Midnight Oil:Movies and More

“Days of Wine and Roses” (1962) IMDb looks inside the private world of an alcoholic as Jack Lemmon plays Joe Clay. Lemmon convincingly portrays the struggles of the charming and talented addict who quickly draws his young wife (played by Lee Remick) into the predictable downward spiral with him. Although some might be tempted to write the film off as a mere modern-day morality tale, I tend to see it as a laudable attempt to deal honestly  with the subject of alcoholism. The flavour is definitely bittersweet. It’s a film that points toward the intensely human capacity for courage, hope and redemption as well as for degradation.

This film was paired with “Clean and Sober” (1988) IMDb with Michael Keaton, 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 song for the movie, "Days of Wine and Roses".

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