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From Amazon.co.uk
"I'm not a drinker--I'm a drunk." These words, and the serious message behind them, were still potent enough in 1945 to shock audiences flocking to The Lost Weekend. The speaker is Don Birnam (Ray Milland), a handsome, talented, articulate alcoholic. The writing team of producer Charles Brackett and director Billy Wilder pull no punches in their depiction of Birnam's massive weekend bender, a tailspin that finds him reeling from his favorite watering hole to Bellevue Hospital. Location shooting in New York helps the street-level atmosphere, especially a sequence in which Birnam, a budding writer, tries to hock his typewriter for booze money. He desperately staggers past shuttered storefronts--it's Yom Kippur, and the pawnshops are closed. Milland, previously known as a lightweight leading man (he'd starred in Wilder's hilarious The Major and the Minor three years earlier), burrows convincingly under the skin of the character, whether waxing poetic about the escape of drinking or screaming his lungs out in the D.T.'s sequence. Wilder, having just made the ultra-noir Double Indemnity, brought a new kind of frankness and darkness to Hollywood's treatment of a social problem. At first the film may have seemed too bold; Paramount Pictures nearly killed the release of the picture after it tested poorly with preview audiences. But once in release, The Lost Weekend became a substantial hit, and won four Oscars: for picture, director, screenplay, and actor. --Robert Horton
Product Description
Billy Wilder's classic drama starring Ray Milland as a writer and inveterate alcoholic who evades his brother to embark on a binge around New York. Don Birnam (Milland)'s struggles with alcohol have become clear to those close to him. However, having satisfied himself that Don hasn't had a drink for ten days, his brother, Wick (Philip Terry), agrees to escort Don's girlfriend, Helen (Jane Wynam), to a show while the writer prepares himself for their planned trip to the country. Instead, Don uses the absence of the pair to search his apartment for the booze Wick has hidden and sets off for the city's watering holes when he can't find any. Over the days that follow, Helen and the increasingly exasperated Wick attempt to track down the absent Don, but can anyone help the wayward writer get back on the wagon?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By www.DavidLRattigan.com
VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD
Ray Milland delivers his finest performance in this 1945 drama. Even over 60 years later, it remains believable, tense and hard-hitting. A must for all Jane Wyman fans, too.
39 of 42 people found the following review helpful
By Henry Ireton
VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD
This should be in everyone's list of the greatest films ever made. It profiles the slow descent of an alcoholic into an internal hell- it doesn't show the final moments of such a descent but lets us and him see where the story might end. It offers some hope but not much. Its wonderful particularly because of its insight into the psychology of its characters. The main character, Don, knows he is an alcoholic, understands it is a problem but can't get away from the thrill of it, he wants to but can't break out of it. His mornings and Sundays are consumed by guilt, the rest of the time he cadges, steals and begs money for drinks from others. His brother and girlfriend, his barman and a local whore stand by watching his descent into torture, trying to persuade him that there is something worth saving there. You can see especially in his brother and girlfriend's eyes the expression of mingled incomprehension and love that close friends feel for those going through these experiences- incomprehension that somebody like Don with so much to live for could think they have nothing and love for Don. In a strange way by the end of the film, we who begin the film understanding his point of view- the endless quest for a drink- understand theirs too and Wilder takes us to a place that no other film about addiction has ever taken me where we sympathise with the addicted victim and yet still more with those he damages by his addiction. This is a great film- if you haven't seen it watch it now.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By T. Aiston
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you want an movie insight in to the condition of alcoholism,then they don't come much better than this. May seem a little dated, but the message is still strong.
Other recommendations from me would be 'days of wine and roses' & 'leaving las vegas'
Other recommendations from me would be 'days of wine and roses' & 'leaving las vegas'
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
must clean the disk first
Very good apart from little 2 second interruption of film, however this could be because the disk was not clean properly?
Published 14 days ago by helen marshall
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delirium is a disease that only comes at night.
Don Birnham is not a drinker, he is in fact a drunk, he is left alone for the weekend by those who love him under the proviso that he gets stuck into his writing, thus the hope is... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Spike Owen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Wilder
One of the lesser known films of Billy Wilder, but still a classic. It has the look of a Wilder film, but is missing the trademark humour, which is appropriate given the subject... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mark C Enders
2.0 out of 5 stars
The Lost Weekend
If you're a depressive leave this one alone. Milland can be very good (sometimes) but this is a total no - no
Published 3 months ago by Ray
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dramatic, tortuous and harrowing depiction of alcoholism
The Lost Weekend is one of the most powerful films ever made, tackling a subject that was, and to a great degree still is, taboo, namely alcoholism. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Cheshire Gent
5.0 out of 5 stars
great movie
i would recommend this movie to anyone,best movie for its time and great actors its no wonder oscars where given for this performance.....THE LOST WEEKEND
Published 5 months ago by josephine johnston
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Lost weekend
This film deeply moves me, being an alcoholic myself. There are so many poignant moments that ring so true, the deceit, lying, hiding bottles, the desperation. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Kevin Barry
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wilder and Milland in glorious form
I can only imagine that The Lost Weekend must have been quite a controversial movie when released in 1945. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Colonel Decker
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not the best by Wilder
The beginning of the movie promises a bit more than what is to follow. There is great acting going on, but the overtly polyannish outlook of the lead actress isn't convincing, nor... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Petri
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masters of Cinema Blu-ray # 45 Review
'The Lost Weekend' is a film by Billy Wilder, released in 1945, and covers a 4-day period in the life of Don Birnham (played by Ray Milland in a career-best performance). Read more
Published 11 months ago by T Everson
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