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The Lost Weekend (1945)
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This ground-breaking drama about an alcoholic writer trying to kick the bottle won Oscars for best film, direction (Billy Wilder), screenplay and actor (Ray Milland). Don Birnam (Milland) is the booze-afflicted antihero, suffering from writer's block and a frighteningly convincing case of the DTs. Despite the grim subject matter, there are glimpses of Wilder's characteristic mordant wit — the (hidden) bottle dangling out of the apartment window and Birnam's desperate mission to pawn his typewriter on a Jewish holiday — and the director's location work in New York's Third Avenue district is exemplary. Casting the hitherto bland Milland was a stroke of genius, but the scenes involving Birnam's brother (Phillip Terry) and girlfriend (Jane Wyman) are soft-centred and don't really work, making this literally a message that comes in a bottle. AT
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Tell us what you think
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Running time
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96min
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Country of origin
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US
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Genre
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Drama
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Alternate title
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The Lost Weekend Diary of a Dipsomaniac
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Original language
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English
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Screenplay
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Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, from the novel by Charles R Jackson
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Theatrical distributor
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Paramount Film Service Ltd
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UK cinema certificate
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A
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| awards information |
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Award |
Category |
Name |
Nominee/Winner |
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| Academy 1945 |
Actor |
Ray Milland |
Winner |
| Academy 1945 |
Best Motion Picture |
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Winner |
| Academy 1945 |
Directing |
Billy Wilder |
Winner |
| Academy 1945 |
Writing (Screenplay) |
Charles Brackett |
Winner |
| Academy 1945 |
Writing (Screenplay) |
Billy Wilder |
Winner |
| Cannes International Film Festival 1946 |
Actor |
Ray Milland |
Winner |
| Golden Globe 1945 |
Best Director Motion Picture |
Billy Wilder |
Winner |
| Golden Globe 1945 |
Best Motion Picture Drama |
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Winner |
| Golden Globe 1945 |
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Drama |
Ray Milland |
Winner |
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Film certification logos reproduced by kind permission of BBFC |
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