TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
TCM’s Memorial Day marathon of war movies continues, and its final prime-time presentations are hallmarks of the genre. First up, at 8 p.m. ET, is 1949’s Twelve O’Clock High, about the Army Air Corps in England during World War II. Released only four years after the war was over, it’s both respectful and raw – showing both the heroism of the men stationed there, and their many missions, but also the raw effects of what, in time, would come to be called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Gregory Peck stars. Then, at 10:30 p.m. ET, comes 1946’s The Best Years of Our Lives, which may as well serve as a documentary of postwar adjustment by returning veterans. It was filmed the year after the war ended, and one of its stars is a played by a real double amputee, whose storyline is about returning to America after barely surviving a serious wartime injury.