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The Lost Weekend
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The Lost Weekend (1945) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Billy Wilder
Writers:
Charles R. Jackson (novel)
Charles Brackett (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Lost Weekend on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
3 September 1946 (Sweden) more
Genre:
Drama | Romance more
Tagline:
How daring can the screen dare to be? No adult man or woman can risk missing the startling frankness of The Lost Weekend! more
Plot:
The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four day drinking bout. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Won 4 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 3 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Hooch ‘n’ Harmonies
 (From SoundOnSight. 26 June 2009, 9:54 AM, PDT)

Actress Jane Wyman Dies at 93
 (From IMDb News. 10 September 2007)

User Comments:
Textbook drama about addiction powerfully told... more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Ray Milland ... Don Birnam

Jane Wyman ... Helen St. James
Phillip Terry ... Wick Birnam
Howard Da Silva ... Nat
Doris Dowling ... Gloria

Frank Faylen ... 'Bim' Nolan
Mary Young ... Mrs. Deveridge
Anita Sharp-Bolster ... Mrs. Foley (as Anita Bolster)
Lillian Fontaine ... Mrs. Charles St. James (as Lilian Fontaine)
Frank Orth ... Opera Cloak Room Attendant
Lewis L. Russell ... Charles St. James
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Additional Details

Runtime:
101 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Earle Hyman began his fifty-plus year career as a 17-year-old extra in this film. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: When Helen pours whiskey for Don near the end then divides it into two glasses, it is nowhere near a quarter of the way up the glass. When Don chooses not to drink it moments later, and drops his cigarette in the glass, it is more than half-way full. more
Quotes:
Gloria: Don't be ridic'. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "The Simpsons: Co-Dependent's Day (#15.15)" (2004) more
Soundtrack:
LOUISE more

FAQ

A Note Regarding Spoilers
Is "The Lost Weekend" based on a book?
What is the significance of the three balls outside of the pawnbroker's shop?
more
39 out of 47 people found the following comment useful:-
Textbook drama about addiction powerfully told..., 2 March 1999
10/10
Author: Donald J. Lamb from Philadelphia, PA

From the first shot of a bottle hanging from a drunk's apartment, we realize we are about to see a clever addict and a weekend of his demented exploits. Ray Milland has an honest face, not unlike Jimmy Stewart's, however, with this character it is only skin-deep. The great thing about his performance and the film as a whole, is that his face will gradually change, becoming dark and chilly, just like Stewart's in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Stewart had lost his life momentarily. Milland has lost his soul to the bottle and he will stop at nothing to quench his thirst.

This really is a textbook example of the alcoholic's lies and schemes, a precursor to LEAVING LAS VEGAS, although there are people in this film who care about the drinker from the beginning. He just can't stop and we start to lose whatever sympathy we had for him because of how he treats other people. This is a drunk with a sober man wanting to come out, but Wilder's script dives deeply into the unpredictable outcomes of most alcoholics.

LOST WEEKEND was innovative and was almost never released because test audiences could not take the film's realism. The hospital sequence retains its horror, and Milland's withdrawal-induced hallucination of a rat in the wall was like him looking in the mirror. See this movie and you will come away with a completely informed and scary anthology of the antics of a hopeless alcoholic. This is amazing considering it came out of the old Hollywood system.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Lost Weekend (1945)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Has he written the book, or not? jbsalmonnc
The ending. Johnny____
I need a drink after this one... redsox9
Birnam and his cigarets cuzzucr1
I found this movie ridiculous... russ453
Apologies if this is obvious but vayacondio
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