The Lost Weekend

1945 PG-13 1h 41m

7.6 /10

658

Genre

Drama

Plot

Longtime alcoholic Don Birnam has been sober for ten days and appears to be over the worst... but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother and girlfriend, he begins a four-day bender that just might be his last – one way or another.

Director

Billy Wilder

Writers

Charles R. Jackson Charles Brackett Billy Wilder

Stars

Ray Milland Jane Wyman Phillip Terry

Cast & Crew

Mrs. Charles St. James

Frank Orth

Opera Cloak Room Attendant

Alcoholic (uncredited)

Walter Baldwin

Man from Albany (uncredited)

Harry Barris

Pianist at Harry & Joe's (uncredited)

Man in Nightclub Washroom (uncredited)

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Willa Pearl Curtis

Mrs. Wertheim's Assistant (uncredited)

John Deauville

Cloakroom Attendant (uncredited)

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Helen Dickson

Mrs. Frink (uncredited)

Franklyn Farnum

Concert Attendee (uncredited)

Byron Foulger

Shopkeeper (uncredited)

Jayne Hazard

M. (uncredited)

Ted Hecht

Man with Bandaged Ear (uncredited)

Ernest Hilliard

Headwaiter (uncredited)

Earle Hyman

Smoking Man (uncredited)

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Jerry James

Male Nurse (uncredited)

Nightclub Guest (uncredited)

Karl 'Karchy' Kosiczky

Baby (uncredited)

Eddie Laughton

Mr. Brophy (uncredited)

Jewish Man (uncredited)

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William Meader

Hardware Man (uncredited)

James Millican

Nurse (uncredited)

Frank Mills

Drunk in Alcoholic Ward (uncredited)

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Pat Moriarity

Irishman (uncredited)

William Newell

Liquor Store Proprietor (uncredited)

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William O'Leary

Irishman (uncredited)

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Peter Potter

Shaky and Sweaty Man (uncredited)

Stanley Price

Fruit Clerk (uncredited)

Craig Reynolds

George (uncredited)

Lester Sharpe

Jewish Man (uncredited)

Lee Shumway

Guard (uncredited)

Douglas Spencer

Hospital Patient Seeing Imaginary Beetles (uncredited)

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Al Stewart

Mattress Man (uncredited)

Amzie Strickland

Woman in Bar (uncredited)

Harry Tenbrook

Drunk in Alcoholic Ward (uncredited)

Fred 'Snowflake' Toones

Washroom Attendant at Harry & Joe's (uncredited)

Pawnbroker with Helen's Coat (uncredited)

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Gisela Werbisek

Mrs. Wertheim (uncredited)

Crane Whitley

Waiter at Harry & Joe's Bar (uncredited)

Ernest Whitman

Black Man Talking to Himself (uncredited)

Woman Before Pawn Shop (uncredited)

Audrey Young

Cloak Room Attendant (uncredited)

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Dick Gordon

Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)

User Reviews

Geronimo1967

1 Jul 2022

A truly evocative tour de force from Ray Milland in this semi-autobiographical tale of four days in the life of writer Charles R. Jackson - characteri...

JPV852

4 Dec 2020

This Best Picture winner (also won for director, actor and screenplay) was decently acted, albeit a bit too theatrical (stage type) for my taste but s...

nutshell

3 Aug 2019

One of Billy Wilder's best films, and certainly Ray Milland's best performance as he's cast against type playing a failed alcoholic author. Milland pe...

John Chard

8 Feb 2017

Delirium is a disease that only comes at night. Don Birnham is not a drinker, he is in fact a drunk, he is left alone for the weekend by those who ...