#the lost weekend 1945

[oscarupsets]

Billy Wilder has brought us a pair of successful, dark dramas for 1945. This year we also see a bit of weird...sexism?

The Lost Weekend was handling a serious topic in a much realer sense than Best Picture winners before it, which some worried may be difficult for women's "sensitive tastes".

Even from a ~woman's perspective~, I found The Lost Weekend to be just exquisite. Ray Milland's acting was superb. Watching his character's struggles in such a short timeframe is quite heartbreaking but expertly done.

Mildred Pierce seemed reminiscent of last year's Double Indemnity. Mainly because a husband was dead and we have to discover who did it through a series of flashbacks. Even with its dark premise, this one was apparently acceptable for women!

Mildred Pierce was equally as great as The Lost Weekend, albeit with far less realism. The daughter is aggressively unlikeable by design, which made the storyline seem a bit unrealistic. It was still a fantastic story with great acting from all players.

The Lost Weekend swept the Golden Globes and the NYFCC Awards for Picture, Director, and Actor for Ray Milland. Clearly critics were in favor of The Lost Weekend, but the general audience finds the two to be on equal playing fields.

*EDIT: The Lost Weekend was added to the OFTA Hall of Fame in 2012. Somehow missed that one.*

Unofficial Review: Both were great. The general audience agrees.

Both films are available (FOR ALL VIEWERS!) on archive.org

[mourningmaybells]

yeah ok the I see the gay subtext now

[cinemaspast]

Ray Milland in

THE LOST WEEKEND (1945)

directed by Billy Wilder

[coopmillandmarch]

Ray Milland photographed for The Lost Weekend (1945).

[letterboxd-loggd]

The Lost Weekend (1945) Billy Wilder

December 5th 2023

[crowdvscritic]

crowd vs. critic single take // THE LOST WEEKEND (1945)

Photo Credits: IMDb.com

What’s one weekend away? For an alcoholic, torture.

Struggling writer Don (Ray Milland) is dreading a trip with his brother Wick (Phillip Terry), who monitors what he imbibes. He keeps a covert stash in the crannies of their New York City apartment, but it won’t be easy to sneak it out of town alongside his brother and his girlfriend Helen (Jane Wyman). Part belligerence and part willful ignorance convinces him perhaps it’s best not to go at all. A weekend spent only with himself—and a few fellow bar patrons—would be better.

CROWD // One of the reasons I love movies is they’re the closest to time travel we’ll ever get. Like Harry Potter dunking his head into the Pensieve, a screen always reveals more than the filmmakers intended because it's a literal portal into the past. The Lost Weekend’s portrayal of alcoholism feels melodramatic today, borderline heavy-handed, but in 1945, The New York Daily News called it "the most daring film that ever came out of Hollywood.” Turner Classic Movies notes it had a special relevance in a year when soldiers were returning from a traumatizing war, and it was “the first to treat drinking seriously and not play it for laughs. Gone were the inebriated Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man movies.” Just a few years later in 1949, Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell died when she was was hit by a drunk driver. When Malcolm Gladwell explored it on his podcast Revisionist History, he observed, “The fact that his drinking might have been the reason he was speeding somehow didn't seem to occur to many people... but in the mentality of the time, the driver was irrelevant. He was as unlucky as the victim." All that to say, how we feel about alcoholism has changed in the last eight decades. 

Though the context feels foreign today, the characters do not. If you’ve ever known someone struggling with crippling mental health issues, watching Helen and Wick waffle between support for Don and total exasperation will feel too familiar. You’ll also recognize the truth in Don’s statement that there are two versions of himself—the one who would love to be a writer, and the one who believes he’s a failure. One version wants to be the man Helen deserves and a responsible brother who pays the rent, but the other cons and manipulates them, even swiping the maid’s paycheck for his habit. (Writer/director Billy Wilder would create another unstable, manipulative character in Sunset Blvd., but Norma Desmond would add a sinister edge.) Even if The Lost Weekend doesn’t feel congruent with modern depictions of substance abuse, it’s still moving because its heart is empathetic to those struggling as well as their friends and family. 

POPCORN POTENTIAL: 7/10

CRITIC // That success is largely thanks to the cast. In another film, Don could have been a villain or comic relief—here is treated with as much care as Milland took in preparing for the role. His commitment is an early example of the strategy many Best Actor hopefuls still take today, volunteering a physical transformation to become this character. In addition to changing his diet to lose weight, he took the initiative to stay in Bellevue Hospital for a time (where some of the film was shot, though Bellevue later regretted it) to experience their treatment of alcoholics. Though he was unsuccessful at achieving drunkenness, he was successfully mistaken as public day drinker by acquaintances who were gracious enough to mention it to the press. Without Milland, Matthew McConaughey might have still lost weight for Dallas Buyers Club, Brendan Fraser might still have gained weight for The Whale, and Leonardo DiCaprio might still have gone through the tortures of The Revenant, but perhaps Milland's win is the source code for actors going to extremes to show commitment to their craft. 

In addition to nominations for editing and cinematography, Billy Wilder won his first Oscars for writing and directing The Lost Weekend. (He’d already lost five times, including for Ninotchka and Double Indemnity, and he’d win four more for Sunset Blvd. and The Apartment. Yeesh, what a career!) A Best Score nod brought to the tally to 7 total nominations, though that’s less impressive when you know the Academy recognized 47 nominees in 3 different music categories for the year of 1945. (The following year each category was narrowed down to the traditional five.) 

One more indicator of the Ghost of Oscars Yet to Come: The Lost Weekend is the first social issues drama to win Best Picture. Previous winners danced around what is now a staple during Awards Season, but Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and Grand Hotel were really slice-of-life character dramas, The Broadway Melody and Going My Way were really musicals, and It Happened One Night and You Can't Take It With You were really comedies, although all six of those titles were conscious of money, class, marriage, and religion. The Lost Weekend is the first winner about everyday people facing a present day challenge not set during war or a historical period. For the first time, the Academy affirmed the value of a "small" story with its highest honor, giving dignity to people and concerns that could be mistaken as unimportant.

ARTISTIC TASTE: 9/10

[jasonsutekh]

The Lost Weekend (1945)

An alcoholic writer tries to fight off his addiction long enough to write his novel and save his relationship but the pull is a strong one.

 Many films features a staple drunk in their ensemble, often as a means of comic relief, but this film presents a fundamental in early authenticity for addiction on screen, one that soaps and melodrama copied for decades to come. The narrative develops steadily so that the main characters’ decline can be understood and the acting is easily strong enough to hold up the heavy subject matter.

 Due to myopic production codes at the time there had to be a cheap happy end tacked on in order to satiate the audiences’ need for closure no matter how unrealistic the sudden recovery is. There is also an unhealthy domestic depiction between two of the main characters that isn’t fully addressed which shows a young woman staying with a drunk partner for years which the ending then justifies sending a pretty poor message.

 The variety in the symptoms of the condition of both alcoholic stupor and withdrawal keep the narrative engaging. This also gives an excuse for several stylised and effective scenes bonding the audience with protagonist as we see the visual effects of his health states and allows for some iconic shots which feel subjective yet realistic.

 There isn’t as strong a focus on social stigma that one would expect from such a film, especially as it would have been a major part of the issue in the 40s; the closest it gets is a little gossip from the landlady and the subtle hints of a barman. Although it’s an issue that defies age, it’s still a marker of its time that a man could afford an addiction and a New York apartment with that view on a failing writer’s salary, therefore his brother must be obscenely rich.

 5/10 -Can’t find a better example of average-

 -The film was ostracised by both alcohol companies who believed it would harm business, and prohibitionists who believed it would encourage drinking.

-The “blue laws” that ban the sale of some items like alcohol at certain hours of the week are still in effect in some states.

-The studio was reportedly so nervous when it did poorly in test screenings that they considered measures to bury the film.

[lizztaylor]

Doris Dowling as Gloria in The Lost Weekend (1945)

[classicfilmblr]

The Lost Weekend (1945) dir. Billy Wilder

[goryhorroor]

What are some underrated horror films? I have watched all the popular ones and need more! Thanks!

mentally prepare yourself because im ready to give a gumbo list (this has been sitting in my inbox because i had to ask all my friends and this is the list we came up with):

curse of the demon (1957) the serpent and the rainbow (1988) paranoiac (1963) the old dark house (1932) countess dracula (1971) golem (1920) haxan (1968) island of lost souls (1932) mad love (1935) mill of the stone women (1960) the walking dead (1936) the ghoul (1933) tourist trap (1979) the seventh victim (1943) ganja & hess (1973) dead of night (1945) a bay of blood (1971) let's scare jessica to death (1971) alice sweet alice (1976) the deadly spawn (1983) the brain that wouldn't die (1962) all about evil (2010) black roses (1988) the baby (1973) parents (1989) a blade in the dark (1983) blood lake (1987) solo survivor (1984) lemora: a child's tale of supernatural (1973) eyes of fire (1983) epitaph (2007) nightmare city (1980) slugs (1988) death smiles on a murderer (1973) intruder (1989) short night of glass dolls (1971) the children (2008) alone in the dark (1982) end of the line (2007) the queen of spades (1949) the housemaid (1960) tormented (1960) captain clegg (1962) the long hair of death (1964) dark age (1987) the crawling eye (1958) the kindred (1987) the gorgon (1964) wicked city (1987) baba yaga (1973) 976-evil (1988) bliss (2019) decoder (1984) amer (2009) the visitor (1979) day of the animals (1977) leptirica (1973) planet of the vampires (1965) lips of blood (1975) berberian sound studio (2012) a wounded fawn (2022) matango (1963) the mansion of madness (1973) the killing kind (1973) symptoms (1974) morgiana (1972) whispering corridors (1998) dead end (2003) infested (2023) (this just came out but im adding it) triangle (2009) the premonition (1976) you'll like my mother (1972) the mafu cage (1978) white of the eye (1987) mister designer (1987) alison's birthday (1981) the suckling (1990) graveyard shift (1987) messiah of evil (1987) out of the dark (1988) seven footprints to satan (1929) burn witch burn (1962) the damned (1962) pin (1988) horrors of malformed men (1969) mr vampire (1985) the vampire doll (1970) contracted (2013) impetigore (2019) eyeball (1975) malatestas carnival of blood (1973) the witch who came from the sea (1976) i drink your blood (1970) nothing underneath (1985) sauna (2008) seance (2000) come true (2020) the last winter (2006) night tide (1961) the brain (1988) dementia (1955) don't go to sleep (1982) otogirisou (2001) reincarnation (2005) mutant (1984) spookies (1986) shock waves (1977) bloody hell (2020) the den (2013) wer (2013) olivia (1983) enigma (1987) graverobbers (1988) manhattan baby (1982) evil in the woods (1986) death bed: the bed that eats (1977) cathy's curse (1977) creatures from the abyss (1994) the dorm that dripped blood (1982) the witching (1993) madman (1981) vampire's embrace (1991) blood beat (1983) the alien factor (1978) savage weekend (1979) blood sisters (1987) deadly love (1987) playroom (1990) die screaming marianne (1971) pledge night (1990) night train to terror (1985) the devonsville terror (1983) ghostkeeper (1981) special effects (1984) blood feast (163) the child (1977) godmonster of indian flats (1973) blood rage (1980) the unborn (1991) screamtime (1983) the outing (1987) the being (1983) silent madness (1984) lurkers (1988) forver evil (1987) squirm (1976) death screams (1982) jack-o (1995) haunts (1976) a night to dismember (1983) creaturealm: demons wake (1998) the curse (1987) daddy's deadly darling (1973) nightwing (1979) the laughing dead (1989) the severed arm (1973) the orphan (1979) not like us (1995) prime evil (1988) the monstrosity (1987) dark ride (2006) antibirth (2016) iced (1988) the soultangler (1987) twisted nightmare (1987) puffball (2007) biohazard (1985) cameron's closet (1988) beast from haunted cave (1959) the she-creature (1956)

[atomic-raunch]

Doris Dowling in The Lost Weekend, 1945

[ronmerchant]

Ray Milland- the LOST WEEKEND (1945)

[mourningmaybells]

oh my god... in the lost weekend, he's watching a performance of La Traviata: Drinking Song...alcoholism

[thiziri]

Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem.

The Princess Royal has attended events in The Netherlands to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem, part of Operation Market Garden.

Operation Market Garden was the largest airborne assault in history and one of the boldest Allied operations of the Second World War. The Battle of Arnhem was an Allied plan to force a route into Germany from the Netherlands during World War Two, with the battle taking place between 17th and 25th September 1944.

Nearly 2,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers lost their lives. Over the weekend, members of the UK Armed Forces have taken part in commemorations to thank surviving Veterans and remember those who died during the Battle.

At Airborne Museum Hartenstein, Her Royal Highness attended a commemorative reception, which featured a parachute display by The Red Devils. In her speech, The Princess honoured the bravery and sacrifice of British, Dutch, and Allied troops.

As President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, The Princess also attended a service at Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery, where she joined veterans, Armed Forces personnel, and the public in remembering those who served and lost their lives. Her Royal Highness placed a wreath at the Cross of Sacrifice. The Order of Service remains unchanged since the first Airborne Memorial Service took place in 1945.

© Royal UK

[coopmillandmarch]

Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945).

[classichollywoodarchive]

RAY MILLAND AND JANE WYMAN IN THE LOST WEEKEND (1945)

image from imdb