The Lost Weekend
Longtime alcoholic Don Birnam has been sober for ten days and appears to be over the worst... but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother and girlfriend, he begins a four-day bender that just might be his last – one way or another.
Critics Sentiment
Don hallucinates bat killing mouse during withdrawal
Don desperately searches for open pawnshops on Yom Kippur
The film swings from the devastating low of Don's desperate pawnshop search to the terrifying peak of his delirium tremens hallucination.
The Lost Weekend builds steadily from an intriguing opening through powerful character development, reaching its emotional and artistic peak during Don's withdrawal and hospital sequences. While the realistic descent into alcoholism earns universal critical praise, the optimistic ending divides reviewers who found it less convincing than the harrowing journey that preceded it.
Full cast
Showing 20 of 60
Ray Milland
Don Birnam
Jane Wyman
Helen St. James
Phillip Terry
Wick Birnam
Howard Da Silva
Nat the Bartender
Doris Dowling
Gloria
Frank Faylen
'Bim' Nolan
Mary Young
Mrs. Deveridge
Anita Sharp-Bolster
Mrs. Foley
Lilian Fontaine
Mrs. Charles St. James
Frank Orth
Opera Cloak Room Attendant
Lewis L. Russell
Charles St. James
Andy Andrews
Alcoholic (uncredited)
Walter Baldwin
Man from Albany (uncredited)
Harry Barris
Pianist at Harry & Joe's (uncredited)
Jess Lee Brooks
(uncredited)
Jack Rube Clifford
Guard (uncredited)
David Clyde
Dave (uncredited)
James Conaty
Man in Nightclub Washroom (uncredited)
Willa Pearl Curtis
Mrs. Wertheim's Assistant (uncredited)
John Deauville
Cloakroom Attendant (uncredited)
Crew
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