The Lost Weekend (1945)

still the classic

Why was this movie not made mandatory viewing in every school in the 50s Well, we all know the reason. But it would have saved a lot of lives. Still the most vivid and moving protrait of alcoholism around. Not for the squeamish, but its a lot better to watch this than to watch someone bleed out from cirrhosis..Should be shown with every beer commercial on TV....show the bikini clad maidens after 10 years of alcoholic drinking.. May 8, 2008

Moderation, Mista Boynum....Moderation.

This film is a wonderful work of art alongside the likes of Casablanca. It is amazingly ahead of its time and in your face. The "DTs" are presented in a raw and frighteningly real showcase. Every character is interesting and memorable and the warm fuzzy black and white of New York City places you right in the middle of our hero's struggle. April 22, 2008

Very Good Movie! Too Bad About the DVD!

This is one powerful movie that must have shocked the audience of those days and yet the message is so relevant and true to this day. We get a glimpse of what the life of an alcoholic can be like and for me it was almost like watching a truly scary horror film. It has been said that Billy Wilder did this film because he got inspiration from his co-writer in his previous masterpiece "Double Indemnity", Raymond Chandler, who also had a problem with the bottle. It wouldn't surprise me if he had Chandler totally in mind for the part of Birnam too as the two had a tough time working with each other on the screenplay for that movie.

However, unlike some others I thought the ending was very good because if you think about it, the movie ends as it began with Birnam promising that he had changed after another one of his binges. In fact, I'm unconvinced that there actually was a happy ending here as it is ambiguous enough to suggest that things haven't really changed but that things could simply be repeating themselves over and over again. In the middle of the film we get Birnam telling the bartender in a flashback how he met up with his long-suffering girlfriend and how he was able because of her to stop drinking for weeks until the pressure of meeting up with the potential in-laws got him so scared that he returned to the bottle. All I saw at the ending was something similar where Birnam once again makes a promise but there was nothing to suggest that he would keep it the next time another stressful incident in his life arises.

I thought the ending was ominous and so true of anyone struggling with addiction in that one never really knows if one has really licked it but one has to keep on getting up every time without giving up and keep on trying to the end. Sounds a lot like life in general and yet so true of addicts. For this reason, I felt that this was a great movie with a great script, great acting, great directing and hence overall an excellent work of art with a very good message about life.

The problem I have is with the picture and sound quality of this dvd which hasn't been restored at all resulting in many imperfections at many parts of the film and although the sound quality is alright as far as Dolby Digital Mono quality goes, it would have been much better had a restored version with 5.1 or THX options be included. As it is, this great film is not deserving of such a poor dvd transfer and here's hoping they get together to properly restore both the sound and especially the picture quality of this classic film.

As it stands though I cannot recommend this dvd version of this film and I suggest you wait for a much better restored version with decent special or bonus features to be released. April 8, 2008

Dark and Depressing

I'm sure this was an important movie in its time, with its breakthrough treatment of the horrors of alcholism. Ray Milland does an excellent job of creating a character who wins our sympathy by his natural looks and class inspite of the horrendous things he does to feed his addiction.

What mostly bothered me is the unrelenting misery of it all. It is hard to really see why the Wyman character would stick with this man for three years if this is all she saw of him. Having played this role, in real life, I can testify that it takes a lot of good to put up with this much bad. It would have been a much more interesting and realistic film if they had shown the happy times, when Milland was sober and able to love this very fine woman -- the emotional roller coaster that alcholics can put their loved ones through. Alcoholics are often charming, talented people as the Milland character is and they can be very affectionate and winning. But we don't see any of that beyond the first few minutes of their meeting at the opera. So the film gives us no reason to justify the faithfulness of this woman. She is not shown as needy or masochistic--that would have made the relationship more believable and interesting. However when the film came out, not as much was known about alcholism and co-dependancy as we now know.

As meritorious as it may be to show explicitly the downside of alcoholism, I question the wisdom of showing only the dark side, without the brightness which makes the dark even more poignant. If we had seen something of his true talent or his true ability to care about anyone but himself, we might care more about his downward plunge.

We don't get enough back story, either, to explain why this man has succombed so radically to alcohol. We hear that he didn't get much success in his early attempts at writing, but that's not uncommon and all failed writers don't hit the bottle; some keep on and eventually succeed. Others get jobs. As far as we know he's from a good family, and has the love and support of his brother. Psychologically it leaves a lot to be desired.

As "entertainment" it is not a lot of fun to watch. Two hours of a man wanting alcohol and doing anything to get it is ultimately sort of boring. I much preferred "The Days of Wine and Roses" which deals with the same theme. However it is not as bad as "Leaving Las Vegas" which really drags you through the muck.

I agree with others that the tacked on ending is totally unrealistic but they say Wilder had no choice. I think the value of the film lies in its contribution to the ethos of the time. It's certainly not something I'd want to see again. February 11, 2008

Good movie, but inseparable from cultural fallout.

The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder, 1945)

While there's no denying that The Lost Weekend is a pretty durned fine piece of filmmaking, looking at it sixty years later, it's impossible to divorce the film from its cultural fallout. Screenwriter Charles Brackett, working from Charles Jackson's potboiler of a novel, did his best to bring out every possible melodramatic moment, and he succeeded tremendously. The problem being, of course, the public believe what they see, no matter how exaggerated for melodramatic effect. The Lost Weekend was one of the biggest steps in the diseasing of America (cf. Stanton Peele's book of the same name); that it is not as reviled today as Birth of a Nation or Triumph of the Will (both similarly excellent films on a technical level) is simply a matter of public perspective.

Ray Milland stars as Don Birnam, the very definition of an addict. Here's a guy who's willing to steal from strangers, manipulate those around him, and generally act as hateful as humanly possible to get his hands on more of the demon rum. (Or, in Birnam's case, the demon rye.) His girlfriend Helen (Jane Wyman) has put up with his alcoholism for years, but is rapidly reaching the end of her rope. His brother Wick (Phillip Terry) has arranged a weekend in the country for them, to get Don to dry out and start working on the novel he's been trying to write for years (The Bottle, a thinly-veiled autobiography about alcoholism). Don wanders off and gets drunk before he can leave with Wick, and the rest of the film chronicles Don's debauchery over the weekend that he's supposed to be in the country, which culminates in him hitting bottom after a quick trip to Bellevue's alcoholic ward. Climactic confrontation, etc., ensues, blah blah blah.

What makes the film stand apart from the usual redemption film is the constant, unrelenting subtext that there is no redemption to be found here. Wilder often seems allergic to happy endings; it has been mentioned more than once that the ending of this flick was mandated by the studio, but Wilder found every way he could to subvert it (without getting too spoilery, note Birnam's constant talk throughout the second half of the film about vicious circles, and then compare the last scene of the film to the first). Well, that and the fact that one of America's greatest directors made the movie, with some of the best and brightest stars of the day. Milland acts his role to a fever pitch, working the melodrama with every ounce of talent he's got and only crossing the overacting line a handful of times. Wyman does a lot more overacting, but she pulls it off, in some weird way; she's quite good at playing the harried girlfriend here. Perhaps the best acting in the film comes from the bartender at Don's favorite watering hole, Ned (Howard Da Silva), who acts as Milland's straight man, feeding him all the right lines, as bartenders are wont to do.

Any fault to be found with this movie has to be found with audience reaction to it, rather than the film itself, but I find that I can't divorce the two in this case. And to think the temperance League wanted to ban the movie, thinking it would encourage drinking. It has done their job far better than they did. ***
January 29, 2008

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