The Lost Weekend: Difference between revisions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Content added Content deleted
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 3: Line 3:
{{quote|"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation. I can't take quiet desperation!"|'''Don Brinam'''}}
{{quote|"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation. I can't take quiet desperation!"|'''Don Brinam'''}}


A 1944 novel by Charles R. Jackson, '''''The Lost Weekend''''' entered the [[Popcultural Osmosis]] once the film version was released the following year. Directed and co-written by [[Billy Wilder]] and starring Ray Milland, the film won four [[Academy Award|Oscars]], including Best Picture.
A 1944 novel by Charles R. Jackson, '''''The Lost Weekend''''' entered the [[Popcultural Osmosis]] once the film version was released the following year. Directed and co-written by [[Billy Wilder]] and starring Ray Milland, the film won the [[Palme d'Or]] and four [[Academy Award|Oscars]] (including Best Picture).


An alcoholic writer, Don Birnam, leads a tough existence in New York City. His girlfriend, Helen, is one of the few people out there who can hopefully lead him on the straight and narrow. However, Don's personal life has been at a crossroads due to his insecurities. After ditching his brother's suggestion for a weekend in the country, Don begins a long drinking binge (the titular lost weekend). Of course, the more he drinks, the closer it may be to his last one...
An alcoholic writer, Don Birnam, leads a tough existence in New York City. His girlfriend, Helen, is one of the few people out there who can hopefully lead him on the straight and narrow. However, Don's personal life has been at a crossroads due to his insecurities. After ditching his brother's suggestion for a weekend in the country, Don begins a long drinking binge (the titular lost weekend). Of course, the more he drinks, the closer it may be to his last one...
Line 17: Line 17:


{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
{{Palme d'Or}}
{{Academy Award Best Picture}}
{{Academy Award Best Picture}}
[[Category:The Lost Weekend]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Lit Fic]]
[[Category:Lit Fic]]
[[Category:The Forties]]
[[Category:The Forties]]
Line 26: Line 27:
[[Category:Cannes Film Festival]]
[[Category:Cannes Film Festival]]
[[Category:Films Based on Novels]]
[[Category:Films Based on Novels]]
⚫
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lost Weekend, The}}
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Literature]]
[[Category:Literature]]
⚫
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lost Weekend, The}}

Revision as of 20:05, 29 November 2020
"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation. I can't take quiet desperation!"
—Don Brinam

A 1944 novel by Charles R. Jackson, The Lost Weekend entered the Popcultural Osmosis once the film version was released the following year. Directed and co-written by Billy Wilder and starring Ray Milland, the film won the Palme d'Or and four Oscars (including Best Picture).

An alcoholic writer, Don Birnam, leads a tough existence in New York City. His girlfriend, Helen, is one of the few people out there who can hopefully lead him on the straight and narrow. However, Don's personal life has been at a crossroads due to his insecurities. After ditching his brother's suggestion for a weekend in the country, Don begins a long drinking binge (the titular lost weekend). Of course, the more he drinks, the closer it may be to his last one...

Tropes used in The Lost Weekend include:
  • The Alcoholic: Possibly the first Hollywood film to treat alcoholism in anything resembling a realistic way.
  • At the Opera Tonight
  • Bowdlerise: The novel pointed to a homosexual affair as the root of Birnam's troubles; the film version replaced it with writer's block.
  • Drunken Montage
  • I'll Tell You When I've Had Enough!
  • Moral Guardians: On both ways: the liquor industry tried to sway Paramount from releasing the film, allegedly even going as far to bribe Billy Wilder. On the other hand, the more traditional folks tried to keep it from release for fears it would encourage drinking.
  • Pink Elephants: A particularly terrifying use of this trope.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/The_Lost_Weekend?oldid=1849657"