The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout.The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout.The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout.
- Won 4 Oscars
- 18 wins & 3 nominations total
Anita Sharp-Bolster
- Mrs. Foley
- (as Anita Bolster)
Andy Andrews
- Alcoholic
- (uncredited)
Gene Ashley
- Male Nurse
- (uncredited)
Walter Baldwin
- Man from Albany
- (uncredited)
Harry Barris
- Pianist at Harry & Joe's
- (uncredited)
Ian Begg
- Undetermined Secondary Role
- (uncredited)
Eddie Borden
- Drunk in Alcoholic Ward
- (uncredited)
Jess Lee Brooks
- Hospital Patient
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Best Picture Winners by Year
Best Picture Winners by Year
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBilly Wilder claimed the liquor industry offered Paramount Pictures $5 million not to release the film; he also suggested that he would have accepted had they offered it to him personally.
- GoofsOn Saturday Don goes in search of a pawnshop. At the second pawnshop called "A. Bloom" (see Continuity), a man informs Don that the shop is closed on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). This could not be true, as the modern Hebrew calendar in place since the 12th century CE is designed so that Yom Kippur cannot take place on the Sabbath.
- Quotes
[Nat moves to wipe away the circle of whisky from Don Birnam's glass]
Don Birnam: Don't wipe it away, Nat. Let me have my little vicious circle. You know, the circle is the perfect geometric figure. No end, no beginning.
- ConnectionsEdited into Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
- SoundtracksLa Traviata
(1853) (uncredited)
Music by Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave
Libiamo ne' lieti calici (Drinking Song) Performed by John Garris and Theodora Lynch with The San Francisco Opera Company
Featured review
Seedy bars, pawnshops, and an array of elaborate hiding places are the overriding images from this film. The Lost Weekend is a grimly realistic account of four days in the life of a chronic alcoholic, played by Ray Milland. In films of this quality one always takes away unforgettable images. The most striking is Milland's drunken efforts to remember where in his apartment the last hiding place he used is. Degraded and thoroughly beaten by his addiction, his last refuge is to try and keep it a secret from those who still love him. Billy Wilder's direction and script is brilliant - sympathetic, but unpatronising in his handling of a delicate and rarely dealt with affliction. Not until Nicolas Cage's portrayal of a man determined to drink himself to death in Leaving Las Vegas, has alcoholism been dealt with so well. Milland's performance is first rate - no hammy shlurring of words - and the atmosphere is dark and seedy like the bars he frequents. The scene where he spends several hours trying to find an open pawnshop on a public holiday is both harrowing and dazzling - it is remeniscent of the filmic image of a parched man trying to cross the desert.
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $1,250,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $681
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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