Alcoholism is an excellent dramatic theme. The director is given many ideas to work from. The personalities and fortunes of the characters can be contrasted before and after they have been drinking. The effects on their health, both mental and physical, their families, and their job can be explored. There can be an enabling character, who helps the alcoholic remain afloat. There can be a rescuer, who attempts to stop the alcoholic from drinking. There can be recoveries and relapses, hopes raised and dashed. And the ending is in limbo, maintaining suspense.
So it is no wonder that there have been many good films about alcoholics. "The Lost Weekend" is probably the best of the genre, but "Days of Wine and Roses" is also very good. Blake Edwards directed and Jack Lemmon has the lead role, although both are better known for comedies. While the script is sometimes heavy-handed, and one suspects that the great majority of alcoholics do not fall from successful businessman to flophouse bum, the symptoms and effects of excessive drinking are effectively depicted.
Jack Lemmon is a gregarious public relations executive, who meets and wins waifish Lee Remick. Lemmon is already an alcoholic, and soon Remick is one as well. Things go from bad to worse, with Lemmon losing his job, and Remick neglecting her child. Charles Bickford plays Remick's sullen father, an enabler who even offers Lemmon a drink. Hope arrives with humorless rescuer and Alcoholics Anonymous member Jack Klugman, but can Lemmon overcome his dependency and save his marriage?
The second half of the film has several extraordinary scenes. Lemmon is shown in a straightjacket: screaming, kicking, biting, and sweating. Later, he is strapped on a bed for days, delirious and half-naked. Remick comes off little better, shown comatose on a couch, drinking heavily and watching Warner Brothers cartoons. (At least Remick remains loyal to the studio that is producing the film.) While unintentionally entertaining, these scenes validate Klugman's prediction: sooner or later the bottle becomes God.
"The Days of Wine and Roses" was based on a 1958 play broadcast on live television. J.P. Miller wrote both the original play and the 1962 adaptation. Blake Edwards, best known for comedies such as the Pink Panther series, served as director. The film received five Academy Award nominations, including Lemmon as Best Actor, and Remick as Best Actress. However, its only win was for the title song, composed by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer. (74/100)
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