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1945 Best Picture:
The Lost Weekend
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Competition:
Anchors Aweigh, The Bells of St. Mary's,
Mildred Pierce, Spellbound Other Winners:
Best Actor: Ray Milland, The Lost Weekend
Best Actress: Joan Crawford,
Mildred Pierce
Best Supporting Actor:
James
Dunn, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Best Supporting Actress: Anne
Revere, National Velvet
Best Director: Billy
Wilder, The Lost Weekend
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Cast:
Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard Da Silva, Doris Dowling,
Frank Faylen, Mary Young
Storyline:
A
long time alcoholic with writer's block goes on a weekend bender,
his worst yet. The film looks at the effects that alcohol has had on
his life, through flashbacks, while documenting the near-end of his life
through one nasty weekend. Did it deserve to
win: Er ... sorry, but
no! The Lost Weekend is good, but there was one film that was
better! Mildred
Pierce wasn't just a vehicle for Joan Crawford, it was also an
excellent picture. As she herself said, it was 'film noir'.
Joan's performance was backed by a first-rate script and some excellent
performances by a supporting cast, which included Eve Arden, Jack Carson
and Ann Blyth. If
sullen daughter Christina is to be credited with keeping Joan's name
alive, well after her death, so be it, if it means that this film remains
a well regarded classic.
Critique:
Critics
today are mixed about how well The Lost Weekend has held up, but suffice
it to say, it was groundbreaking for its day. Alcoholism was common
in the forties, but never discussed, and not always seen as a
problem. The
film's message certainly holds up, and the script works, despite severe
changes from the original story, but films like Leaving Las Vegas
(1997), without the fear of heavy censorship, have painted more effective
and frightening portraits. The
Lost Weekend, which has been deemed the blueprint for future films about
alcoholics, contains a fine performance by Milland. Playing a drunk
is much more difficult than it seems, and Milland pulls it off better than
most of his era.
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Best Scene:
The little animals! Ray was warned that
little animals would start to appear when he tried to sober up.
While collapsed in his apartment, a mouse makes a little hole in the wall,
and a huge bat flies in and attacks it! His screaming is answered by
a desperate Jane Wyman, who is pounding on the door.
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Behind the Scenes:
The Lost Weekend received
several awards that year, and not just from industry organizations.
Alcoholics Anonymous, Unwed Mothers of America and Joe's Bar and Grill,
also commended the film!
Jane
Wyman may be best known today by audiences as the matriarch of the 80's
prime time soap, Falcon Crest. Back in the 40's she was a top
actress, who happened to be married to Ronald Reagan. Charles
R. Jackson wrote the original novel, and it was picked up by Billy Wilder,
who was on a train to Chicago. Wilder suggested it to Paramount for
a movie deal, but it was in need of some serious editing by the
censors. The book contained darker themes that needed to be excised,
including a gloomy ending, as well as homosexual undertones. The
eerie music used throughout the film was a first for film making, that
would later be heard in B-grade horror movies. Joan
Crawford's win for Best Actress is legendary! Her career was in dire
straits before getting the title role, for which she actually had to
audition for. The director, Mike Curtiz, said he didn't want some
'washed up dame' in his movie. Joan worked her heart out, and the
film became a smash. On Oscar night, it seemed obvious that she
would win, but the great lady feigned ill for the ceremony, perhaps
fearing the embarrassment of not winning. When her name was
announced, a media frenzy was launched. Later in the evening, Joan
had the press up to her bedroom, where her director presented her with the
award.
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| Oscar
gets serious, with a message movie about alcoholism.
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| Ray
Milland, in his Oscar-winning role, as Don, the hardcore drunk. |
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| Phillip
Terry is brother Wick, and Jane Wyman is girlfiend, Helen. Both are
concerned about Ray's drinking problem.
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| Don
meets Gloria, played by Doris Dowling, while drinking it up at a bar.
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| In
a flash back scene, Don and Helen's first date, and where Don' s drinking
problem starts to become noticeable.
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| A
new low! Don is caught stealing a woman's purse at a restaurant.
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| Ray
Milland as Don, desperately combs the street for money and a drink.
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| Coincidence?
Howard Da Silva, who plays Ned the bartender, later played Louis B. Mayer
in the Joan Crawford tell-all, Mommie Dearest.
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| Frank
Faylan, as Bim, the nurse in Bellevue, may also be remembered for playing
Bert, in the TV series, That Girl.
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Helen desperately
tries to get through to Don, who can't stop craving a drink.
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| Helen
would rather see Don drunk than to kill himself.
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Mary Young is the
landlady, Mrs. Deveredge, who is used to Don's lost weekends. |
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The bottle symbolically hangs out the
window, after Don gives up his drinking problem. |
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