The Lost Weekend

by Billy Wilder, Jeffrey Meyers (Introduction)

The Lost Weekend swept the 1945 Academy Awards, with nominations for Best Film Editing, Score, and Black and White Cinematography, and Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay. It also received numerous awards at the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Globes. Based on the novel by Charles Jackson, a work that many in Hollywood had thought unfilmmable because of its relentless grimness, The Lost Weekend was one of the first films to explore the devastating effects of alcoholism. Ray Milland was cast against type as Don Birnam, a writer plagued by depression and self-doubt who, as his alcoholism progresses, slips into a horrifying downward spiral of lying, begging, stealing, and madness. Milland's riveting performance won him an Oscar. Jane Wyman also delivers a powerful performance as his faithful girlfriend, Helen St. James, whose selfless love offers Birnam a hope of redemption.

This facsimile edition of The Lost Weekend not only reveals the genius of the film but also illuminates how the script stands alone as a rare, wonderful piece of writing. Jeffrey Meyers's introduction looks at the transformation from novel to film and examines Wilder and coauthor Charles Brackett's methods as collaborators. Readers will gain important insights into the craft of screenwriting, and the personality and methods of one of Hollywood's greatest directors.

150 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Billy Wilder (born Samuel Wilder) was a Polish-born, Jewish-American journalist, screenwriter, Academy Award-winning film director and producer, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age. Many of Wilder's films achieved both critical and public acclaim.

Reviews

[Peiman E iran · Rating 3 out of 5]

دوستانِ گرانقدر، این کتاب در موردِ نویسنده ای الکلی به نام «دان برنم» است که 33 سال سن دارد.. دان، جوانی زیبا و خوشتیپ است، ولی سالهاست درگیرِ الکل شده و زندگی اش رو به نابودی میرود
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دان در دورانِ دانشجویی داستانهایِ کوتاه نوشته که تمامیِ آنها در مجلات و روزنامه ها به چاپ رسیده است.. او برایِ زندگی، شهرِ نیویورک را انتخاب کرده، ولی برای نوشتنِ رمان، تصور میکند که شاید مستی سبب شود تا ذهنش برایِ نوشتن، خلاقیتِ بیشتری داشته باشد، بنابراین مُدام ویسکی میخورد، بلکه ذهنش برای نوشتنِ این رمان آماده شود.. ولی نه تنها چیزی برایِ نوشتن ندارد، بلکه آلودۀ الکل میشود... در این سالها دان درآمدی ندارد و برادرش «ویک» نگهداری و پرستاری از او را به عهده گرفته و علاوه بر این، خرجِ خانه و بیرون رفتنِ او را نیز پرداخت میکند و هرزگاهی بلیطِ تئاتر و موسیقی برای او میگیرد... ویک شش سال از او پرستاری کرده و دیگر خسته شده و نمیتواند این وضعیت را تحمل کند.. بارها و می فروشی هایِ شهر و منطقه همگی دان را میشناسند و دیگر نزدِ هیچکدام اعتباری ندارد... دان با دختری زیبا و مهربان به نام «هلن سنت جیمز» آشنا میشود.. هلن در مجلۀ تایم مشغول به کار است... ورودِ این دخترِ نازنین به زندگیِ دان، میتواند اوضاع را درست کند.. ولی دان فقط و فقط بطری ویسکی را میشناسد و لیاقتِ چنین زنِ مهربانی را ندارد
درکل داستان در موردِ این است که چگونه هلن و ویک تلاش میکنند تا دان را از اعتیاد به الکل نجات دهند.. ولی هرکاری میکنند، دان دوباره وسوسه شده و هرکاری حاضر است انجام دهد تا خماری اش را برطرف کند....... عزیزانم، بهتر است خودتان این داستان را خوانده و از سرانجامِ این داستان و زندگی این نویسندۀ الکلی، آگاه شوید
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نوشتن در موردِ عشق، دشوارترین کارِ دنیاست.. به اندازه ای ساده است که انسان باید از طریقِ جزئیات آن را فهم کند، مثلِ نورِ آفتاب در آغازِ بامداد که به حلبیِ تیرۀ ناودان، برخورد میکند
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جنونِ الکل، بیماریِ شبهاست
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تنها راهِ آغاز، متوقف کردن است... هیچ درمانی غیر از توقف وجود نخواهد داشت
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امیدوارم این ریویو، در جهتِ آشنایی با این کتاب، کافی و مفید بوده باشه
«پیروز باشید و ایرانی»

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 2 out of 5]

دان برنم نویسنده دائم‌الخمری است که خلاقیت‌اش را از دست داده است . در یک تعطیلی آخر هفته که برادر هم‌خانه‌اش، ویک
به سفر رفته، کشمکش برنم با اعتیادش، اوج می‌گیرد و باعث سرگردانی کابوس‌وار او می‌شود . سر آخر، او با دل‌گرمی‌های دوستش، هلن، اراده می‌کند تا نوش‌خواری را ترک کند.

[Roozbeh Estifaee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the script of the movie "The Lost Weekend", 1945. The movie too was produced by Charles Brackett and directed by Billy Wilder. It turned out to be a success, since it could gain whatever honor "Double Indemnity" had failed to achieve. It was generously rewarded with many awards, among which were Golden Globe, Cannes Film Festival Award, and Academy Award for best actor and best movie of the year. The script also won the Oscar of 1945.
"The Lost Weekend" is a good script; and script I should insist on, because if you regard it a story, it will most probably fail to meet your expectations. The text has been brilliantly dramatised, stuffed with accurate details and lively dialogues. Wilder and Brackett have created a visual context, precise but not bounding. But if you look at the plot, there is a rather big pitfall at the end. At the last scene of the movie, Don Birnam's addiction to alcohol is cured in a blink. The whole story has tried to depict the difficulties of alcoholism along with the impossibility of quitting. But the conclusion is intended to show that love and support can create motivations tense enough to overcome the ostacles, and does this in a most childish way. Don's decision to suicide comes from his disappointment of being able to heal; this disppointment just vanishes all of a sudden, and this is where the script is most unsuccessful.
Reading a script belonging to more than 67 years ago is an experience of the other kind. Its focus on the main story line and the neatness are adorable. I don't really get why it received the Oscar, but still I liked it. Nice and lovely.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit this is for the movie rather than the script per se, but really it's the same thing. And it's brilliant- the scene where the sloppy drunk hack writer sees a bat flying around terrifies me even though the special effects are, well, 40's level. That's great directing.


Also, I think it's interesting that (so the story goes, at least) that Wilder made this movie to explain Raymond Chandler's maudlin boozing to him, after the odd couple was forced to be in a room together while they worked on the script for Double Indemnity.

Wilder, a street-smart Viennese cat who liked to pace up and down and whip his cane around while talking a mile a minute, while Chandler liked to chain-smoke, guzzle whiskey, and mope. They couldn't stand each other; people thought Wilder had a urinary tract infection because he kept having to go to the bathroom all the time to get away from Chandler. But DI is cinema gold, so whatayagonnado?

So it's kind of interesting how he next makes a movie about a sad, drunk, scribbler who drinks his life away because the booze helps him to feel like a great artist.


Might make an interesting film, actually...

[Niloo N · Rating 4 out of 5]

تا قبل به پایان رسوندن کتاب، هی داشتم فکر می‌کردم که این متفاوت‌ترین اثری بود که از بیلی وایلدر خوندم/دیدم. اما وقتی به پایان فوق‌العاده فیلمنامه رسیدم، فهمیدم که اتفاقاً این هم مثل تمام کارهای قبلی‌اش سرشار از عشق و امیده و این امید رو خیلی درست به تصویر می‌کشه و برای ملموس کردنش نیازی نداره حتماً از طنز استفاده کنه.

توصیف‌های بی‌نظیری تو کتاب بود و در عین حال داستان کشش زیادی داشت. تعریف فیلمش رو هم شنیده‌ام، ولی می‌خواستم حتماً این رو خونده باشم و بعد برم سراغ فیلم و هر طور که فکر می‌کنم، فیلم نمی‌تونه به اندازه این خوب باشه! :)))

[Luis Cuevas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fucking Don you cocksucker do it for Helen! This is a devastating tale and probably Billy Wilders most real story.