The 18th Academy Awards was one for the books. The first Academy Awards to be held after World War II, Hollywood went all out in order to celebrate many successes. It did not come and go without it's dramas as well. One of which being Joan Crawford. Ms. Crawford claimed that she had Pneumonia and could not attend that night, however, she really didn't show up because she thought that she was not going to win the award for Best Actress and didn't want to be embarrassed. Well, it ended up that she did win the award and it was delivered to her in bed that night. However, it would be Billy Wilder who would walk out of the Awards with the top honor of that night. It would be his movie The Lost Weekend that would win the Best Picture that night.
This is of a man who was supposed to go out of town, back home, on a long weekend with his brother. We think that he the movie is going to be about the travel back home, we quickly learn that that is not the case. Don, an author, is trying to get his girlfriend, Helen, and is brother, Phillip, out of the house before they leave for the trip. He says that he would like to rest and would like some time alone in order to be well rested for the trip. However, we soon learn that he is actually hiding liquor and would like to drink it without being yelled at by his loved ones. Don is an alcoholic. He has tried giving up before, and Phillip has done everything in his power to help him, but nothing seems to kick the habit for real. So, when Phillip finds out what he is doing he gets mad a leaves to go home alone and leave Don to make his choices as he will. Helen, who is head over heels in love with Don, doesn't want to give up hope of Don just yet. She tries to reason with Don, and tries to get more help, but nothing works to change his mind. Thus, Don sets himself up for a long lost weekend of drinking, misery, and reflecting on how he got to this position in life in the first place.
This film had it's troubles when it was first test released. This drama was very much a comedy when it first tested. People laughed at Don's performance for being overly dramatic. The film was looked over again and figured that they needed to musical score. They weren't originally going to release with one but seeing that the audience needed a little help getting into the mood of the film. it seemed to have done the trick because this film beat out: MGM''s Anchors Aweigh, RKO's The Bells of St. Mary's, Warner Brother's Mildred Pierce, and United Artists' Spellbound to win the top award of the night. It was also chosen from preservation by National Film Registry in 2011.
I have to say that The Lost Weekend was a lost 3 hours for me. I could not stand how slow the film was. I could not stand any of the performances. I felt that they were overly dramatic, and a big over compensation though the entire film. I could not really figure out why this film was made, the purpose behind it, or anything along those lines at all. I think this was one of those films that it sounded good on paper but did not work out in construction. Any of the other films on that list should have won over this film.
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