Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

An alcoholic marries a young woman, whom he systematically addicts to booze so they can share his "passion" together.

Director:

Blake Edwards

Writer:

J.P. Miller (as JP Miller)

Stars:

Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford

Won 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 13 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, from dancing girls to an article in a prominent magazine. But part of the job is drinking, and Joe's ability to consume alcohol seems boundless. When he meets the very pretty Kirsten Arnesen, she prefers chocolate to alcohol; Joe's solution is Brandy Alexander, which is made up of brandy and crème de cacao. Joe and Kirsten eventually marry, but their love can't prevent the downward spiral brought on by alcohol. 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 | alcoholic | plant in title | violence | in laws | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 February 1963 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

Días de vino y rosas

Filming Locations:

1800 Pacific Ave, 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

Included among the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the 400 movies nominated for the Top 100 Greatest American Movies.

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Goofs

When Jo is in the hospital for the first time, a doctor and two orderlies come and check up on him from the fenced window of his cell door. But in the very next shot, the only shadow that is cast on Jo is that of the fenced window, not of the three men looking at him from the window.

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Quotes

Kirsten Arnesen Clay: Thanks for the compliment, but I know how I look. This is the way I look when I'm sober. It's enough to make a person drink, wouldn't you say? You see, the world looks so dirty to me when I'm not drinking. Joe, remember Fisherman's Wharf? The water when you looked too close? That's the way the world looks to me when I'm not drinking.

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Connections

Referenced in Route 66: A Long Way from St. Louie (1963)

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Soundtracks

Rock-a-Bye Baby
(uncredited)
Music by Effie I. Canning

User Reviews

The last great film about alcoholism.

Actually, I think it's only the second, after "The Lost Weekend" in 1945. I apologise if there's any others I don't know about. But it's certainly true that the made-for-TV movie has ruined the genre. Today's alcoholism movies are dreary considered as movies, and offer no pleasure except indulgence of a feeling of moral superiority - which, it seems, is enough for some. It was just this dull moralising that "The Lost Weekend" and "Days of Wine and Roses" broke away from.

Forget about issue-of-the-month TV. Edwards wanted a film that was realistic AND worked as a story, and he found one.

Indeed this is his finest work. He gets great performances out of his two stars - here he was considerably more lucky than Wilder was, although there's nothing wrong with Wilder's cast. The story appears to wander but is really quite tight. Some scenes are fun; many dig into you like small knives. Perhaps there's one too many premonitions at the beginning (this is a problem Wilder didn't have, since his central character was an alcoholic at the start); and some may find that the guy from Alcoholics Anonymous near the end is a bit too good to be true. I also wish that Henry Mancini had stood firm against the temptation to write a smoozy bubblegum theme song for the opening credits. None of this matters, though. Your eyes will be on the central characters the whole time.