days of wine & roses

The sad story of Days of Wine and Roses was an interesting choice for director Blake Edwards and actor Jack Lemmon, who were primarily known for slapstick. The film is based upon a successful 1958 Playhouse 90 television production. Set in San Francisco, it tells the story of a public relations man, Joe Clay (Lemmon), who falls in love with a secretary, Kirsten Arnesen (Lee Remick). The courtship isn't smooth sailing: Arnesen is fairly independent-minded and her father is suspect of Clay and his profession. Clay, a heavy drinker, mostly due to having to spearhead many drunken parties for his firm's clients, introduces Kristen to alcohol. After having a daughter, Kristen slowly becomes an alcoholic, at one point, accidentally burning down their apartment with a cigarette match. Clay loses his job and the two move in with Kristen's father. The couple attempt sobriety but the spiral continues downward. Clay is committed to a sanitarium and attends Alcohol Anonymous meetings and eventually achieves sobriety. Kristen on the other hand, is hopeless, choosing addiction to sobriety.

Thanks to Lemmon's active performance (he always is such a lovable guy, even when he's difficult) and under the sensitive direction of Edwards, Days of Wine and Roses is still a good watch today. Remick is also good as the sad Kirsten. Since 1962, films have become more sophisticated with portraying addiction and alcoholism--there's a lot of dramatic bottle swigging on display here--but the rawness and sensitivity of the film is undeniable. The lovely score by Henry Mancini which primarily uses variations of the Oscar-winning title song backs the breakdown of Clay and Kirsten's love affair effectively. Appropriate to the storyline, Mancini's melody rises and then falls, twice, and then resolves itself once it rises again.


-Jeffery Berg


The title is from the Ernest Dowson poem "Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam" from 1896 which is read by Remick in the film.

They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,

Love and desire and hate;

I think they have no portion in us after

We pass the gate.

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:

Out of a misty dream

Our path emerges for a while, then closes

Within a dream.

nobody's perfect

Watching Billy Wilder's comic masterpiece Some Like It Hot last night at Film Forum with my friend Katie (she writes about the experience here), got me thinking about how little Hollywood has progressed. Mainstream cross-dressing comedy hits like 1982's Tootsie and 1995's Too Wong Foo... seem mild in comparison to the ribald nature of Wilder's film. Wilder took a risk by not re-editing after a bad test screening. According to Jack Lemmon, Wilder said, "I don't panic over one bad preview. It's a hell of a movie." Indeed it became a sensation. The film was banned in Kansas and condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency. The production code died soon after its release. In relation to other films of its time period, it seems risque. Besides all the gender-bending and playfully violent mafia subplot, curvy (she was reportedly pregnant at the time) sex kitten Marylin Monroe is shot in the most revealing dresses (Oscar winning designs by Orry-Kelly). There is plenty of overt sexual innuendo as well.

Besides Wilder's snappy direction (it looks gorgeous in black and white, especially on the big screen), the film really belongs to its performers. Jack Lemmon zips through it with his zany energy and incredible physical comedy skills. Tony Curtis, as his droll sidekick, is at times touching and at his comic best with an imitation of Cary Grant (an imitation within an imitation). And Marylin Monroe is perfectly funny and vivacious, cooing through her now legendary musical numbers. It's a classic one-of-a-kind trio.

Fifty years later and the issue of gay marriage is finally on the table. The National Equality March is this weekend in D.C. I just got an email from moveon.org about protecting marriage rights in Maine. In one of the best endings in cinematic history, Some Like It Hot's last line--"Well, nobody's perfect"--seems as apt as ever. Sometimes it takes a good comedy to remind us how silly our hangups can be.

-Jeffery Berg