Midnight Oil:Movies and More

“Days of Wine and Roses” (1962)  is a movie that looks inside the private life of an alcololic. Jack Lemmon, the actor, plays the part of Joe Clay, the public relations man. Lemmon convincingly shows us the struggles of the charming and talented addict who quickly draws his young wife into the predictable downward spiral of alcoholism with him. The wife, named Kirsten, is played admirably by Lee Remick. 

Although some people might want to say that this movie is just modern-day morality tale in film, I tend to see the movie as a good attempt to deal honestly  with the subject of alcoholism. The flavour and tone of the film is definitely bittersweet. It’s a film that points out how quickly human beings can fall into a state of self-destruction and degredation. However, it is also a film that points toward the intensely human capacity for courage, hope and redemption.

This film was shown  with the movie  “Clean and Sober” (1988)  starring Michael Keaton. The movie "Clean and Sober" is another very powerful film about addiction. See the Saturday Night at the Movies preview for both films in the “Hooked” episode here.

View this retrospective on the acting career of the late Jack Lemmon set to Henry Mancini's Oscar winning theme song for the movie, "Days of Wine and Roses".

>>Real Life Story : Josh Hamilton, a professional baseball player, tells about his battle to get clean and sober. Josh tells of his struggle with drugs and alcohol after a tragic accident and an unearthly encounter.

>>More to see: Looking for more out of life?

<<Back to the original version of this post.

Catch the video trailer for “Days of Wine and Roses” here.