The Lost Weekend(1945)

Storyline

• Don Birnam, long-time alcoholic, has been "on the wagon" for ten days and seems to be over the worst; but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother Wick and girlfriend Helen, he begins a four-day bender. In flashbacks we see past events, all gone wrong because of the bottle. But this bout looks like being his last...one way or the other. — Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu> An alcoholic spends a weekend alone with only his bottle for company. Don Burnam is a less than successful writer who shares an apartment with his brother Wick. He quit college midway through after selling a story to a major magazine but found that success would elude him. He turned to drink and now finds himself going on regular binges. He's supposed to go away with Wick for the weekend but having found $10 meant for their cleaning lady, soon finds himself at the local liquor store and his favorite bar. He reminisces with the bartender and anyone who will listen about his life and particularly about Helen St. James who he met at the opera and who loves him dearly, despite his illness. His weekend binge gets him into the drunk ward at the hospital and once home, contemplates suicide. — garykmcd Writer Don Birnam is on the wagon. Sober for only a few days, Don is supposed to be spending the weekend with his brother, Wick, but, eager for a drink, Don convinces his girlfriend to take Wick to a show. Don, meanwhile, heads to his local bar and misses the train out of town. After recounting to the bartender how he developed a drinking problem, Don goes on a weekend-long bender that just might prove to be his last. — Jwelch5742 Don Birnam is an alcoholic. His brother Wick and girlfriend Helen know but believe that he is on the wagon, a belief he does his best not to shatter. They try to keep him sober and healthy by arranging trips and other such events. One is this weekend - Don and Wick are heading to the country. However, Don manages to delay the trip and then evade it altogether, in order to get drunk in a bar. He has no money, so often ends up getting his alcohol by more and more outlandish and nefarious means. He does have two things going for him: Helen loves him and will do anything to see him shake his addiction. The other is that he has a great talent for writing, and has great ambition in that regard. However, his productivity as a writer is undermined by his alcoholism, creating a downward spiral of despair and addiction. Sensing his own plight, his thoughts turn darker. — grantss 1 more See all