Directed and co-written by two-time Academy Award winner Billy Wilder, THE LOST WEEKEND is to be released in the UK as part of Eureka’s MASTERS OF CINEMA Series on Blu-ray (Standard and SteelBook editions) on 25 June 2012
Directed by Billy Wilder (Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot), this gut-wrenching adaptation of Charles
Jackson’s The Lost Weekend horrified its studio, was rejected by test audiences, and was lobbied by temperance groups, yet
went on to huge success and became the awards sensation of its year.
Ray Milland stars as Don Birnam, a New York author struggling with years of alcoholism and writer’s block. Trying to keep him on the
path to rehabilitation are his straight-laced brother Wick (Philip Terry) and devoted long-time girlfriend Helen (Jane Wyman). When
Don absconds from a country excursion, he embarks on a four-day binge, spiralling towards rock bottom.
“A scarifyingly grim and grimy account… Gripping.” – Tom Milne, Time Out
“…ranks with the best and most disturbing character studies ever put on the screen. The Lost Weekend is truly a chef d’oeuvre of
motion-picture art.” – The New York Times
“Painfully sincere and uncompromising look at alcoholism … with a superb central performance. ?????” – Kim Newman,
Empire
SPECIAL BLU-RAY FEATURES:
• New high-definition master, officially licensed from Universal Pictures • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hearing
impaired
• Exclusive new video introduction by director Alex Cox • The three-part 1992 BBC Arena programme Billy, How Did You
Do It? directed by Gisela Grischow and Volker Schlöndorff, featuring Schlöndorff in conversation with Billy Wilder
• The 1946 Screen Guild Theater radio adaptation of The Lost Weekend – starring Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, and Frankie Faylen
• The original theatrical trailer
• PLUS: A 36-page booklet featuring rare archival imagery, and more!
Winner of the Grand Prix at the first ever Cannes Film Festival, as well as Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay, this
brutal noir provided one of cinema’s first in-depth studies of addiction. Crackling with rapier dialogue, vivid performances, and
Wilder’s superlative direction, The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present The Lost Weekend for the first
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