The Lost Weekend (1945)

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

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Charles R. Jackson (from the novel by), Charles Brackett (screenplay),

Stars:

Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry

Won 4 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ray Milland	...	Don Birnam
Jane Wyman	...	Helen St. James
Phillip Terry	...	Wick Birnam
Howard Da Silva	...	Nat
Doris Dowling	...	Gloria
Frank Faylen	...	'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

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.

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Plot Keywords:

weekend | alcoholic | drink | writer | drinking | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 November 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das verlorene Wochenende

Filming Locations:

Bellevue Hospital - 550 First Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

To prepare for the part, Ray Milland spent one night in Bellevue Hospital as a patient. He also stopped eating as much, as most alcoholics forget to do so.

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Goofs

Amount of rye in shot glass changes. When bartender Nat pours Don Birnam's first drink, the shot glass is approximately 75% full as seen over bartender's left shoulder. Birnam lifts glass, but does not drink. Cut to camera over Birnam's right shoulder looking at bartender. As Birnam leans away from bar, glass is now filled almost to brim.

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Quotes

Don Birnam: [after buying two bottles of rye whiskey] I'm not a minor, Mr. Brophy, and just to ease your conscience, I'm buying these to refill my cigarette lighter.

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Connections

Referenced in Dancing in the Dark (1949)

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Soundtracks

"It Was So Beautiful (and You Were Mine)"
(1932) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Barris
Lyrics by Arthur Freed
Played on piano and sung by Harry Barris at Harry and Joe's

User Reviews

This is on my list of 50 best of all time....

The script and score are superb and the acting flawless. Ray Milland is riveting in the role of a man who is as consumed by alcohol as it is consuming him. He lives and breathes for it and all around him become secondary including his long suffering girlfriend.

There is always a girl like this in the life of a good looking useless purposeless alcoholic kept afloat by either a wife or other family member, in this case a brother who pays the bills and tries to sober him up and dry him out periodically.

The score is relentless and highly avant Gard for its time, featuring music normally backing sci-fi flicks. Some of the scenes are profoundly frightening, his stay in the drunk tank with a sadistic feminine male nurse outlining all the horrors that await him and his DTs which feature a bat biting the head off a bird.

Very well done. I felt the ending was a little too pat, that would be my only fault with this.

9 out of 10. Excellent.