The Lost Weekend Director: Billy Wilder Billy Wilder's film The Lost Weekend is most intriguing when you examine what he's trying to say about alcoholics, about human nature, and the plight of man when he battles the bottle. The film had such an impact on audiences when it was released in 1945 that it was nominated for seven Oscars, taking home Best Picture, Actor, Director, and Screenplay. It's a triumph of a film, but wouldn't be without the stirring performance of Ray Milland, who plays the character of Don Birnam. It's a powerhouse of a role, and Milland gives Don an inner madness that comes through in almost every scene. The Lost Weekend opens with a zoom in of an apartment building in New York City. As the camera comes up to a particular window, we see a bottle of whisky is hanging out of it by a rope. Don and his brother Wick (Phil Terry) have planned a weekend getaway to get Don away from the big city life, as well as the bottle. Don's girlfriend, Helen (Jane Wyman) is also at the apartment. Right away Wilder presents us the jittery, nervous Don, who is trying his hardest to distract them both so he can sneak the bottle into his suitcase. Wick and Helen eventually discover the bottle, and Don says he needs time alone before taking the trip. As soon as Helen and Wick leave for the opera, Don sneaks off to the bar. Suddenly the viewer sees Don come to life. Thus begins the lost weekend. Wick eventually ends up leaving Don behind to fend for himself, and Helen seems almost scared to approach him, but she is a constant outside presence throughout the film. Don visits his local bar several times in the film, with and without money. Even when he has money, he is still desperate to get the next drink in. The bartender, Nat (Howard DaSilva), is a patient man and listens to the rants of Don as he tries to find a method to his madness. He's full of illusions as he explains to the bartender why he drinks: Don: "I'm walking a tightrope over Niagra Falls. I'm one of the great ones. I'm Michelangelo molding the beard of Moses. I'm Van Gogh, painting pure sunlight. I'm Horowitz, playing the Emperor Concerto. I'm John Barrymore before the movies got him by the throat." Billy Wilder uses flashback sequences to show us how Don and Helen met. Don was attending a opera, and several actors on stage were drinking wine, so he instinctively leaves to fetch his coat from the checkout and finds that a woman has mistakenly taken his coat. The woman is Helen, and as Don exchanges her striped overcoat for his rain jacket, they make a connection and through several more flashbacks we discover Helen has put up with his drunken antics for the last three years. Wilder presents a multitude of scenes in which we see Don in total acts of desperation. At one point in the film, Don has no money and no booze, so he goes to a fancy club called Harry and Joes. He orders several high dollar drinks, not even considering the large tab he's running up. In a complete drunken state, he steals a woman's purse and heads for the bathroom. He takes her money, and puts a flower into her purse for exchange. Don is discovered and thrown out, but he doesn't seem phased, as at least he got a few drinks in. In one of the film's best sequences, Don walks up and down the lonely streets of New York City carrying the tool of his trade, his typewriter. He's attempting to pawn it for booze money without realizing that it is Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday, and all the pawnshops are closed. Towards the close of the film, Don pawns Helen's jacket for booze money, the same jacket that allowed them to meet. Helen: You couldn't have taken my bracelet or my paycheck? It had to
be that coat? The film ends on an uplifting note, with Don determined to write the great American novel, and promises to treat Helen better. In present times, audiences know better than that. It could be said, at the time, that the ending was uplifting on purpose. As mentioned before, the film takes an unflinching look at alcoholism that Hollywood notoriously strayed away from. The viewer watches Don destroy his relationship with anyone who surrounds him, and the ending mends at least one of the relationships back together. The film does reach the level of absurdity for a modern audience, but considering the newness of the subject the film was tackling, one has to wonder how audiences took it when it was first released. World War II had just ended, and The Lost Weekend was released just weeks after soldiers were returning home. The one question the film never seems to answer is exactly why Don drinks. Sure, he's a writer, but not every writer drinks as is the typical stereotype. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Charles Jackson. In the novel of The Lost Weekend, Don's drinking problem stems from an expulsion from college due to his affair with a male student. The film completely ignores the homosexuality of the Don character, but briefly Wilder brings a homosexual nurse into the film when Don is temporarily forced into an alcohol recovery hospital. Bim: Good morning, merry sunshine. How's your head? The film could almost be seen as a piece of anti-alcohol propaganda,
especially if it would have been released ten years earlier when the 18th
Amendment was overturned. Despite the film being made during a time when
America was just getting got of a World War, and being closely watched by
the Hays Office and Liquor industries, The Lost Weekend stands as
a great film about the demise of one man due to alcoholism. Ray Milland
puts in a great screen performance for the era, and Billy Wilder added to
his repertoire a groundbreaking film. |
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