcohol and the adjustments of returning to the banking business cause tension with his family and business associates. Fred, who experiences flashbacks of his bombing raids, becomes frustrated with the wife he barely knows and an employer who fails to appreciate him, and who eventually fires him when Fred punches a man in defense of Homer. Fred and Peggy become attracted to each other which puts the married Fred and Al at odds. Fred eventually leaves his cheating wife, and with no seeming future in Boone City, he decides to catch the next plane out. At the airport, Fred visits an aircraft boneyard and has another flashback. He is roused by a work crew boss who agrees to hire Fred to help disassemble the war planes for prefabricated housing material. Now divorced, Fred serves as best man at the wedding of Homer and Wilma, where he sees Peggy and they reunite.
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== osoby ==			== profese ==
	William Wyler		Režie
	Robert E. Sherwood		Scénarista
	Samuel Goldwyn		Producent

== osoby ==	== postava ==
Harold Russell	Homer Parrish

cena	festival	ročník	osoba	nominace/cena
Speciální cena	Zlatý Globus	4 (1946)	Harold Russell	cena
Nejlepší režisér	Oscar (Cena Akademie)	19 (1946)	William Wyler	cena
Nejlepší mužský herecký výkon ve vedlejší roli	Oscar (Cena Akademie)	19 (1946)	Harold Russell	cena
Nejlepší film z libovolného zdroje	BAFTA	1 (1947)	Samuel Goldwyn	cena
Nejlepší film	Zlatý Globus	4 (1946)	Samuel Goldwyn	cena
Nejlepší film	Oscar (Cena Akademie)	19 (1946)	Samuel Goldwyn	cena
Nejlepší Americký film	Ceny Bodil	1 (1948)	Samuel Goldwyn	cena
National Film Registry	National Film Preservation Board	1 (1988)	Samuel Goldwyn	cena
Čestné uznání - za scénář filmu	MFF Karlovy Vary	3 (1948)	Robert E. Sherwood	cena
Čestné uznání	Oscar (Cena Akademie)	19 (1946)	Harold Russell	cena
Cena za nejlepší režie	MFF Karlovy Vary	3 (1948)	William Wyler	cena