The Lost Weekend

Four Academy Awards (Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay) went to Billy Wilder's social drama, a groundbreaking look into the dangers of alcoholism that was almost not released. Ray Milland stars as Don Birnam, an alcoholic writer who blows off a weekend trip with his brother and falls into a maelstrom of delusion and dementia and winds up in a psychiatric ward during a four-day bender. Jane Wyman, Howard Da Silva, Frank Faylen also star; based on the novel by Charles R. Jackson. 101 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: French, Spanish; production notes; biographies; theatrical trailer.