The Lost Weekend

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The Lost Weekend
original movie poster
Directed by	Billy Wilder
Produced by	Charles Brackett
Written by	Charles R. Jackson (novel) Charles Brackett Billy Wilder
Starring	Ray Milland Jane Wyman
Music by	Miklós Rózsa
Cinematography	John F. Seitz
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	November 16, 1945 (U.S. release)
Running time	101 min
Language	English
Budget	$1,250,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

For The Cosby Show episode, see The Lost Weekend (The Cosby Show).

The Lost Weekend is an Academy Award-winning 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 out of a frustration over the accusation that he had an affair with one of his male buddies while in college. The reference to the homosexual 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.

Milland delivers powerful monologues while he drinks at a bar

It tells the story of an alcoholic, 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, Milland drifts deeper and deeper into his living nightmare, committing crimes and even spending time in a mental ward. Unlike the novel, the protagonist's frustration in the film stems not from homosexuality but from his frustrations as a would-be writer.

[edit] Awards

The movie received Academy Awards for:

Best Picture - Paramount Pictures (Charles Brackett, producer)
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Ray Milland
Best Director - Billy Wilder
Best Writing of Adapted Screenplay - Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder

It also received Oscar nominations for:

Best Cinematography, black-and-white - John F. Seitz
Best Original Music Score - Miklós Rózsa
Best Film Editing - Doane Harrison

The movie also shared the 1946 Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival. As of 2006, it and Marty are the only films to ever win both Academy Award for Best Picture and Palme D'Or.

[edit] Trivia

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.
This movie made the famous "character walking toward the camera as neon signs pass by" camera effect.
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.