The Lost Weekend (1945)
94%RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Director Billy Wilder’s unflinchingly honest look at the effects of alcoholism may have had some of its impact blunted by time, but it remains a powerful and remarkably prescient film.
The Lost Weekend is a movie masterpiece that will leave you feeling like you need a stiff drink…or maybe a glass of water. Ray Milland’s performance is so good, it’s almost like he’s really drunk the whole time. But seriously, this movie is a serious study of alcoholism and the misery it can cause. It’s not a feel-good flick, but it’s definitely worth watching. Just maybe have a glass of water nearby.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Bellevue Hospital – 462 First Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Passed
Year of Release
1946
-
Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 41m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 16, 1945 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 1, 2005
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Drama, alcoholism, Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, Charles R Jackson, Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Howard da Silva, Phillip Terry, Don Birnam, Helen St James, Wick Birnam, Gloria, Bim Nolan, Male Nurse, Neptune Frost, The Best Years of Our Lives, Ace in the Hole, Divided We Fall, Giant, Black Narcissus, reviewed by Marjory Adams, Ida Belle Hicks, Mildred Martin, Mae Tinee, Len G Shaw, George Bourke, Jane Corby, Hortense Morton, Marcy Townsley, Sara Hamilton, Dick Pitts, P.S Harrison, box office performance, budget, MPAA rating, directed by Billy Wilder, produced by Charles Brackett, written by Charles R Jackson, Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, Paramount Pictures, Mono, Flat (1.37:1)
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Jane Wyman – Helen St. James
Howard Da Silva – Nat the Bartender
Phillip Terry – Wick Birnam
Doris Dowling – Gloria
Frank Faylen – `Bim” Nolan, Male Nurse
Director(s)
Billy Wilder
Writer(s)
Charles R. Jackson, Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder
Producer(s)
Charles Brackett
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Picture Winners, Oscar Winners
All Critics (70) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (68) | Rotten (2)
The Lost Week End is magnificent melodrama, a serious study into a disease which too often is delineated in ridiculous guise, and an absorbing attempt to show the misery of drink.
February 3, 2022
Marjory Adams
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
If Ray Milland doesn’t get the Academy Award for his work in The Lost Week-end it will be a miscarriage of justice.
February 3, 2022
Ida Belle Hicks
Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com
TOP CRITIC
Jane Wyman, who plays Don’s troubled sweetheart, is a revelation in her first dramatic role after her unbroken succession of featherweight comedy parts.
February 3, 2022
Mildred Martin
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
Ray Milland makes the central figure hateful, likable, and somehow understandable. His portrayal is a masterpiece of superb control, versatility, and sensitivity.
February 1, 2022
Mae Tinee
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Whatever may be one’s individual reaction to this sordid story of a dipsomaniac’s five-day debauch, there is no gainsaying that The Lost Weekend… is a movie masterpiece when considered both as to its daring story and technical treatment.
February 1, 2022
Len G. Shaw
Detroit Free Press
TOP CRITIC
Be sure to see Lost Week End. It is a film that will be discussed for years. It is a technical masterpiece and Ray Milland’s performance WILL win him an Academy Award.
February 1, 2022
George Bourke
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
As a subject for discussion, it’s the film of the year. It is cinematically speaking, a brilliant achievement, with two sequences standing out as high points of film horror, on a strict realistic basis.
February 3, 2022
Jane Corby
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Worthwhile films are many. Merely passable ones too many. But extraordinarily fine films produced in a year can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Lost Weekend would take up three fingers In any given annum. It’s that good.
February 3, 2022
Hortense Morton (Screen Scout)
San Francisco Examiner
Something rare and wonderful happened when they made this picture. It’s extraordinary, to say the least, when Hollywood drops its rose colored glasses for honest story treatment. It’s the first time that Hollywood ever produced a drunk who isn’t funny.
February 3, 2022
Marcy Townsley
Austin American-Statesman
[Ray Milland] has imbued the very soul of the agonized man and in his portrayal Milland hits his peak. This is by far his best performance to date and one by which he’ll undoubtedly measure his future roles.
February 3, 2022 | Rating: 2/3
Sara Hamilton
Photoplay
Much credit is due the Wilder-Brackett team for their skillful handling of the drama. There is sledge-hammer directness and ugly simplicity that make it outstanding.
February 3, 2022
Dick Pitts
Charlotte Observer
From an artistic point of view, this drama is impressive, for the direction and the acting are of the highest order. But it is hardly the type of entertainment that motion picture-goers want to see today, for it is grim and depressing.
February 1, 2022
P.S. Harrison
Harrison’s Reports…
Plot
Don Birnam, long-time alcoholic, has been “on the wagon” for ten days and seems to be over the worst; but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother Wick and girlfriend Helen, he begins a four-day bender. In flashbacks we see past events, all gone wrong because of the bottle. But this bout looks like being his last…one way or the other.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Ray Milland won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Don Birnam in The Lost Weekend.
Billy-Wilder.jpg
