NYC Noir Double Feature: The Lost Weekend and The Big Clock

With the double feature I saw today, it's clear that the NYC Noir Series is not only about murders and scandal. It's just about portraying New York City in a different, and darker, light-as was the case during the first film of the double feature-"The Lost Weekend," from 1945. Today I was really introduced to Ray Milland, who was in both features, and continued my trip down the impressive resume of Billy Wilder, whose work I am slowly seeing over time-highlights include "The Seven Year Itch" and "Some Like It Hot." The connection of this double feature is not only the featured work of Milland, but two very different stories on the effects of alcohol-one a little more realistic, and the other a downright mystery/cat and mouse chase-two big extremes to a serious issue.

The Lost Weekend ***1/2
101 Minutes
Directed by Billy Wilder

The first film was 'The Lost Weekend," and it was no real surprise later in the day when I read that it won Best Picture of that Oscar Year (1945). This is a brutal and sometimes painful film to watch, more-so in the last thirty minutes, of the long weekend of alcoholic Don Birnam. Promising to go to the country with his brother for the weekend, he tricks him and ends up staying home alone where he gets his hands on some money and takes a trip to the bar. Over the weekend we get to see a little bit more about him-how he started drinking, how he tried to hide it from the one woman that he loves, etc.

Ray Milland does an excellent job portraying this drunk-who ends up being a sick person and yet one that we can easily like. He is not abusive, he just has a problem and he knows it. It's easy to feel sympathy for him and at the same time we don't want to at all. It was fascinating listening to this script, which takes the bottle and tells about it in a way that is both glorifying and at the same time telling us how horrible it is. Milland's conversations with the barkeep up the block from his apartment are a pleasure to watch, and Wilder's dialogue is mint. I will admit the film got a little too much during the last twenty minutes-a graphic image of a bat eating a rat was the tip of the iceberg-and it stumbled into melodrama. But with great images of this beautiful city balanced with images of its most seedy residents-prostitutes, drunks, etc-"The Lost Weekend" is a treat for the eyes. Watch for the great comedy moment when desperate Milland tries to pawn his typewriter, but finds all the shops closed because it's Yom Kippur.

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The Big Clock (1948) ***1/2
95 Minutes
Directed by John Farrow

Now we have something a little different, but I can see why they connected these films. Ray Milland is back once again, this time as George Stroud a magazine editor. When he quits his job and is blacklisted for wanting to go on his long awaited honeymoon with his wife (almost seven years long awaited!) George ends up spending an evening with the lovely Pauline York, where they have a few drinks and go on a quest to find a green clock. When big shot magazine boss Earl Janoth(played by Charles Laughton) ends up killing Pauline, he decides to bring back George to find the guy that she was fooling around with-and then, I guess, pin the death on that person. He never tells anybody that she is dead, and she is on the floor of her apartment for most of the film. George goes on the case, trying never to let on that the person everybody is looking for is. . . him.

This is a fun mystery story, the typical combination of suspense and laughs. I think my favorite character in the whole picture is Elsa Lanchester's Louise Patterson-a painter with several kids and many former husbands. She's only in it for a while, and it wasn't until that the end that I realized it was here when I saw her name in the credits, but she's worth a laugh and not too bad to look at. This does have the classic noir characters-the overall good guy who gets sucked into a wild adventure-the woman that does it to him-the seedy and corrupt big boss who sits behind his desk. Charles Laughton is great in this latter part, complete with his tie and mustache that he is always touching. The script is a tricky one to do-we already know who the killer is, so now we get to watch the fun as Milland tries to cover his tracks. We know that he didn't do it, but he is still in terrible danger, and the script has some fun with this-like watching his hide his hat when he hears that the police have a description of it. "The Big Clock" is wonderful entertainment, with a very suspenseful and thrilling final fifteen minutes.

For more information on the NYC Noir Series, visit the Official Film Forum Website!