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Amazon.co.uk Review
"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
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
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.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
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.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Alcoholism is a disease, and no other film before Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend portrayed it as such. Like Trainspotting, that was to come along fifty years later, people were up in arms when this film came out, saying that it would encourage people to drink. The desperate journey that Don Birnam goes on throughout this film certainly would not encourage anyone to drink. Yeah, it may feel good for a fleeting moment, but it is a false and transient feeling. It is a feeling that you may crave, but how far are you willing to go get it? In The Lost Weekend, we discover exactly how far Birnam is willing to go to get his fix, resorting to petty theft and selling his typewriter, which, since he's a writer, is essential for him to earn any sort of income. Wilder again makes it clear that he does not want to tell stories of the American Dream but stories of how far this dream can go wrong when human frailty comes into play.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Favourite movie...what region?
From your cousin across the pond, can anyone confirm what region this Blu-ray will be? My experience with MOC is that they are region 2 locked.
Thanks for your help!
Thanks for your help!
Published 3 days ago by Joseph Levitt
Standard film
I found this film what I call a standard film, there is some good acting, but found my mind wandered in places. Read more
Published 16 days ago by Ms. Nicola J. Booth
Way ahead of its time
Anyone expecting a classic black and white film to while away a pleasant Sunday afternoon should steer well clear of this film. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Timestar
Great!!
Must sister loved it, she loves all these old classic films, and can't believe she now has it on DVD!
Published 3 months ago by Louise N1
Passed the time...
I brought this dvd on the recommendation of a lecturer at uni. As an old film its pretty standard and i have rated it a two as my mind did wander throughout some points of the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by missmultitasker
A disturbing portrayal
Ray Milland is one of my favourite actors and he gives a marvellous performance in this film as a man tortured by the private demons within his character. Read more
Published 21 months ago by J. M. Harman
EXCELLENT
A superb portrayal of alcoholism, I would suggest anyone with a drinking problem, or who knows someone with a drinking problem, watches this, it clearly shows that alcoholism in... Read more
Published on 21 April 2010 by D. Quintas
Brill Insight
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. Read more
Published on 7 Jun 2009 by T. Aiston
Wasn't what I expected
I gave this movie four stars because I diddn't have the heart to give it three or thought enough of it to give it five. Read more
Published on 30 Oct 2007 by Peasley
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