‘The Lost Weekend: THRs 1945 Review
On November 29, 1945, Paramount Pictures and Billy Wilder released The Lost Weekend to Los Angeles theaters. The film would be nominated for 7 Academy Awards at the 18th Academy Awards, winning four times, including Best Picture. The Hollywood Reporter's original review, "Brackett, Wilder and Milland did a great job over the weekend," is below:
This is undoubtedly the best horror film of the year and undoubtedly one of the best pieces of cinematic work in terms of story, direction, acting and other techniques that Hollywood has made in a long moon. . The word of mouth alone would have been as good as the image was terrible.
An effective word to describe this novel, taken from the book of the same name. With the exception of the ending, it stays true to the original, putting you in an emotional situation that leaves you vulnerable. According to this reviewer, the ending is weak because the hero is actually the villain. Alcohol poses a danger to himself and, even worse, to those around him. Statistics show (and we are sorry to mention this) that severe cases of alcoholism are rarely “saved.” However, for the vigilantes, the speech of the last “hero” softens the blow of the miraculous reform. This is obviously the supreme illusion of the condemned man. He is not writing his novel, but rather expressing his dream of success. We thank producer/writer Brackett and writer/director Wilder for this privilege. Indeed, the writing, direction and performances are impressive and a great lesson for filmmakers, both for the standout individual scenes and for the entire production, which works well as a film.
This brings us to Ray Milland, whose character is in the film and whose performance evokes phrases like "tour de force", "Oscar" and all the familiar clichés. It is, to say the least, brilliant and believable, almost to the point of unbearable at times. Jane Wyman is great as his girlfriend. Doris Dowling as the Night Lady delivers several scenes worthy of a veteran, let alone a newcomer. Howard Da Silva gets his best server opportunity in years and makes the most of it. Then Frank Fillen as a hospital assistant. Not only is this a great episode (the hospital scene, of course), but Vaylin is evil incarnate. And Frank Orth has a great comedy bit at the beginning of the film. Philip Terry is a good actor and good as Brother Milland. But better casting could have been done here. The brother had to be at least as attractive as the drunk one, and certainly had to evoke the most sympathy. This is wrong. This is the main weakness of the image. Virtue and vice begin with the same letter and are entitled to at least a share of the reward, if there is any for the latter.
The art features music by Miklós Rózsa and photographs by Seitz, Edward and Gordon Jennings. Doane Harrison's editing and Dreyer and Hedrick's art direction work together to create an absolutely captivating film. — Staff Line, originally published August 14, 1945
