Former light comedian Jack Lemmon's powerful performance as an alcoholic counts among Hollywood's most memorable depictions of this condition such as Ray Milland in THE LOST WEEKEND and Jimmy Cagney in COME FILL THE CUP. He's a young, bright adman who meets and falls in love with Remick.
Early in their relationship, he's just a social drinker and she's a teetotaler. Soon after their marriage, subtle changes begin to occur. Lemmon is stressed out from work and begins drinking daily after work. Remick adores him and soon joins in sharing the bottle. Before long they are immersed in
the liquored life and even the birth of their baby daughter fails to slow their descent into the gutter.
The movie features many emotionally shattering scenes and the going sometimes gets rough. Lemmon surprised many with the intensity of his performance. He has a mad spell in a greenhouse and an almost SNAKE PIT-like siege in a hospital ward. This is a long way from frolicking in drag with Marilyn
Monroe in SOME LIKE IT HOT! The screenplay was based on J.P. Miller's teleplay, which starred Cliff Robertson on "Playhouse 90." Robertson was not a star at the time, and the decision was made to use Lemmon. Edwards's direction was smooth and neither he nor Miller ever took a stance or moralized.
They just showed what it was like to be an alcoholic in the 1960s and let the audience draw its own conclusions. leave a comment
