Many of William Wyler’s films are structured around an inescapable past, which is as much historical as it is personal and social. "Wuthering Heights", "Mrs. Miniver", "The Heiress", "Ben Hur" all use aspects of personal, social and at times meta-filmic history to convey a sense of inescapability. The most complex film being "The Best Years of Our Lives", where three veterans returning from World War Two must readjust to civilian life; but that readjustment is severely tested (with the alcoholism of one character, though never addressed directly looms throughout the film like a slow-burning bomb). This film is a catalogue of Wyler’s various narrative strategies: not only is the weight of the past understood through situation and dialogue, but it is also felt in silent scenes, bits of business, or even the evolution of the films’ sets. Much is achieved by Wyler’s close collaboration with cinematographer Gregg Tolland, whose famed deep-focus photography, so famously associated with Welles’ film "Citizen Kane", was developed in his six collaborations with William Wyler, but Wyler would also urge other cinematographers to achieve similar effects, as is the case in "Mrs. Miniver." While most films use ‘backstory’ is an important element in their narrative structure, it is the present problems that motivate the characters in films. Their histories in turn give depth to the reasons behind their response to a present crisis. Even films like Fred Zinneman’s "High Noon", in which past events are vital to understanding present situations, it is the present situation that matters. This is not the case in many of Wyler’s films, wherein the past rather is the source of dramatic tension. The films are resolved on whether or not characters can come to terms with an overwhelming legacy. The past looms large in the films of William Wyler.