The Lost Weekend: 1945 Best Picture

“The Lost Weekend” was the second most nominated film at the 18th Academy Awards. It got 7 nominations and won 4: Best Picture, Best Director (Billy Wilder), Best Actor (Ray Milland) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder).

It was adapted from Charles R. Jackson’s 1944 novel of the same name about an alcoholic writer. Paramount paid Jackson $50,000 for the rights to his novel. Despite the studio’s fears about the subject matter and a $5,000 bribe not to release it from the liquor industry, they went ahead and the film was a major hit. Part of its commercial success is attributed to the waves of GIs returning from WWII who were abusing alcohol. None of the other actors in “The Lost Weekend” were nominated for Oscars.

The other Best Picture nominees were:

“The Bells of St. Mary’s, featuring Bing Crosby as Father O’Malley (his Ocar-winning role in “Going My Way”) and Ingrid Bergman as a nun. It got the most nominations (8) that year but won for Best Sound, Recording (Stephen Dunn).
“Anchors Aweigh”, a musical comedy, starring Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson and Gene Kelly. Out of 5 nominations, it only won the Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture (George Stoll)
“Mildred Pierce” is a drama about a mother (Joan Crawford) who sacrifices to provide a better life for a daughter (Ann Blyth), who turns out to be such a snake she steals her mommy’s man (Zachary Scott). Out of 6 nominations, only Crawford won for Best Actress
“Spellbound” is a psychological thriller. It starred Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant and was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Out of 6 nominations, the only one that got picked up was Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Miklós Rózsa).

Here are the Jeopardy! clues we found on “The Lost Weekend”:
BINGE WATCHING $600: Bartender Howard Da Silva finally cuts off Ray Milland early in this film
BEST ACTOR OSCARS $2000: 1945: Ray Milland as alcoholic Don Birnam
OSCAR WINNERS OF YORE $1600: Alcoholic Ray Milland is reminded that “One’s too many and a hundred’s not enough” in this film
EVERYBODY LOVES RAY $500: 25 years after “The Lost Weekend”, he played Ryan O’Neal’s dad in “Love Story”
BRITISH GHOSTS $500: He was haunted by the D.T.s in “The Lost Weekend” & by English ghosts in “The Uninvited”
1945 $500: He “lost” a “weekend” but won an Oscar
KICK THE CANNES $1000: The first festival in 1946 screened “The Lost Weekend” directed by this man.
FILMS OF THE ’40s $1200: This Best Picture Oscar winner of 1945 was filmed in part in the alcoholic ward of NYC’s Bellevue Hospital

Clues on other 1945 films:
HELLO, DALI $600: This director admired Dali’s work & used him for the dream sequences in the 1945 film “Spellbound”
DOCUMENTARIES $800: A 1945 Hitchcock film shares its name with this 2002 documentary about the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition
10-LETTER WORDS $1200: Entranced, or a 1945 Hitchcock film
RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN $2000: Musical numbers in this 1945 film include “All I Owe Ioway” & “It’s a Grand Night for Singing”
PRESIDENTS IN IOWA $500: In 1975 Ford attended this, the subject of a 1945 Rodgers & Hammerstein film musical
OLD MOVIES $1000: “Corny” 1945 film with Bette Davis as a devoted Welsh schoolteacher
MOVIE DEBUTS $500: The 1945 film “Rhapsody in Blue” introduced Alan Alda’s dad Robert Alda as this composer
“BLUE” MOVIES $300: George Gershwin’s songs were featured in this 1945 biographical film
“GREEN” $800: Emlyn Williams play filmed in 1945 with Bette Davis & in 1979 with Katharine Hepburn
FAMOUS FELINES: He made his debut in the 1945 short film “Life with Feathers”
TOYS & GAMES $400: Introduced as a doll for boys, this action figure was named after a 1945 WWII movie
MUSIC MEN $800: “Rhapsody in Blue”, a piece by this composer, was used as the title of a 1945 movie biography of him