Is to be found in the 1946 film, The Best Years of Our Lives, directed by William Wyler. It features Harold Russell as Homer Parrish and his film lover interest, Cathy O’Donnell as Wilma Cameron. In the scene, Homer asks Wilma to come up to his bedroom and see what she is going to be getting herself into if she continues their relationship. She obliges and watches him get undressed. Without a moment’s hesitation, Wilma helps Homer into his pajamas and tucks him into bed with a kiss.

The catch is; Homer Parrish is a serviceman who has returned home from World War 2 with both of his hands missing and replaced by orthotic hooks.

He was an athlete before enlisting in the navy and Wilma is his high school sweetheart. Crushed by the pity of his family and old friends, Homer tries to give Wilma a reason to leave him and find another man who is not disabled. She responds by confirming her love for him, without or without his hands.

Harold Russell was a Canadian who enlisted in the United States Army after the Pearl Harbour attack. He lost his hands in a training accident. During his recovery, Russell featured in an Army film, Diary of a Sergeant, that focused on the rehabilitation of injured servicemen. William Wyler cast Russell as Homer after seeing him in that very film.

The Best Years of Our Lives is also notable for Russell being the first disabled actor to win an Oscar. The list is not very long, it only contains him and Marlee Matlin, who is deaf. She received her award in 1987 for the film, Children of a Lesser God. Russell is also the only unprofessional actor to win an Oscar, after completing the film he returned to his studies at university.

Homer Parrish is one of three characters in the film who find it difficult to adjust to civilian life after returning home from the war. His scenes, however, are amongst some of the most emotionally charged. Wyler does not shy away from the kind of treatment that the disabled receive. There is the pity, the morbid curiosity, the being marginalised, and then there is the discovery that some people can rise above that kind of behaviour. It is his new friends, Fred and Al, who are first to respond positively to Homer as a person. There is only one scene where Fred intercedes on Homer’s behalf and it is not to help him do anything trivial, he deservedly knocks a man down for him. There is no attempt to suggest that Homer’s life is going to be anything but difficult, Wyler just emphasises that with love and friendship any disabled person can have a life that is still worth living.