Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

An alcoholic falls in love with and gets married to a young woman, whom he systematically addicts to booze so they can share his "passion" together.

Director:

Blake Edwards

Writer:

J.P. Miller

Stars:

Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford

Won 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jack Lemmon	...	Joe Clay
Lee Remick	...	Kirsten Arnesen Clay
Charles Bickford	...	Ellis Arnesen
Jack Klugman	...	Jim Hungerford
Alan Hewitt	...	Rad Leland
Tom Palmer	...	Ballefoy
Debbie Megowan	...	Debbie Clay
Maxine Stuart	...	Dottie
Jack Albertson	...	Trayner

Storyline

Joe Clay is a top-notch public relations man. Anything a client wants Joe can arrange for them, whether it be dancing girls or an article in a prominent magazine. Part of the job however is drinking and Joe's ability to consume alcohol seems boundless. When he meets the very pretty Kirsten Arnasen, she prefers chocolate to alcohol but Joe has a solution to that in the form of a Brandy Alexander (made up of brandy and creme de cocoa). They eventually marry but their love is insufficient to prevent them from the downward spiral that alcohol brings to them. They try desperately to break the habit but continually relapse until only one of them manages to break free.

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Plot Keywords:

drinking | public relations | alcoholic | secretary | share | 

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Taglines:

From the days of wine and roses, finally comes a night like this.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 December 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

Días de vino y rosas

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jalem Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Lynn Borden.

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Goofs

Shadow of boom mic visible on man's jacket passing on the sidewalk.

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Quotes

Joe Clay: It's facing all the people.
Jim Hungerford: You sure?
Joe Clay: What do you mean?
Jim Hungerford: Well, it's facing yourself, isn't it?

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Connections

Featured in Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Days of Wine and Roses"
Words by Johnny Mercer
Music by Henry Mancini
Performed by Chorus

User Reviews

It's as true to life as a vodka martini.

The above quote is from director Blake Edwards, it's taken from the highly recommended commentary track he provides on the DVD for this excellent and compelling piece of work.

Joe is a social drinker but he's social all the time, during one of his arranged parties for a client he meets and falls in love with teetotal Kirsten. They get married and changes start to dominate their marital bliss, he is stressed from work and drinks daily to forget the rigours of the job, she being the loving wife chooses to drink with him to help ease his pain, but soon the joyous days of wine & roses will turn to something dark and terribly turbulent, and this will threaten their own respective sanity.

The film begins with Henry Mancini's academy award winning title theme tune, it's a truly beautiful piece of music that perfectly sets the tone of the film for its first third, it lulls you into this couples love, the bond they share is a truly wonderful thing, it really is all sweetness and light, but then the bottle becomes part of this couples life, they become a threesome from which only dark horrors will form. Containing emotionally shattering scenes that once viewed can not be forgotten (witness Joe's soul destroying search for liquor in a greenhouse), Days Of Wine & Roses still manages not to force feed the viewer a moralistic stance, it lays down the facts of alcoholism and the perils of co-dependency with honest appraisal, we as the viewers are left in no doubt that it is us, and us only, that can make of it as we see fit, the ending especially is a particular poser of which we ourselves seek clarity.

Wonderfully written by the talented hands of J.P. Miller, Days Of Wine And Roses boasts marvellous direction from Blake Edwards and two academy award nominated performances from Jack Lemmon & Lee Remick, it's a testament to all involved that come the finale the viewer feels drained, yet strangely...not at all thirsty for the amber nectar.

Quality drama. 9/10