The Lost Weekend: Still packs a punch

Another apology I have not been keeping up with my blogs as of late yet again, and thus my Billy Wilder series has suffered. I intend to plow through with Wilder into May since I think the great director deserves more attention than I have given him, plus there are so many more movies I want to discuss. But for now here are some thoughts on "The Lost Weekend" which I have just recently viewed again.

It's amazing how well "The Lost Weekend" has kept up today, for many it is still the quintessential film about alcoholism. There have been some good films done on the subject but "The Lost Weekend" still seems to remain the template of the genre.

One of my favorite bloggers Kim Morgan noted her fondness of the film stating it is not minor Wilder but should be mentioned along with his better known masterpieces like "Double Indemnity" and "Sunset BLVD." The power is a combination of Wilder's uncompromising direction, the rawness and reality of the script, and the tour de force performance of Ray Milland. The film garnered Wilder his first Oscars for Direction and screenplay (along with co-author and frequent collaborator Charles Brackett) and it also gave Milland a best actor Oscar.

It tells the story of Don Birnam (Milland) who has been battling his alcoholism for quite some time. At the beginning of the film Don is about to go off for the weekend with his brother in order to dry up and do some writing, however the temptation of the drink overpowers him and he soon cuts off all communication with his brother and girlfriend (Jane Wyman) both of whom have been trying to help him and are at their breaking point.

What encounters afterwards is Don's pretty much Don's descention into his drinking routine as he goes from bar to bar trying to get as much money as he can so he can spend it on booze. Even the bartender at one of his regular joints knows he's had enough and even discourages giving him a drink every now and then. We know things get desperate for Don when he tries to pawn off his typewriter for money. It's an agonizing sequence where he struggles to go from street to street not being able to find a pawn shop that's open only to discover later that they're closed due to the holiday weekend.

It has been said that the inspiration for writer Don Birnam came from Wilder's relationship with Raymond Chandler who he co-wrote "Double Indemnity" with only a year earlier. It's well documented that Chandler would drink during the writing sessions which drove the disciplined Wilder crazy, you could probably sense that some of the scenes in "The Lost Weekend", particularly when Don is hiding liquor around his apartment stem from the Wilder/Chandler relationship.

But it's the realism of these scenes that we come to understand Don's sickness, and Wilder's not afraid to take us to the brink of what alcohol can do.

What I found interesting about this film is how Wilder seems very sympathetic towards Don, unlike his other anti-heroes like Kirk Douglas' "anything for a story" reporter in "Ace in the Hole", or Fred MacMurray's often misguided and greedy Walter Neff, both of whom receive their comeuppance, Wilder makes it known that Don could be a pretty descent guy when he's not drinking. The real villain of the film is alcohol, and Don even knows it saying he is two people, Don the writer, and Don the drunk.

Wilder seems to understand that alcoholism is a sickness and can stop people from reaching their full potential which makes me think this is why he decided to end the film on a hopeful note (unless Hollywood just wanted a happy ending slapped on like they usually do).

In any case, "The Lost Weekend" is one of those rare cases where it is as powerful today as it was when it was first released.