MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 218 this week

The Lost Weekend (1945)

 -  Drama  -  16 November 1945 (USA)
8.1
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 8.1/10 from 17,644 users  
Reviews: 123 user | 71 critic

The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four day drinking bout.

Director:

Writers:

(from the novel by), (screenplay), 1 more credit »
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 1269 titles created 7 months ago
 
a list of 1131 titles created 11 months ago
 
a list of 600 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 84 titles created 1 month ago
 
a list of 387 titles created 10 Sep 2011
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Lost Weekend (1945)

The Lost Weekend (1945) on IMDb 8.1/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Lost Weekend.
Won 4 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 3 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Henriette and Louise, a foundling, are raised together as sisters. When Louise goes blind, Henriette swears to take care of her forever. They go to Paris to see if Louise's blindness can be... See full summary »

Director: D.W. Griffith
Stars: Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Joseph Schildkraut
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

A young woman marries an older millionaire and then falls in love with a handsome nobleman on her honeymoon.

Director: Sam Wood
Stars: Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson, Edythe Chapman
Queen Kelly (1929)
Certificate: Passed Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Prince Wolfram is the betrothed of mad Queen Regina V of Kronberg. Supreme ruler, her word is law and he is a playboy. On maneuvers as punishment for partying with other women, he sees ... See full summary »

Director: Erich von Stroheim
Stars: Gloria Swanson, Walter Byron, Seena Owen
Coquette (1929)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

A flirtatious southern belle is compromised with one of her beaus.

Director: Sam Taylor
Stars: Mary Pickford, Johnny Mack Brown, Matt Moore
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A prostitute seeking a fresh start becomes the obsession of a religious extremist.

Director: Raoul Walsh
Stars: Lionel Barrymore, Blanche Friderici, Charles Lane
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A young woman comes to Hollywood with dreams of stardom, but achieves them only with the help of an alcoholic leading man whose best days are behind him.

Director: William A. Wellman
Stars: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

When three thuggish men are responsible for the death of his father and the crippling of his brother, young David must choose between supporting his family or risking his life and exacting vengeance.

Director: Henry King
Stars: Richard Barthelmess, Gladys Hulette, Walter P. Lewis
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

After opening a convent in the Himalayas, five nuns encounter conflict and tension - both with the natives and also within their own group - as they attempt to adapt to their remote, exotic surroundings.

Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Stars: Deborah Kerr, Flora Robson, Jenny Laird
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

A stenographer who works for a lawyer falls in love with and marries a wealthy young man. His family has the marraige annulled, after which she gives birth to a child. Her former boss helps... See full summary »

Director: Edmund Goulding
Stars: Gloria Swanson, Robert Ames, Purnell Pratt
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

The saga of Tom Holmes - a man of principles - from the Great War to the Great Depression. Will he ever get a break? His war heroics earn fame and a medal for someone else, and his wounds ... See full summary »

Director: William A. Wellman
Stars: Richard Barthelmess, Aline MacMahon, Loretta Young
La Strada (1954)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

A carefree girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.

Director: Federico Fellini
Stars: Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart
Downstairs (1932)
Certificate: Passed Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

At the wedding of Albert and Anna, Karl, the new chauffeur, arrives. Albert is the head butler, second generation to the Baron. Karl soon seems out of place as a servant, and Albert tells ... See full summary »

Stars: John Gilbert, Paul Lukas, Virginia Bruce
Edit

Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
...
Phillip Terry ...
Howard Da Silva ...
Nat
Doris Dowling ...
...
'Bim' Nolan
Mary Young ...
Mrs. Deveridge
Anita Sharp-Bolster ...
Mrs. Foley (as Anita Bolster)
Lillian Fontaine ...
Mrs. St. James (as Lilian Fontaine)
Frank Orth ...
Opera Cloak Room Attendant
Lewis L. Russell ...
Mr. St. James
Edit

Storyline

Don Birnam, long-time alcoholic, has been "on the wagon" for ten days and seems to be over the worst; but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother Wick and girlfriend Helen, he begins a four-day bender. In flashbacks we see past events, all gone wrong because of the bottle. But this bout looks like being his last...one way or the other. Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

weekend | alcoholic | drink | writer | drinking | See more »

Taglines:

How daring can the screen dare to be? No adult man or woman can risk missing the startling frankness of The Lost Weekend! See more »

Genres:

Drama

Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

16 November 1945 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Das verlorene Wochenende  »

Box Office

Budget:

$1,250,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Recording)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The only film to win both an Academy Award for Best Picture and the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix du Festival International Film. (NOTE: Marty won both the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Cannes Film Festival Palme D'Or (Golden Palm). In 1955, the Palme D'Or replaced the Grand Prix du Festival International Film as the highest award given to films at Cannes.) See more »

Goofs

Don Birman stops at the "A. Bloom" pawn shop. When it is closed, he walks uptown. He passes another pawn shop with a man standing in front of it and we can see the name "A. Bloom" again See more »

Quotes

Don Birnam: Love is the hardest thing in the world to write about. It's so simple. You've gotta catch it through details, like the early morning sunlight hitting the gray tin of the rain spout in front of her house, the ringing of a telephone that sounds like Beethoven's Pastorale, a letter scribbled on her office stationary that you carry around in your pocket because it smells like all the lilacs in Ohio.
Don Birnam: Pour it, Nat!
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Gilmore Girls: Always a Godmother, Never a God (2005) See more »

Soundtracks

"Louise"
(1929) (uncredited)
Music by Richard A. Whiting
Lyrics by Leo Robin
Played on piano and sung by Harry Barris at Harry and Joe's
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

Powerful landmark film on alcoholism has lost none of its status...Ray Milland deserved his Oscar...
16 April 2001 | by (U.S.A.) – See all my reviews

I take exception to previous comments that call the film "daring for its time" or "dated". It's still a very powerful film and there is nothing dated about the theme of a man who loses his soul to the bottle. It was a landmark film in its time and still is--there is no question about its holding power and the excellence of writing, acting and direction. Yes, even by today's standards! It outclasses more recent films dealing with alcoholism as it focuses on one man's problem with the bottle--a problem that affects all of the people whose lives he touches--particularly his loyal girlfriend (Jane Wyman in one of her best roles) and Philip Terry as his more conventional brother. The emotions are stark and real. The pity we feel for Milland's character is also mixed with disgust for his weakness. It's an accurate depiction of an alcoholic's struggle for the next fix--a never ending search for the next bottle. The pseudo-babble of a previous commentator attempts to inject disdain for the film as outdated and outclassed by more serious works. Nonsense! This was a stark and powerful film in 1945 and I have news for you--it is just as powerful and timely today! No other American film comes close to it. It is as searing an indictment of alcoholism as you are ever likely to see and Milland fully deserved his Oscar.


70 of 78 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Does it REALLY get this bad?? learyblaine
The ending. Johnny____
I found this movie ridiculous... russ453
the mouse and bat scene teejay6682
I'm drunk right now erika-58
Top 250 campaign insanemansam5
Discuss The Lost Weekend (1945) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?