RAY MILLAND in "The Lost Weekend" (1945)

 

This has been one of my favorite movies throughout this experience and even more so one of my favorite performances.  Ray Milland’s portrayal of a chronic alcoholic just plain hurt.  I watched the scene of him recounting his life and his desperate affair with the bottle five times over it was so good.  Milland opens your eyes to a struggling man on the verge of destruction and makes it both terrifying and exciting to watch.  He makes you empathize with a man who has taken advantage of everyone around him only to push them away moments later.  He does this by finding the good in him.

According to IMDb, the liquor industry thought a big budget movie with a main character who was slowly destroying every facet of his life through liquor would not be good for business so they offered Paramount 5 million dollars not to make the movie.  Director, Billy Wilder said he would have accepted had they offered the 5 million directly to him.

Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend

Academy Stats

• (won) Best Actor
• (won) Best Director (Billy Wilder)
• (won) Best Picture
• (won) Best Writing
• (nominated) Best Cinematography B/W
• (nominated) Best Editing
• (nominated) Best Music

Sources:

http://www.listal.com/