The Top 100 Project

Fittingly, the day after a passably uplifting film wins Best Picture of 2021, we post a chat about The Lost Weekend. Billy Wilder was a genius at tragi-comedy, so he isn't at his best directing something like this. Still, his Oscars-sweeper remains an effective effort. Most of Wilder's legendary films were ahead in the '50s, but his Oscar-festooned 1945 "drinking'll wreck ya" drama is a vivid forerunner of desperate alcoholism. Yes, Leaving Las Vegas, Young Adult and others did it better, but this was revolutionary for its time. Ray Milland took home a trophy for Best Actor (despite the thick-laying he's doing) and Jane Wyman is underused, but the cast is still pretty authentic. So pour 1 (or 100) out to the demons and also to the saints as the 435th Ellises' Analysis concludes Oscar Month with a chat about Wilder's Weekend.   Well, Actually: Alcoholics Anonymous got its start 10 years earlier in 1935. Also, I.A.L. Diamond became Wilder's writing partner in 1957 when they co-wrote Love In The Afternoon. Also