The Lost Weekend (film)

Infobox Film | name =The Lost Weekend


caption =original movie poster
director = Billy Wilder
producer = Charles Brackett
writer = Charles R. Jackson (novel)
Charles Brackett
Billy Wilder
starring =Ray Milland
Jane Wyman
music = Miklós Rózsa
cinematography = John F. Seitz
editing =
distributor = Paramount Pictures
released = November 16, 1945 (U.S. release)
runtime = 101 min
language = English
budget = $1,250,000 (estimated)
amg_id = 1:30170
imdb_id = 0037884

"The Lost Weekend" is a 1945 motion picture directed by Billy Wilder for Paramount Pictures, starring Ray Milland, Jane Wyman and Phillip Terry. The film was based on a novel of the same title by Charles R. Jackson about a writer who drinks heavily out of frustration over the accusation that he had an affair with one of his buddies while in college. The reference to the gay affair is removed in the film, and the main character's descent into an alcoholic binge is blamed on writer's block.

It was one of the first film scores to use the theremin, a musical instrument, which was used to create the pathos of the disease of alcoholism. This movie also made famous the "character walking toward the camera as neon signs pass by" camera effect.

Storyline

It tells the story of an alcoholic, Don Birnam (Milland), on a weekend bender. While on his bender he stops in at his favorite watering stop — Nat's Bar on Third Avenue, based on the legendary P. J. Clarke's. There he seeks companionship in his drinking with congenial bartender Nat (Howard da Silva). As the weekend continues, Birnam drifts deeper and deeper into his living nightmare, committing crimes and even spending time in a mental ward.

Awards

Academy Awards

At the 18th Academy Awards, "The Lost Weekend" received seven nominations, from which it won four awards.

* Awards:
** Best Picture - Paramount Pictures (Charles Brackett, producer)
** Best Director - Billy Wilder
** Best Actor - Ray Milland
** Best Writing - Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder

* Nominations:
** Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - John F. Seitz
** Best Original Music Score - Miklós Rózsa
** Best Film Editing - Doane Harrison

Cannes Film Festival

This film also shared the 1945 "Palme d'Or" (Golden Palm) at the Cannes Film Festival. To date, "The Lost Weekend" and "Marty" (1955) are the only films ever to win both the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Palme d'Or.

References in popular culture

*In the 1947 Bugs Bunny cartoon "Slick Hare", a caricatured Ray Milland is shown sitting at a bar and paying for his drink with a typewriter — getting small typewriters as his 'change'.
*In Tex Avery's 1947 cartoon "King-Size Canary", a mouse character is shown reading a book called "The Lost Squeak-end".
*Tribute was paid to the film in the "Simpsons" episode "A Star Is Burns": Barney Gumble's short film "Puke-a-Hontas" recreates several of the iconic images such as the main character lying on his bed surrounded by the detritus of his habit.
*In the 1994 film "The Shawshank Redemption", "Gilda" is being screened when Andy asks Red for the Rita Hayworth poster; however, in the original Stephen King story, "The Lost Weekend" is screened.
*In the Stephen Fry novel "The Liar" the main character, Adrian, quotes "The Lost Weekend" talking about alcohol when he is expressing his love for a fellow boy at his public school to a friend.
*Rights to the film are currently held by Universal Studios as they own the pre-1950 Paramount sound feature film library.
*The Dick Van Dyke Show, "It May Look Like A Walnut" episode from 1963. When Laura can't stop opening packages due to 'feminine curiosity,' Buddy compares her to "The Lost Weekend guy".

External links

*imdb title | id=0037884 | title=The Lost Weekend
* [http://www.filmsite.org/lostw.html Full length review from filmsite.org]

###@@@KEY@@@###s-ach