Directed by:
Billy WilderCinematography:
John F. SeitzComposer:
Miklós RózsaCast:
Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard Da Silva, Doris Dowling, Clarence Muse, Frank Faylen, Lilian Fontaine, Earle Hyman, Byron Foulger (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Ray Milland stars as alcoholic writer Don Birnam in Billy Wilder's first unabashedly dramatic film, and one of the first to deal in such painstaking detail with the disease of alcoholism. Don shares an apartment in New York City in the 1940s with his brother Wick (Phillip Terry) who has his hands full trying to deal with his brother's drinking problem. One night, Don encourages his brother to take his girlfriend Helen St. James (Jane Wyman) to hear some music only so that he can be out from under their watchful eyes. Taking the money left for the maid, he goes out to buy some liquor, stashing one bottle in the chandelier. When he goes to the bar the next day, Nat (Howard Da Silva), the owner berates him for treating his girlfriend badly and warns him that he's on a path toward death. Don returns to the apartment to try to work on his novel "The Bottle," but consumed by self-doubt, goes to another bar, and steals a woman's purse to buy a drink. As the weekend wears on, his spiral downward continues apace. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
James Conaty
USA
Best movies:
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
![Amzie Strickland](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/223/160223023_ad7cdf.jpg)
Amzie Strickland
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
Scarlet Street (1945)
![Audrey Long](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/270/160270829_9533cc.jpg)
Audrey Long
USA
Best movies:
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Born to Kill (1947)
Tall in the Saddle (1944)
![Harry Wilson](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/346/160346073_c6f780.jpg)
Harry Wilson
UK
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Modern Times (1936)
![Ernest Hilliard](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/452/160452430_a9f5c8.jpg)
Ernest Hilliard
USA
Best movies:
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Gilda (1946)
Random Harvest (1942)
![Anita Sharp-Bolster](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/552/160552338_689b9a.jpg)
Anita Sharp-Bolster
Ireland
Best movies:
Scarlet Street (1945)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
![Douglas Spencer](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/768/160768733_96fb2d.jpg)
Douglas Spencer
USA
Best movies:
Double Indemnity (1944)
The Heiress (1949)
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
Al Stewart
Best movies:
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Man Who Laughs (1928)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
![Frank Orth](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/462/161462958_6a50f4.png)
Frank Orth
USA
Best movies:
The Lost Weekend (1945)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Perc Launders
USA
Best movies:
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Crane Whitley
USA
Best movies:
The Lost Weekend (1945)
To Each His Own (1946)
The Flying Deuces (1939)
David Clyde
UK
Best movies:
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Gisela Werbisek
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
The Great Sinner (1949)
Lester Sharpe
USA
Best movies:
Casablanca (1942)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Lust for Life (1956)
William Meader
USA
Best movies:
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
The Sound of Music (1965)
Ted Hecht
USA
Best movies:
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Gilda (1946)
Anna and the King of Siam (1946)
Ernest Whitman
USA
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Birth of the Blues (1941)
Mary Young
USA
Best movies:
The Lost Weekend (1945)
To Each His Own (1946)
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Willa Pearl Curtis
USA
Best movies:
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Valley of Decision (1945)
Unconquered (1947)
Craig Reynolds
USA
Best movies:
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Nevada (1944)
The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945)