The Lost Weekend story
The Lost Weekend is a 1945 American drama film noir directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Ray Milland and Jane Wyman. It was based on Charles R. Jackson's 1944 novel about an alcoholic writer. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won four: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It also shared the Grand Prix at the first Cannes Film Festival, making it one of only four films—the other three being Marty (1955), Parasite (2019) and Anora (2024)—to win both the Academy Award for Best Picture and the highest award at Cannes.
16 total · 2 choice · 9 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| alcohol abuse | choice | The story centers around and alcoholic writer, Don Birnam. He tells of how he started drinking, how he tried to write, and how he had occasionally tried to quit drinking. |
| creative writing | choice | The story centers around and alcoholic writer, Don Birnam. He tells of how he started drinking, and how he tried to write with or without the aid of alcohol. In the end he resolved to write. Indeed, the viewer is invited to imagine that the story is the very one Don Birnam wrote but would not have written if he had succeeded in killing himself. |
| alcohol in society | major | Apart from featuring the personal experiences of alcoholic Don Birnam, the story discussed our attitude to alcohol in general. Many scenes were set in bars. Don once found himself locked up with other drunks in the alcoholic ward of a hospital. It was mentioned that Prohibition had turned many of the inmates into what they were. |
| boyfriend and girlfriend | major | Don was supported by his loving girlfriend, Helen, who stood by him despite his rampant alcoholism. |
| brother and brother | major | Don was supported by his loyal brother, Wick, who had tried by hook and by crook to get Don to turn away from the bottle. |
| coping with a problematic family member | major | Don's girlfriend, Helen, and brother, Wick, went to great lengths to compel Don to get off the sauce. |
| coping with personal failure | major | Don was a self-described "flop" of a writer. His writing career had never taken off. He found a flare of creativity whenever he drank, but this led him to become a raging alcoholic and he never amounted to anything. |
| loyalty to one's family | major | Helen and Wick never gave up on Don no matter how many times he let them down, or how deeply he descended into his raging alcoholism. |
| resisting a temptation | major | Don made a number of abortive attempts to forgo a drink, but each time he quickly succumbed to the temptation of the bottle. |
| romantic love | major | Helen loved Don and never gave up on him. |