Billy Wilder creates a searing portrait of an alcoholic. Don Birnam is a writer whose lust for booze consumes his career, his life, and his loved ones.
1 Too Much Message
The Lost Weekend is about an alcoholic would be novelist who loves drinking more than friends and family. Desperate to stop drinking but even more desperate to keep drinking he throws his life into a soul destroying lost weekend of booze, crime and madness.
The acting is fantastic and you really feel the characters trying to cope with such self destruction. But I feel this film has dated somewhat. The Lost Weekend is a "message" film about the dangers of the bottle and it hits you on the head with it. Also the ending is not quite what you'd expect in a modern film on this subject. This film is not one of Wilder's best, and in my opinion is not a standout Academy Award Winner but is nevertheless a very good film and possibly a little ahead of its time.
2 Still the most harrowing film ever made about alcoholism
It's just as effective today as the day it was released. Yes, some parts are a bit dated, but it still holds up remarkably well as a film. Milland deserved every bit of his Oscar, as did the movie itself. The supporting roles are also excellent almost all the way down the line. Wyman was especially effective, even sexy in her role. And Wilder's direction was flawless; little humorous bits are dropped in just where they're needed, but never enough to mask the seriousness of the plot. Another absolute must-see. WARNING: Be aware that one of the "spotlight" reviews gives away the entire film, including the ending. Nobody bothers to look up "review" to see what it really means. Amazon, I thought you removed stuff like that...
3 Disturbing Wilder classic
Billy Wilder's powerful "The Lost Weekend", released 60 years ago, still resonates with profound impact in portraying the ravages of alcoholism.
Oscar winning Ray Milland is terrific playing failed writer Don Birnam a helpless and apparently hopeless alcoholic. Having abstained from the bottle for 10 days, he's planning a weekend retreat to the country with his straight laced and supportive brother Wick, played by Phillip Harris. His undeservedly doting girlfriend Helen played by Jane Wyman is encouraging him to remain sober. Despite all the support, the scheming Milland is manuevering to get out of going by spiriting his brother and girlfriend out to a concert.
He quickly ambles down to the neighborhood bar to commence an alcoholic binge which will last the entire weekend. Wilder very graphically illuminates us as to the depths that the addicted Milland stoops to procure booze. He pilfers a womans purse in a night club to play for his bar tab and gets caught. Soon running out of money, he becomes desperate and winds up in a frightening hospital alcoholic ward. He begins to suffer delirium tremors and hallucinations. He flees from the hospital but is contemplating suicide as an escape from his problems.
Billy Wilder's expert direction is an extremely unsettling window into the sordid, unflattering lifestyle of the chronic alcoholic. The scenes from the hospital ward were particularly terrifying. Milland's performance probably represented the pinnacle of his acting career. Howard da Silva, playing Nat the local barkeep and Frank Faylen, of Dobie Gillis fame, playing male nurse Bim both gave excellent performances.
4 Almost 60 years later, still a strong and powerful film
A searing, powerful and no-holds barred depiction of the horrors of alcoholism, condensed into the events covering a long. four-day weekend. Almost sixty years after this film was made, it's message is clear and moving... When the film begins the main character is well into the alcoholic illness, and there is no hiding his predicament, nor his attempts to hide his illness from those around him. The film then explodes into all the various aspects of alcoholism, showing L.W's clearly defined dependeance on liquor... his self hatred and disgust of his weakness... showing the total degeneration and final degredation of a once, ambitious and talented individual to a "bum" om the streets and reduced to stealing in order to gain a drink. The ward scenes in a city hospital are particularly harrowing as is also the creation of the final descent into near madness with his own peculair brand of the D.T's.
A film made in a gritting realistic manner, and directed by Billy Wilder in a no-nonsense, " straight at you ", style. The acting is superb, with Ray Milland making a major change in previous role types, to tackle the seriousness, drabness and despair of this person. And to me, that is the main strength of this film. It is written, acted and directed sympathetically, avoiding all inclinations to sensationalism, or exploitation. Ray Milland won a Best Actor Oscar for his role, and arguably never equalled that standard in later films. Not only concentrating on the central themse and its character, the film also shows the "ripples" ... the effect that the main character's actions and attitudes have on others. His girlfriend, sesnitively played by Jane Wyman is almost driven to abandoning him... a bartender constanty jeers, berates and mocks him.. a male nurse offers no noticeable help or advice; just quotes statistics and almost offers no hope for L.W. And in one jarring restaurant scene where L.W. has succumbed to stealing a woman's purse in order to gain money to pay for his meal; is caught out, thrown out of the restaurant as the patrons all stand and sing: "Somebody Stole My Purse".. to the tune of " Somebody Stole My Gal".
This DVD, I found, offers a good transfer, with sharp contrasts and a clear picture. The film now looks like new, although there is no ,mention of restoration anywhere. Good film to have in any collection, especially for the Oscar winning performance of Ray Milland. If you enjoy great film-making combined with a serious well-intentioned story, this is a film for you.
5 A Rip-Roaringly GOOD TIME!
that was sarcasm. the lost weekend is probably one of the most depressing films i have ever seen in my life.
ray milland plays an alcoholic writer who just can't seem to do the right thing for himself. he can't get any work done, he can't keep his girlfriend from worrying about him and even his one real friend in the world can't help him out. it's a downward spriral for him and no happy ending in sight.
this piece demonstrates the ugly, harsh and way too deep consequences of being a down and out drunk. two scenes throb in my head as i write this: one where he is in a restaurant drinking and notices that he doesn't have the money to pay for his booze, so he tries to sneak a young woman's purse away from her. it's a bad idea with bad, bad results. the other scene is the withdrawal scene where hallucinations in his bedroom begin to drive him stark raving mad. the horror...
ray milland is amazing in this role and well-deserving of a best actor award. see this film for the deep education it it's famous for.
6 Still effective after all these years.
Superb mellow drama about a drunk, Don Birman, played by Ray Milland, & his battle with the bottle over one week-end in New York City. Nobody is a drunk anymore. They are said to have a "substance abuse " problem.
There is little stigma attached to the problem today as compared to the self-loathing Milland felt & the repugnance the neighborhood & even his favorite bartender felt towards him. In fact, the long, fairly one-sided conversations with Nat the bartender, played by Howard de Silva, are some of the best scenes in the movie.
Brakett & Wilder took some chances in this ground-breaking movie. They fought the Hollywood studios who probably wanted it watered down & rendered more palatable. They didn't give in &, as a result, this was the best movie of the the year 1945. It was well deserved. Ray Milland also got an Oscar & he was never better. Jane Wyman does a fine job as his long suffering girl friend, Helen.
It is unbelievable that that kind of woman, a real lady, would put up with a loser like that for so long. But after all, this is a movie. A pat ending that doesn't matter at all. The combination of gritty, street level scenes of New York City, the noir atmosphere & black & white filming all combine to make this one of the best aging movies, still relavent, I've seen in a long time.
7 A powerful movie about alcoholism
Don Birnam, an want-to-be writer with writer's block, is ecstatic when his brother Wick finally leaves their apartment for a long weekend in the country. Free of the constant watching, he is incredibly happy and feels even better after the second drink. Throughout the five days, Don drinks, makes and forgets promises, discovers a brilliant idea for writing and forgets it just as quickly, loses track of time. His mind takes him on a guilt-ridden trip through past experiences and hallucinations. He even awakens after a spill down the stairs to find himself in the alcoholic wing of a sanitarium.
Billy Wilder's film adaptation of the novel by Charles Jackson does a fine job of detailing what happens to someone in the grips of alcoholism: the desparate need, the hallucinations, the blackouts, etc. Ray Milland delivers one of the finest screen performances as Don, giving the impression that you are living every moment with Don, suffering his hallucinations and withdrawal, and thirsting for alcohol. This performance also earned him the Best Actor Academy Award. Jane Wyman is wonderful as Don's girlfriend Helen, who wants to see him through this terrible ordeal. Phillip Terry also gives a strong performance as Don's brother Wick, who wants to help Don by being the strong one, but always caves in, feeding Don's dependency.
For anyone who has read the book, certain aspects from the story have been removed and altered, but this in no way detracts from this portrait of a man in the throes of alcoholism. It's still a very potent and powerful film dealing with an almost taboo subject at the time. Highly recommended.
8 Demon Alchohol
This movie which won 4 academy awards including best picture stars Ray Milland as a debonair drunk who hides alcohol in his apartment and cares more about booze than girls. Playin an aspiring writer, he meets the Jane Wyman character when his ticket stub gets inadvertently switched at the coat rack of a theater: he is perturbed because there is a bottle in its pocket. Even though it's Hollywood, and its dated, it's not easy to watch the Milland character miss his dates, go through delerium tremens, and sink socially because of his obsession with this sometimes-very-addictive legal drug. (The coat caper is rectified by the film's end.)
9 Compelling Film About Alcoholism
I rarely watch older films. By "older" films, I mean movies made before 1960. It's not due to some prejudice on my part about black and white cinematography: my inability to view many early films arises from the fact that far too many of these movies are so melodramatic. You know what I mean: lots of swooning, hands swept across foreheads, and exaggerated body movements all set to crashing waves of syrupy orchestral music. Those swelling violins alone are enough to set my teeth on edge anytime I watch an old film, but occasionally a picture overcomes all of these pet peeves of mine and truly delivers on multiple levels. "The Lost Weekend" is one of those films. Sure, the emoting is there, as is the music and the swooning, but this compelling story about an alcoholic at the end of his rope always pulls at my heartstrings. I am going to start seeking out some classic older films that will tickle my fancy, but I don't expect to find too many of them with the power of "The Lost Weekend."
Ray Milland (an actor who starred in several schlockfests at the end of his career, such as "Frogs") plays Don Birnam, a painfully insecure writer who just can't make his life work. Birnam quickly learned that the soothing balm of alcohol took the edge off his various phobias, but he just as quickly learned that drinking took the edge off his talent, too. For years, Birnam never wandered far from the neighborhood bar or the liquor store, secure in the knowledge that a bottle of rye was always within reach. His brother Wick not only financially supports his boozy sibling; he also covers for him when the drinking causes problems. Of course, Don doesn't care much about his brother one way or the other as long as he gets his shot of whisky when he needs it. Another problem for Don appears in the form of Helen St. James (played by an enormously cute Jane Wyman), a successful writer at Time magazine who accidentally met Don at the opera one night and has since latched on to him despite his chronic alcoholism. When Birnam isn't trying to outwit Wick or Helen, he's down at the local bar spouting alcoholic witticisms to Nat the bartender (played wonderfully by Howard Da Silva) and flirting with a beautiful barfly named Gloria. We learn most of the story through a flashback sequence told by Birnam as he ties on yet another massive drunk.
The film starts with a nervous Don packing for a weekend trip with brother Wick, where the two siblings hope to get out of New York City for a nice change of pace. Of course, Don doesn't want to go because he's not sure he can survive without ready access to booze. In fact, during this opening sequence we see Don hiding a bottle of whisky from his brother by hanging it from a piece of string outside his window. In order to start drinking, Birnam convinces Wick and Helen to go to a concert, a little piece of trickery that is only the beginning of the devious schemes hatched by Don throughout the film. Thus begins a downward spiral over the course of a four-day weekend, as Don resorts to outright theft, robbery, and beggary in order to secure just one more drink. This bender comes with a high price, though: Don suffers excruciating blackouts, nearly gets himself arrested, and ends up in the alky ward at the city asylum. The capper is Birnam's bout with the DTs in his apartment, an incident that reduces him to a shattered, screaming wreck. "The Lost Weekend" is a memorable experience.
Only a person who has never had a problem with alcohol would criticize some of Birnam's philosophical musings about drinking. There is a great bit of dialogue where Birnam tells Nat why he drinks, about how alcohol makes a person feel as though he or she is a great artist on top of the world. Believe me, this is how an alcoholic feels when they tie one on, at least in the early euphoric stages of the addiction. Birnam's enthrallment for rituals of drinking is also dead on; such as his fascination about the rings the shot glass leaves on the bar and the propensity to "see" liquor in the most mundane circumstances (look for the dancing raincoats with the rye bottle in the pocket). An alcoholic does not merely work at his trade part-time; the process of drinking is a full-time job built on a series of elaborate rituals that reinforce this nefarious addiction. "The Lost Weekend" captures the intricacies of alcoholism in a way few films ever have. Unfortunately, the movie lost some of its power due to some hokey effects and a conclusion that had me throwing my hands up in disbelief.
The DVD release is quite good for a film nearly sixty years old. There is a trailer and cast biographies included here, as well as a short bio for director Billy Wilder. The transfer looks pretty good, although I thought I saw a few scenes where certain parts of the picture looked a tad blurry. "The Lost Weekend" won four Oscars: Best Actor for Ray Milland, Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Director for Billy Wilder. As far as I can see, this movie deserves its accolades. If you haven't seen "The Lost Weekend," you are definitely missing out on a great film loaded with grim atmosphere, great dialogue, eerie background music, and excellent performances.
10 Powerful drama whose ending does not do it justice
I can understand why the studio did not want to release "The Lost Weekend" in 1945: it's a gritty and realistic (sometimes horrifyingly so) account of an alcoholic's weekend binge. Going against years of movies that portrayed drunkeness as something cute and harmless, this movie pulls no punches in illustrating to what depths a man will stoop when he just has to have a drink.
There's a story told about the filming of "LW," in which another of Ray Milland's on-the-street takes were ruined when someone recognized him. Instead of asking for his autograph, though, the woman offered to bring him back to her apartment for a drink. She didn't believe him when he said he was making a movie about a drunk; she thought the actor was down on his luck and really *was* a drunk. Billy Wilder came out from behind the hidden camera and finally set her straight. This is a good illustration of the power of Milland's performance; his work is quite extraordinary. Jane Wyman as his girlfriend Helen does a good job with a small role, as does Phillip Terry as Don's brother Wick.
While the drama of the movie moves along at a fevered pitch, it really starts to build to a level of unbearable tension when Helen goes to retrieve her coat (which Don has stolen) from the pawnbroker, only to discover Don didn't trade it for money for booze, but rather a gun he had pawned earlier. After his earlier talk of putting a bullet through his head, the audience and Helen realize at the same time what his intentions are, and we find ourselves as anxious as Helen as she races back to his apartment. She gets there in time, and the two play a game of cat and mouse, warily stepping around each other as he tries to get her to leave, and she tries to get to the gun first.
After winding things up so tightly, though, the movie ends with an anti-climax: Helen gives Don her same old inspirational speech about his having the talent to make a go of it as a writer, and suddenly, this time he believes her, vowing once again (and we're to assume that this time it took) to give up drinking and make something of himself. He gives us a pat little explanation of his alcoholism, and ends by saying gee, he feels sorry for all those other drunks out in NYC that think they're fooling everyone. Fade to black.
I realize this is a typical Hollywood ending of the time (1945), with everything working out okay in the end, but I felt cheated. I had been so captivated by this true to life story, with nothing glossed over, that the ending didn't ring true at all. Strange as it may sound, I think I would have almost preferred Don to put a bullet in his head. It would have felt much more realistic than him basically saying, "You're right Helen, I will stop drinking and write that book," and with a snap of the fingers, put his drunken ways behind him.
This is my only complaint about the movie, and it is an extremely small one; don't let my thoughts about the ending stop you from watching this film. It is an astonishing movie even in this day and age, even more so when you consider it was made almost 60 years ago.
11 Breaking Through the Barrier
Billy Wilder electrified the film world in 1944 with his brutally realistic film about lust and greed, "Double Indemnity." Just one year later he reemerged with another compelling tale from life's dark side, "The Lost Weekend." In the 1945 Oscar sweepstakes "Weekend" exceeded his preceding breakthrough film by sweeping all the major categories of Best Film, Best Actor, with British star Ray Milland delivering his role of a lifetime, Best Director for the crafty Wilder,and Best Adapted Screenplay with Wilder sharing honors with longtime partner Charles Brackett from a hard-hitting bestseller penned by Charles Jackson.
The main action surrounds a fall weekend in which presumably recovering alcoholic Milland is to accompany brother Phillip Terry to Penn Station and a presumably quiet weekend in the country. Instead he sneaks out of his New York apartment and enters a journey into the bowels of hell. The haunting musical score by Miklos Rosza depicts the urgency of the moment, resembling that of his masterwork "Spellbound." The black and white photography is intentionally gray and brooding throughout, focusing on New York's streets. Milland experiences the ultimate in desperation, spending time in the city's drunk ward, observing hallucinations in the form of a rat on his wall and vultures flying overhead, appropriate symbols of his desperation state, and failing to obtain needed alcoholic succor at a critical interval due to the closing of liquor stores due to the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday.
While Milland is superb in his presentation of a frightened would be novelist whose cleverness makes it more difficult than ever to keep his sought after rye whiskey away from him, a constellation of talented players assist in generating a bona fide Hollywood classic. Phillip Terry plays his loving, brooding brother with just the proper measure of anger merging with frustration. Jane Wyman is excellent as his sensitively attuned, intelligent girlfriend determined to spare him from ultimate self-destruction. Howard di Silva plays the outwardly hard-bitten, inwardly caring bartender with consummate skill. He emerges with one of the film's most memorable lines when, after pouring Milland a drink, he exclaims, "If you had enough money you'd kill yourself in a month." Doris Dowling is brilliant as a lonely prostitute living off the largesse of lonely older men who dreams of a better life and romance with Milland, who seeks to borrow money from her when his liquor and financial resources vanish.
Wilder proves in this film, as he did earlier with "Double Indemnity" and later with "Sunset Boulevard" and "The Apartment" that he was one of the cinema's reigning masters of the rugged, hard-edged side of human experience. This is a cannot miss dramatic masterpiece which never fails to find the mark.
12 Breaking Through The Wall Of Denial...
It's hard to believe that this movie was produced in 1945, a year which introduced Americans to the twin horrors of the Nazi concentration camps and the effects of the atomic bomb. Although the later two concerns have been greatly distanced from our current social and political conscienceness, the widespread plague of alcoholism remains painfully relevant.
Being a recovering alcoholic myself, I am amazed at how openly Bily Wilder shows us the uglier sides of the alcoholic personality: the lying, the stealing, the self-righteous anger towards anyone or anything that interferes with our drinking. This movie goes WAY outside the comfort zone of American society at that time. The fact that it was a box office success and won 4 Oscars cknowledges that, even then, America knew that it had a problem of epidemic proportions on its hands.
All of the grim realities of a binge are portrayed here: the blackouts, the depression, the panic, even the DTs. Ray Milland gives the performance of his life in the Lost Weekend, a man perched on the perimeter of his own damaged psyche. This film, much more than many of the preachy videos curently employed in treatment centers, can help a struggling alcoholic to take a hard lok in the mirror, and possibly help them want to make a change for the better.
Several modern films may capture the details of alcoholism more acurately (Leaving Las Vegas tops the list), but none of these would ever have been made without the groundwork laid by The Lost Weekend.
13 the 2nd best alkie movie
The best being the 'Days of Wine and Roses'. However this movie is a great movie about the relationship of a person and their alcohol. It is like a love affair.
'Leaving Las Vegas' is a good portrait of the end, but this movie explains better the relationship.
14 The Lost Weekend
Alcoholism has been seen on movies for a very long time. Many people just haven't realized it because it was never something to care much for. Drinking was often the stuff of comedy. This was because most of what we saw about it was the effects while someone was drunk and making fools of themselves. In 1945, director Billy Wilder made a film called "The Lost Weekend", that dealt with the subject in a different light. The movie was not expected to be a hit, having been a controversial project and being poorly received by preview audiences. But it turned out to be a surprise hit with critics and won academy awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor. Here are some reasons as to why this movie is great, along with some of its cons.
"You know, the circle is the perfect geometric figure. No end, no beginning." The figure of a circle is used often in the movie, primarily in the plot. The story revolves around that of a failed writer (Ray Milland, who I discuss in detail later) and his trouble with alcohol. The usage of a circular plot structure suggests that the life of a drunk is followed by one binge after another, with no start and no finish. It is also used when Don is under alcohol's spell. An example is the usage of rings from the shot glasses to show passage of time.
The lead performance: After years of acting, Milland hit it big as Don Birnam, the unsuccessful, alcoholic writer who goes on a drinking binge ("I'm not a drinker, I'm a drunk"). Milland's character is a tortured one, who claims that there are, figuratively, two of him: Don the writer and Don drunk. Milland can be melodramatic in his performance, but what do you expect from a film like this? One has to congratulate Milland for having the guts to take this role, for his character is a liar and thief who only cares about and will do anything for one more drink. It is amazing how he is able to be despicable and still allow us to sympathize with his character. Like many male leads in Wilder's films, Don Brinam is flawed in how he is weak and, though he tries not to, easily succumbs to the bottle ("The reason is me- what I am, or rather what I'm not). Though other great male performances were done in 1945, Milland was deserving of his Oscar.
Supporting Cast: Jane Wyman, as Don's girl Helen, is not as involved, in my humble opinion, as Milland is, but is still able to turn out well. The problem is that her character doesn't get to do much, except try to talk to Don when he is hungover. The supporting cast does better, starting with Wick (Phillip Terry), Don's caring and dedicated brother, who is annoyed by his drinking yet allows him to stay at his apartment ("I went over the apartment with a fine-tooth comb - the places he can figure out"). A scene-stealer is Nat (Howard da Silva), a bartender who is friendly to Don but is also irritated by his unkindness to women and his alcoholism ("One's too many and a hundred's not enough!"). There is also Gloria (Doris Dowling), a slim, attractive woman who visits Nat's place to wait for other men. (She is most likely a female escort). She uses a lot of word abbreviations, such as "ridick" for ridiculous or "natch" for naturally. My favorite appearance was by an uncredited Frank Faylen as "Bim", a [seemingly] homosexual male nurse at an alcoholic ward called "Hangover Plaza". He sets the stage for Don by telling him "...you're just a freshman. Wait'll you're a sophomore. That's when you start seeing the little animals."
Feel: The movie's black and white cinematography is shot in a way that it presents the feeling of a nightmare. This way is difficult to explain, except that this illusion is presented most effectively in black and white and would be lost in a color film. This is probably because B & W, I think, is more moody. It's also interesting how several scenes are shot through whiskey bottles or shot glasses.
Music Score: It seems odd to talk about the music, but it is important. It was the first to use a theremin, an instrument that produces a strange wailing sound. Used in the nightmare scenes, it would later be familiar with fans of `50's sci-fi films. However, the non-thermin score is also one of the few downsides. Sometimes, especially during the opening credits, it feels too upbeat, too much like a film noir.
"The Lost Weekend" is by no means a cheerful movie. It does have some great dialogue (A trademark of Wilder films), but overall it's as entertaining and upbeat as a brain tumor. In addition to being depressing, it's also melodramatic, but that's a minor problem. I rather have a movie that tries to go for realism and honesty in this subject. Also, being a nearly 60 year-old movie and a groundbreaker in this subject, it is bound to have dated in some respects.
(Major plot spoilers ahead) But wait, am I a hypocrite? After all, it can be said that the ending feels too upbeat and optimistic. Many complain about this and it does indeed seem to be like this. But is it? A person who is a heavy drinker, I think, can't stop in the blink of an eye. However, this time he has a cause and an idea for writing and that will definitely help him.
A mixed bag, no doubt. But there is more good than bad. This is one that grows with repeated viewing. Wilder was certainly a great director, one who could make you as easily affected as he could make you laugh. He will be missed very much.
15 Milland's Shining Moment
The Lost Weekend brought Billy Wilder the first two of his many Academy Awards. The film is a brilliant look at the life of a man who is not a drinker, but a full blown drunk. Ray Milland stars as Don Birnam who is trying to stay dry. His girlfriend, played by Jane Wyman, has enlisted the help of Don's brother and for a while, Don deals with his situation. But slowly and surely, his demons get the best of him and he heads down to his local watering hole and goes on a bender. The decent of Don into his alcoholic hell is probably the most terrifying and griping portrayals of alcoholism ever committed to the screen. Mr. Milland is absolutely brilliant and he avoids overplaying the role. He could have easily hammed it up by over emoting, but he goes to just the right level without ever going over the line. Mr. Milland took home the 1945 Best Actor Oscar in addition to Mr. Wilder's Best Director and Writing Awards and the film won for Best Picture. The film shows the master that Mr. Wilder is, as he was able to coax the brilliant performance out of Mr. Milland who was nothing more than a B-list actor up until The Lost Weekend and never really capitalized on the role after.
16 great classic on alcoholism
i realize this film is modest by current standards but remains one of my personal favorites. i absolutely rank this often ignored film as one the top 100 films of motion picture history. considered controversial drama at the time of its initial release, i consider it a great sleeper. just kick back and embellish in the great talents of past legends. this is definitely filmmaking at it absolute best. Milland gives his greatest performance as an alcoholic on a binge of self-destruction found in a bottle.
as for the DVD itself, great transfer of picture quality and sound. it includes all the standard special features minus a documentary on the making of the film.
i recommend this one most definetly.
17 Mine's a diet lemonade, no ice please
Billy Wilder's compelling study of alcoholism and associated problems is brought to life by the sympathetic playing of Raymond Massey. A lesser actor could have made you hate the man and what he does. Instead, you feel his desperation and loneliness even if you're not a drinker yourself. One of the saddest scenes in the cinema is the realisation that this man's beloved typewriter is sitting behind the pawnbroker's glass just for a few lousy drinks. This is a very human tale of a de-humanising evil.
18 Fascinating
This is definetely one of Billy Wilder's best movies and one of the best movies ever made. Ray Milland has never been better and the screenplay is fantastic.
19 The Best Movie Ever Made About Addiction!
Simply a great, if at times, painful movie. Although it's about Alcoholism, the plot could just as easily apply to any substance addiction.
Ray Milland's peculiar delivery and diction is a good fit for this type of character and makes the movie very believable. Well written, directed and good cinematography.
20 treatment ready
I believe this video should be used in treatment centers to show the progression and physical impairment created by alcoholism. I work in the field of addictions and feel this movie is one of the most realistic portrayals of addiction that Hollywood has ever made.
21 A film by the greatest director still living
Ray Milland is not really thought of as a great actor. He was a fine, competent leading man, but he rarely gave an outstanding performance. Lost Weekend shows that he was a far better actor than was usually apparent. Milland's performance is wonderfully realistic and daring also, for his character is not especially sympathetic. There is no glamour in the situations he faces. He is dirty, seedy and at times obnoxious. This is a portrait of a drunk which was and is untypical. Most often drunks are portrayed as comic characters, but there is little humour in the life shown in Lost Weekend, only degradation.
This all rather makes the film sound dull and unappealing. It is anything but. Often with Billy Wilder's films it is the dialogue which is most memorable and Lost Weekend has some great lines. I particularly enjoyed the language and forties slang of sympathetic bad girl Doris Dowling. It seems amazing that Wilder, who co-wrote the film, grew up in Austria. He must have really listened to those around him to pick up all the nuances of contemporary speech.
I would not say that Lost Weekend is Wilder's best film. The story is a little bit too predictable. This is always the case with message films. Here the message is the horrors of alcoholism, so we rather know where we're going. Nevertheless it is a fine film by one of the finest directors ever.
The quality of the DVD is very good. It has few extras, just a trailer really, but the quality of the picture and sound is superb. My only quibble is with Universal who issue the DVD and no doubt own the rights to the film. They should not put their globe symbol at the beginning of the film in front of the Paramount mountain. This might seem petty, but it is still `A Paramount Picture' whoever owns it now.
22 Shockingly Realistic Insight Into Desperate Alcoholic's Life
Ray Milland took home the Oscar for his performance as a struggling writer who also struggles with alcoholism. Jane Wyman is the loving sister who no longer wants to enable her unstable brother. There were many broken promises, and Milland seems to just sink deeper and deeper into despare, unable to conquer his addiction. The scene with "the bat and the mouse" is a gruesome visualization of what true alcoholics go through during "delirium". Shockingly realistic, this film is an appeal to all who suffer from this disease to seek help rather than drift into living hell. This is a 5-star Hollywood Classic!
23 Bummer
This movie was a real downer.
24 Hasn't dated well.
'The Lost Weekend' leaves a lot of fascinating questions unanswered - for instance, why wasn't Don 'Lester' Burnam fighting in the war? There are some remarkable sequences here, in particular the opera scene nodding to Chaplin's 'The Gold Rush', or the Kafkaesque purse-snatching incident. Throughout, Wilder emphasises the circle, the vicious circle, the noose, encircling even the narrative, ironising any 'cop out' move towards resolution, which, based on pure talk, has no solidity. This is one that will go on and on, ending only in death or madness.
Still, this is Wilder's most overrated film, as dated in dialogue, assumptions and wearisome drunk hero as a Eugene O'Neill play; while the visual 'daring' now looks frequently risible. For a genuinely moving portrayal of a drunk, catch Melville's 'Deux Hommes Dans Manhatten'.
25 Must See For Drunks
This movie rocks. Best line of the movie is when Don, commenting on the liquor stores being closed on Sunday morning, remarks sullenly "when a man needs it the most."
26 Compelling vintage classic
"The lost weekend" was a great adaption of Charles Jackson same name novel.Billy Wilder's terrific directing always a bonus. It's about a struggling writer's weekend. Everything happened over a weekend.
The film began with Don pretend to pack his luggage with a bottle tied to a string hanging outside his window.Don's life and fate changed. Don Birnam has writer's block, he is also a alcoholic. He is aware but unable to kick it.He even trade his typewriter for drinks. He been through a lot in a few days and forced to face up to his problem. Luckily he has love and support from his brother and girlfriend.
Ray Milland gave a splendid performance which totally deserved his oscar.He showed Don's fear, depression and all his emotions so vividly. His role is pathetic and psychologically realistic.
This film has a superb script with detailed description of nightmares images and visions. Breakthrough during that era. One of the memorable scene is when Don went to a musical play with actors drinking and he see 'Bottles dancing' instead.
Although this film is black and white I find it amazingly well made and many contemporary movies couldn't hold a candle.
I'm always fascinated by old classic film from 1940 to 1970. Although I belong to new generation I love the feeling and sincerity of old movies.
I find this film psychoanalytic,truthful,compelling and a vintage classic! One of the best film ever made.
27 Master of realism...
Billy Wilder seemed so consumed by a passion for unmasking human frailty and disrobing them of artifice and subtlety, though certainly not of style... From the indictment of ego, self-destruction, and the fickleness of popular culture seen in "Sunset Blvd.", to the baring of the human will to strive and survive seen in "Stalag 17", to the disguise-as-a-revelation-of-true-character theme of "Some Like It Hot"... Wilder consistently laid the wound of weakness open for all to see it while pointing the mocking, accusing finger at the necessary accoutrements of social convention. In "The Lost Weekend", the children of the Depression, the men and women of WW2, and the audience weaned on the Studio system were first confronted with the stark, brutal vicissitudes of a drunk, lonely novelist whose fear of writer's block is drowned under a torrent of booze. There are NO adornments here, as we hear the banshee wail of a man confronted by delirium tremens, and see that same man hurt those he loves most by loving the bottle a little more... The insecurities which feed classically-trained Ray Milland foreshadow the naturalistic, intuitive acting of Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Montgomery Clift. Moviemaking in general was not the same afterwards.
28 Timeless.
I saw this film when it was first released & the acting, the manner it was portrayed, the hiding of bottles, the scene of the DTs, (the mouse & bat) is still vivid in my mind. I have not had the opportunity to see it since approx. 1950 but, I can still picture the Opera scene, the begging for just another drink at the bar, the continual scheming for a drink made this a picture before it's time, a touchy subject in the days of the first release. A great show played by great actors managed by a very classy director.. A must see film.
29 Heartbreakingly real and timeless
This is a very powerful and moving film that, like most Billy Wilder films, gets better the more times you see it. The characters are free of cliches and completely believable. This film does as great a job as any I've seen of capturing addiction in all of its ugliness while also showing the hope to which those around addicts desperately cling.
30 One of Wilder's Best
this is one of my favorite billy wilder movies. it was a shocking, groundbreaking adult film when it was released and still holds up by today's standards. Also, Ray Milland's performance is wroth buying the movie by itself. he definately deserved his oscar
31 A Superb Look At Desire!
Ray Milland is one of the most realistic protagonists of American film. His Don Birnam is so entrancing and unforgettable; not to mention way ahead of its time. The film begins with a portrait of a witty man on the verge of a wreck. For three days, while his brother Wick is gone on a trip to the country and Mr. Milland refuses to go, he embarks on an unbelievable drinking binge; made me nearly cry when I first saw it. The nihilistic esssence of the flashbacks and Don willing to sell his life for a drink is simply messmerizing! Jane Wyman is also great as Helen, Birnam's supportive girlfriend.The book was equally great, however contradicting in the denoument. Read and watch it!
32 RAY MILLAND IS SIMPLY BRILLIANT!
This is the film that earned Ray Milland an Oscar for Best Actor in 1946 portraying a convincing alcoholic. What a brilliant, superb performance by Mr. Milland. I was simply entranced by the film's realism especially for Hollywood in the mid-1940s, and I was further captivated by the performance of one its classic leading actors, Ray Milland. I highly recommend this film for those who would enjoy a sobering, intelligent story.
