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Le Poison

Original title: The Lost Weekend
  • 1945
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
42K
YOUR RATING
Ray Milland, Doris Dowling, Phillip Terry, and Jane Wyman in Le Poison (1945)
Trailer for The Lost Weekend
Play trailer2:08
1 Video
99+ Photos
Film NoirDrama

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.

  • Director
    • Billy Wilder
  • Writers
    • Charles R. Jackson
    • Charles Brackett
    • Billy Wilder
  • Stars
    • Ray Milland
    • Jane Wyman
    • Phillip Terry
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.9/10
    42K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Billy Wilder
    • Writers
      • Charles R. Jackson
      • Charles Brackett
      • Billy Wilder
    • Stars
      • Ray Milland
      • Jane Wyman
      • Phillip Terry
    • 201User reviews
    • 129Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 4 Oscars
      • 18 wins & 3 nominations total

    Videos1

    The Lost Weekend
    Trailer 2:08
    The Lost Weekend

    Photos111

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    Top cast67

    Edit
    Ray Milland
    Ray Milland
    • Don Birnam
    Jane Wyman
    Jane Wyman
    • Helen St. James
    Phillip Terry
    Phillip Terry
    • Wick Birnam
    Howard Da Silva
    Howard Da Silva
    • Nat
    Doris Dowling
    Doris Dowling
    • Gloria
    Frank Faylen
    Frank Faylen
    • 'Bim' Nolan
    Mary Young
    Mary Young
    • Mrs. Deveridge
    Anita Sharp-Bolster
    Anita Sharp-Bolster
    • Mrs. Foley
    • (as Anita Bolster)
    Lilian Fontaine
    • Mrs. St. James
    Frank Orth
    Frank Orth
    • Opera Cloak Room Attendant
    Lewis L. Russell
    • Mr. St. James
    Andy Andrews
    • Alcoholic
    • (uncredited)
    Gene Ashley
    • Male Nurse
    • (uncredited)
    Walter Baldwin
    Walter Baldwin
    • Man from Albany
    • (uncredited)
    Harry Barris
    Harry Barris
    • Pianist at Harry & Joe's
    • (uncredited)
    Ian Begg
    • Undetermined Secondary Role
    • (uncredited)
    Eddie Borden
    Eddie Borden
    • Drunk in Alcoholic Ward
    • (uncredited)
    Jess Lee Brooks
    • Hospital Patient
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Billy Wilder
    • Writers
      • Charles R. Jackson
      • Charles Brackett
      • Billy Wilder
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews201

    7.942.2K
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    Summary

    Reviewers say 'The Lost Weekend' is a groundbreaking film with a realistic portrayal of alcoholism. Ray Milland's performance as Don Birnam is praised for its depth. Billy Wilder's direction and the film's visual style, including deep focus and Miklós Rózsa's haunting score, effectively convey addiction's despair. However, some find it melodramatic and repetitive, with an unrealistic ending. Despite criticisms, it is regarded as powerful and influential in cinema.
    AI-generated from the text of user reviews

    Featured reviews

    tfrizzell

    Risk-Taking Film-Making at Its Finest.

    Uncompromising, dark and definitely disturbing Best Picture Oscar winner from 1945 that deals with a writer's (Ray Milland in one of the very best performances ever shown on the silver which deservedly landed him his only Oscar) alcoholism and the effects that his problem has on himself, his work and those closest to him. The love of his life (Jane Wyman) and his very supportive brother (Phillip Terry) try to save Milland from a habit that has gotten terribly out-of-hand. Heart-wrenching flashbacks into Milland's demise are sometimes difficult sequences to get through. In the end it is not a sure thing if Milland can distance himself from his disease and return to a normal life. Billy Wilder's uncompromising direction and screenplay yielded him Oscars in this film that scared many studios away in the early-1940s due to its intense subject matter and the question of whether the film could create interest. Made during a time when patriotic movies and romantic comedic farces dominated the cinema, "The Lost Weekend" was truly unlike anything ever experienced before. A very well-made production that is first class all the way. A real classic in every sense of the term. 5 stars out of 5.
    9Huron

    The first great film on alcoholism.

    As a recovering alcoholic (14 years sober) this remains as the first great film dealing with alcoholism. Ray Milland"s great performance shows realistically the insanity of drinking and the struggles. The promises and hidden bottles will ring true to anyone who has dealt with the problem. Billy Wilder's career was noted for his comedies but he showed in "Lost Weekend" that he knew how to deal with serious matter as well. The ending shot is a classic and will be memorable for anyone seeing the film. Check out "Days of Wine & Roses" as well.
    Doylenf

    Powerful landmark film on alcoholism has lost none of its status...Ray Milland deserved his Oscar...

    I take exception to previous comments that call the film "daring for its time" or "dated". It's still a very powerful film and there is nothing dated about the theme of a man who loses his soul to the bottle. It was a landmark film in its time and still is--there is no question about its holding power and the excellence of writing, acting and direction. Yes, even by today's standards! It outclasses more recent films dealing with alcoholism as it focuses on one man's problem with the bottle--a problem that affects all of the people whose lives he touches--particularly his loyal girlfriend (Jane Wyman in one of her best roles) and Philip Terry as his more conventional brother. The emotions are stark and real. The pity we feel for Milland's character is also mixed with disgust for his weakness. It's an accurate depiction of an alcoholic's struggle for the next fix--a never ending search for the next bottle. The pseudo-babble of a previous commentator attempts to inject disdain for the film as outdated and outclassed by more serious works. Nonsense! This was a stark and powerful film in 1945 and I have news for you--it is just as powerful and timely today! No other American film comes close to it. It is as searing an indictment of alcoholism as you are ever likely to see and Milland fully deserved his Oscar.
    gene-perr

    Sad end to the life of author Charles Jackson (The Lost Weekend)

    In 1968, I was just 22 years old and driving a taxi part-time in Ft. Lee, New Jersey. One day, I drove Charles Jackson (author of "The Lost Weekend") from Englewood Cliffs, NJ to a run-down hotel in Times Square, New York City. I had seen and really liked the movie of the same name, starring Ray Milland, who did a wonderful job portraying an alcoholic on a weekend binge. The film was so realistic, I had a strong feeling that Charles Jackson had written the book based on his own life. I got up the nerve to ask him, and he told me that....yes, he indeed was the alcoholic portrayed in his book. We talked quite a bit about his life on the way into Times Square. He seemed like a very nice person, although he seemed quite depressed. However, it still came as quite a shock when, shortly after having him in my cab, I read in the papers that he had hung himself in his hotel room in NYC. That's an experience I will never forget!
    8AlsExGal

    For some reason I can watch this film over and over...

    ... and not get tired of it. Ray Milland's performance is riveting and, if you are watching for the first time, the first scene will do nothing but raise questions, getting you involved. How did Don (Ray Milland) get to be such an alcoholic? Why does his brother have a right to say how he lives? What does he do for a living? Why does such a seemingly together woman like Helen (Jane Wyman) stay with this guy for three years? All of these questions get answered slowly as the movie unravels over one long weekend that Don was supposed to spend in the country with his brother, but instead spends alone, but thanks to ten dollars that Don's brother left behind, he does not spend it completely alone - he's got money to buy booze.

    And yet Don doesn't plan ahead. He thinks enough to cover up the two bottles he buys at the liquor store with some apples that he buys to put up on top of the bag as he walks home so neighbors cannot see the booze, but the urgency doesn't come until he is completely out of liquor and out of the ten bucks to get more. And he is willing to do ANYTHING to get that liquor - he'll pretend to be interested in a girl in a local bar who is obviously crazy about him in order to get a few bucks, he tries to trade his typewriter (he's a failed writer) to a local bar owner for a drink, he steals money from a woman's purse in a nightclub to get booze, he even stages a faux hold-up (he has no gun) to get a bottle from a liquor store.

    And that's it for the entire movie - Don Birnham and his quest for the next bottle eats all of his time and energy. Other characters are just instruments in that quest or are in the form of flashbacks to tell you how Don got to where he was in the first scene. And then there's that haunting score that runs the length of the film. Everything is brutal realism UNTIL the last scene. Maybe it was the censors, but today it could have cost the film some Oscars.

    A couple of questions never raised. How did Don's brother Wick manage to support himself AND Don all of these years IN New York City? Didn't Wick ever long for a life and family of his own? There's got to be a limit to anybody's patience and charity, even if they are kin. Another question from an old film buff like me - Isn't it odd how the Great Depression and World War II magically disappear from sight in the past that Don is recollecting. 15 years of American history that effected everybody seems to have no place in Don's story. To look at this film, this shiny bustling post-war world has always been there. This is the turn of film from Depression and world war - collective struggles - back to the struggle of the individual with himself, the beginning of noir.

    Oscars Best Picture Winners, Ranked

    Oscars Best Picture Winners, Ranked

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Billy 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.
    • Goofs
      When the waiter gives Don the check at Harry & Joe's and he reaches for it, the glass, ashtray, napkin, and cigarette all change position between camera shots.
    • 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.

    • Connections
      Edited into Les cadavres ne portent pas de costard (1982)
    • Soundtracks
      La 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

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    FAQ21

    • How long is The Lost Weekend?Powered by Alexa
    • Is "The Lost Weekend" based on a book?
    • What is the significance of the three balls outside of the pawnbroker's shop?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 14, 1947 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Días sin huella
    • Filming locations
      • Bellevue Hospital - 462 First Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
    • Production company
      • Paramount Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $1,250,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $813
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 41m(101 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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