The Lost Weekend (1945), directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Ray Milland and Jane Wyman.

Wilder’s portrait of an alcoholic writer’s descent into hell was seemingly inspired by his working with Raymond Chandler. One of only three films to win the top prize at both the Cannes film festival and the Oscars, this is an unrelenting view of an appalling sickness, with John F Seitz’s camerawork moving from an unglamorously realistic view of New York to expressionist imagery describing the terrors that Don Birnam (Milland) suffers as his sickness slips into psychosis, with Miklós Rózsa’s score, amongst the first to feature the theremin, adding pathos to the mix. Only a somewhat prefunctory ending demanded by the Production Code of the time mars a truly terrifying film.

“The film is uncompromising in its depiction of the lies, self-deception and degradation that alcoholism leads to, and its confrontation of the fact that the only solution is abstinence” (The Guardian).

Presented from a 16mm print.

Doors open at 18.30, for a 19.30 start.

Refreshments will be available in our licensed cafe/bar.

TICKETS & PRICING

Tickets £8.

Advance tickets may be purchased from Ticketlab, or direct from the Museum by calling 020 7840 2200 in office hours.