179. The Lost Weekend (1945)

Directed By Billy Wilder

Synopsis

Drinking is bad mmkay? (writer is drunkard, life is crap, then he sees the light and goes back to writing).

Review

Okay from the synopsis you can't really tell that this is a pretty good film, except for one single point, the ending. I understand that this is probably no one's fault except the government's as the Production Code would probably never allow it to end with a neat suicide scene in the toilet. Which would have made this film a 10. I can't wait for the end of the production code, until then if I want grit I have to look to Europe. Still, this film got away with some things like a nice prostitute, real decadence and a pretty gruesome scene with a mouse and a bat.

Speaking of toilets, the production code also makes for a silly moment in the film, as they cannot show toilets on screen, when Milland steals the purse of a girl, he goes into the toilet but instead of going into a cubicle to get the money out and get rid of the fucking purse, as I usually do, he had to do it on the lavatory area while the bathroom attendant cleans his shoes... Oh well. I was probably the only person in the universe to be annoyed by this.

In the end the film stands out because of the performance of its main character, Milland plays the drunk incredibly convincingly and truly deserved his Oscar. In the end I deeply recommend the film as one of the few times in the mid forties where American cinema really strives for realism. Thumbs Up. Just a pity that it all ended with a Deus Ex Machina and a truly unconvincing recovery.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

* Tribute was paid to the film in the Simpsons episode "A Star Is Burns": Barney Gumble's short film "Puke-a-Hontas" recreates several of the iconic images such as the main character lying on his bed surrounded by the detritus of his habit.

* In the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, Gilda is being screened when Andy asks Red for the Rita Hayworth poster; however, in the original Stephen King story, The Lost Weekend is screened.

* The film is mentioned in the Christmas Crackers episode of Are You Being Served? when the staff are given a less than impressively sized bottle of brandy for their Christmas pudding.

The Bat and Mouse scene: