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The Lost Weekend|Ray Milland

The Lost Weekend

Ray Milland and Jane Wyman
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Overview

Ray Milland stars as alcoholic writer Don Birnam in Billy Wilder's first unabashedly dramatic film, and one of the first to deal in such painstaking detail with the disease of alcoholism. Don shares an apartment in New York City in the 1940s with his brother Wick (Phillip Terry) who has his hands full trying to deal with his brother's drinking problem. One night, Don encourages his brother to take his girlfriend Helen St. James (Jane Wyman) to hear some music only so that he can be out from under their watchful eyes. Taking the money left for the maid, he goes out to buy some liquor, stashing one bottle in the chandelier. When he goes to the bar the next day, Nat (Howard Da Silva), the owner berates him for treating his girlfriend badly and warns him that he's on a path toward death. Don returns to the apartment to try to work on his novel "The Bottle," but consumed by self-doubt, goes to another bar, and steals a woman's purse to buy a drink. As the weekend wears on, his spiral downward continues apace. Although dated in some respects, the film's unadorned portrait of the relentless torture that is alcoholism still packs a powerful punch thanks to Wilder's sharp script, the deep-focus camerawork of John Seitz, and a career performance by Ray Milland.

Awards:
1945 - Academy Awards - Best Picture - Winner
1945 - Academy Awards - Best Actor - Winner
1946 - Cannes - Best Actor - Winner
1945 - Academy Awards - Best Adapted Screenplay - Winner
1945 - Academy Awards - Best Director - Winner

Main Cast & Crew:
Billy Wilder - Director
Ray Milland
Jane Wyman
Phillip Terry
Howard Da Silva
Doris Dowling
Fred "Snowflake" Toones
Gisela Werbiseck
Jess Lee Brooks
Pat Moriarity
Theodora Lynch

Details

    DVD Format
  • Format: DVD (Full Frame, Repackaged)
  • Run Time: 101
  • Color Format: B&W
  • UPC: 025192115325
  • Genre: DRAMA
  • Rating: Not Rated
  • Release Date: February 2001

Movie Reviews

Notes:
Filmed on location in New York City. The National Board of Review named THE LOST WEEKEND one of the Best 10 English-language films of 1945. The New York Film Critics Circle named it the Best Film of 1945. Ray Milland was named Best Actor by the National Board and by the New York Critics. Billy Wilder was named Best Director by the New York Critics. The film screened at 1946 Cannes Film Festival.

Reviews:
"Every addiction film since has taken a page from LOST WEEKEND; if only they'd been as good." - 12/01/2003 Premiere, p.5


4 stars out of 5 -- "[A]s a treatise on addiction generally, it's remarkably sensitive and thoughtful..." - 06/01/2012 Total Film


"[Milland] delivers the performance of his career, as was acknowledged when he won the Oscar for best actor in 1946." - 07/01/2012 Sight and Sound

BAM Customer Reviews