Rent The Lost Weekend (1945)

Social Realism. - The Lost Weekend review by Steve

Billy Wilder said this is a response to his collaboration with alcoholic writer Raymond Chandler on Double Indemnity. So it was fortunate that Charles Jackson had a current bestseller about an alcoholic writer for Wilder to adapt. There are no narrative twists, this is just a story about the degradation of an intelligent but flawed drunk.

It's a fictional case study for which most of the interest is in the public exposure of a condition then not much talked about. Without that novelty, some weaknesses become apparent. Mostly that the storyline contains no surprises. Still, it is well executed, with a virtuoso Oscar winning performance from Ray Milland.

John Seitz's photography was only nominated, but now this looks like the main asset. Wilder must have been influenced by neo-realism, and the b&w documentary style footage of New York is extremely evocative. And the use of expressionism for the withdrawal scenes is effective too, combined with the woozy sound of the theremin.

Milland's fragile, egotistical addict is a loquacious bore, which feels truthful, but not always easy to endure. It's not obvious why his girlfriend (Jane Wyman) takes it for so long. And the happy Hollywood ending is disaster. Wilder won Oscars for best film and direction, but this isn't his best work and it no longer has the power to shock.

A brilliant, classic movie based on a classic book about alcoholism - The Lost Weekend review by PV

This film dates from 1945 so of course it will have dated - but criticism of that is rather unfair. I am sure the tedious Hollywood tripe of superhero movies like Black Panther will date much worse, and they have zero value.

This and the sublime SOME LIKE IT HOT are director Billy Wilder's masterpieces, and bot movies did badly in preview screenings. These days such negative previews would mean an editor would cut them to shreds; thankfully, back in 1945 directors who stick to their guns! And thank goodness, because THE LOST WEEKEND and SOME LIKE IT HOT and two of the best movies ever made.

THE LOST WEEKEND is based on the classic book which I have read - and so the entire plot makes sense in the light of that. I found myself rooting for the main character to recover and get writing!

Now, I know the #Metoo moaner mob lobby and the pc diversity-worship virtue signallers will get all po-faced and self-righteous about the very male-based story, the passive female characters, the one black character as a toilet assistant in a bar. But this was 73 years ago! And I much prefer a portrayal like this compared to the box-ticking 'politically correct' dramas of now . Maybe this could actually be remade with an all-female drunk cast, like some dipsomaniac Ghostbusters. Now there's a thought LOL.

A serious issue well-handled and imaginatively directed - and the views of New York's Jewish and Irish quarters are fascinating. I wish it looked like that now - I would definitely visit.

Of course, tales of drunken writers are nothing knew and many famous writers have been drunks from Poe to Fitzgerald to Dylan Thomas. And it's hard to portray that without getting boring but Wilder succeeds - my reaction was certainly not to condemn the addict but to pity him. Perhaps these days the drunk would need to be a weepy professional victim woman to gain our sympathy, and that says a lot more about us and our hypocritical society than anything else. It's very easy to condemn. But plenty of stones flying around glass houses, methinks.

Of course, without his rich brother's help he'd be on the street, which is the same from a lot of addicts from wealthier backgrounds.

A good partner film to LEAVING LAS VEGAS a modern version really, or THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM, or TV series BREAKING BAD or THE WIRE to show addiction through drugs, but alcohol was and is the biggest addiction issue in our society.

5 stars.