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IMDbPro

The Lost Weekend

  • 1945
  • Passed
  • 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
39K
YOUR RATING
Ray Milland, Doris Dowling, Phillip Terry, and Jane Wyman in The Lost Weekend (1945)
Trailer for The Lost Weekend
Play trailer2:08
1 Video
99+ Photos
DramaFilm-Noir

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

  • Director
    • Billy Wilder
  • Writers
    • Charles R. Jackson
    • Charles Brackett
    • Billy Wilder
  • Stars
    • Ray Milland
    • Jane Wyman
    • Phillip Terry
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.9/10
    39K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Billy Wilder
    • Writers
      • Charles R. Jackson
      • Charles Brackett
      • Billy Wilder
    • Stars
      • Ray Milland
      • Jane Wyman
      • Phillip Terry
    • 184User reviews
    • 124Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 4 Oscars
      • 16 wins & 3 nominations total

    Videos1

    The Lost Weekend
    Trailer 2:08
    Watch The Lost Weekend

    Photos108

    Billy Wilder and Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945)
    Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945)
    " The Lost Weekend" Ray Milland 1945 Paramount / MPTV
    "The Lost Weekend" Ray Milland 1945 Paramount / MPTV
    "The Lost Weekend" Ray Milland 1945 Paramount / MPTV
    "The Lost Weekend" Ray Milland 1945 Paramount / MPTV
    "The Lost Weekend" Ray Milland, Jane Wyman 1945 Paramount / MPTV
    Ray Milland and Jane Wyman in The Lost Weekend (1945)
    "The Lost Weekend" Ray Milland 1945 Paramount Pictures
    "The Lost Weekend" Ray Milland 1945 Paramount Pictures
    Ray Milland "Lost Weekend"
    "The Lost Weekend" Billy Wilder, Ray Milland, Doris Dowling 1945 Paramount / MPTV

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ray Milland
    Ray Milland
    • Don Birnam
    Jane Wyman
    Jane Wyman
    • Helen St. James
    Phillip Terry
    Phillip Terry
    • Wick Birnam
    Howard Da Silva
    Howard Da Silva
    • Nat
    Doris Dowling
    Doris Dowling
    • Gloria
    Frank Faylen
    Frank Faylen
    • 'Bim' Nolan
    Mary Young
    Mary Young
    • Mrs. Deveridge
    Anita Sharp-Bolster
    Anita Sharp-Bolster
    • Mrs. Foley
    • (as Anita Bolster)
    Lilian Fontaine
    • Mrs. St. James
    Frank Orth
    Frank Orth
    • Opera Cloak Room Attendant
    Lewis L. Russell
    • Mr. St. James
    Andy Andrews
    • Alcoholic
    • (uncredited)
    Gene Ashley
    • Male Nurse
    • (uncredited)
    Walter Baldwin
    Walter Baldwin
    • Man from Albany
    • (uncredited)
    Harry Barris
    Harry Barris
    • Pianist at Harry & Joe's
    • (uncredited)
    Ian Begg
    • Undetermined Secondary Role
    • (uncredited)
    Eddie Borden
    Eddie Borden
    • Drunk in Alcoholic Ward
    • (uncredited)
    Jess Lee Brooks
    • Hospital Patient
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Billy Wilder
    • Writers
      • Charles R. Jackson
      • Charles Brackett
      • Billy Wilder
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ray Milland checked himself into Bellevue Hospital with the help of resident doctors, in order to experience the horror of a drunk ward. Milland was given an iron bed and locked inside the "booze tank." That night, a new arrival came into the ward screaming, an entrance that immersed the whole ward in hysteria. With the ward falling into bedlam, a robed and barefoot Milland escaped while the door was ajar and slipped out onto 34th Street where he tried to hail a cab. When a suspicious cop spotted him, Milland tried to explain, but the cop didn't believe him, especially after he noticed the Bellevue insignia on his robe. The actor was dragged back to Bellevue where it took him a half-hour to explain his situation to the authorities before he was finally released.
    • Goofs
      Don Birnam 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 the name "A. Bloom" is again seen.
    • Quotes

      [Nat moves to wipe away the circle of whisky from Don Birnam's glass]

      Don Birnam: Don't wipe it away, Nat. Let me have my little vicious circle. You know, the circle is the perfect geometric figure. No end, no beginning.

    • Connections
      Edited into Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
    • Soundtracks
      La Traviata
      (1853) (uncredited)

      Music by Giuseppe Verdi

      Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave

      Libiamo ne' lieti calici (Drinking Song) Performed by John Garris and Theodora Lynch with The San Francisco Opera Company

    User reviews184

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    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.
    helpful•64
    4
    • wisewebwoman
    • Dec 28, 2003

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    FAQ2

    • Is "The Lost Weekend" based on a book?
    • What is the significance of the three balls outside of the pawnbroker's shop?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 1946 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Propali vikend
    • Filming locations
      • Bellevue Hospital - 462 First Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
    • Production company
      • Paramount Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,250,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 41 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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