Days of Wine and Roses (1962) - Springtime for Classics

"They are not long, the days of wine and roses." 

Director

Blake Edwards

Cast

Jack Lemmon - Joe Clay

Lee Remick - Kirsten Arnesen-Clay
Charles Bickford - Ellis Arnesen
Jack Klugman - Jim Hungerford
Debbie Megowan - Debbie Clay
Jack Albertson - Trayner


The crutch of booze is really no crutch at all. It has certainly lead millions to believe otherwise. Certainly, millions of people will attest just how low it will drag a person down. 

This is the premise of the 1962 psychological drama "Days of Wine and Roses," directed by Blake Edwards ("Breakfast at Tiffany's," "The Pink Panther") and staring Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick. 

I mentioned in my review of "A Face in the Crowd," which also stars Remick, that I'm on a sort of "classics kick" this spring. I'm eager to watch and comment on a long list of classic movies. What I didn't mention is that I'm particularly interested in watching classics staring actor and comedian, Jack Lemmon. There'll be a bunch of Lemmon flicks on this platform in the days to come. So, you're welcome!

He's definitely one of my favorite actor and comedians of all time. Lemmon has an impressive and versatile knack for playing a fellow who can loosen up, and maybe be a bit of a pushover as he did in "The Apartment" or a compulsive person as seen in his role in "The Odd Couple." He can play an edgy protagonist like he did in "The Prisoner of Second Avenue." The way he can mouth off into a frustrated tirade, especially when fellow comedian Walter Matthau is at the receiving end, is hilarious. Nobody can toss a tirade like Lemmon. It's the Lemmon touch!

My introduction to Lemmon was the 1968 movie "The Odd Couple" with Walter Matthau. And if you ask me, it's a great introduction. If you don't ask, it's still a great introduction. 

I have never seen him in such a dramatic role like his performance in "Days of Wine and Roses." 

In this movie Lemmon plays a public relations executive in San Francisco named Joe Clay. He happens to meet a cute secretary named Kirsten Arnesen (Lee Remick) who comes across as arrogant. However, she agrees to go out with Joe, who happens to enjoy a drink or two...or three... or four for the sake of having a good time. Why else would anyone drink? 

Kirsten, however, doesn't drink at all. She relies on chocolate as a means to make herself feel good. To her, it tastes better than alcohol.

Joe coaxes her to try drinking socially, introducing her to Brandy Alexander - a chocolate flavored brandy-based dessert cocktail with cognac, crème de cacao, and cream.

After a few Brandy Alexanders, Kirsten admits the drinks make her feel good. 

They go out on a few more dates for some evening cocktails before Kirsten takes Joe to go meet her father, Ellis Arnesen (Charles Bickford). He runs a nursery and landscaping business out in San Mateo. 

Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick in "Days of Wine and Roses."

He's a bit weary of Joe as any father would be towards his daughter's suitor. Just before leaving, Kirsten drops the bomb that she and Joe got married. 

By the time their daughter, Debbie, is born, Joe and Kirsten have fallen into alcoholism. 

It affects Joe's performance at work resulting in his inability to keep a job. This poor performance on the work front goes on for a few years, losing one job after another. 

And as Kirsten is a stay-at-home mom, she takes up drinking as a means to pass the time. 

While meandering along the sidewalks one afternoon, Joe catches his reflection in a store window and he doesn't like what he sees. 

The sight of himself, drunk and dejected, ignites within him a desire to clean himself up and lay off alcohol. 

He tries to persuade Kirsten that they need to stop drinking, and she reluctantly agrees. 

Together, they go to work at Ellis's nursery with a good start at sobriety. 

One rainy night, Joe sneaks in a bottle of booze into their bedroom (and hides an extra bottle in the greenhouse) so he and Kirsten can have just a little nightcap.

This "little" nightcap turns into an all-out binge. 

After they polish off the first bottle, Joe goes to find the second bottle hidden in a pot inside his father-in-law's greenhouse. 

He becomes frantic when he can't find it, destroying pots and plants until it turns up. 

After passing out on the greenhouse floor, Joe wakes up to find himself in a strait jacket and committed into a sanitarium. 

From then on, he swears to stay sober and joins an Alcoholics Anonymous group thanks to the help of a reliable sponsor, Jim Hungerford (Jack Klugman).

While Joe makes a sincere effort to sober up, Kirsten is unwilling to join AA and doesn't want to stop drinking as she thinks she has it under control. Neither does she think she has the will power like Joe does. Her love for chocolate may have been a sign that she has an addictive nature.

When Kirsten disappears for several days on a drinking binge, Joe finds her checked into a motel, passed out drunk. 

He tries to encourage his wife again to clean herself up for the sake of their marriage and their daughter. But Kirsten refuses. After smelling alcohol on her breath, and seeing all the booze in the room, Joe falls off the wagon and gets drunk. 

So much so that he breaks into a nearby liquor store and attempts to steal a bottle before the owner catches him. 

Back in the sanitarium, Joe realizes, thanks to the painful advice from Jim, that if he is going to conquer alcoholism, he's going to have to avoid all occasions to drinking including Kirsten. It's a painful truth which he brought upon himself.

A year later, as Joe has been sober and taking care of Debbie, Kirsten pays him a visit at his apartment. She hasn't had a drink in two days. Kirsten tries to reconcile with Joe, but he says he can only take her

back if she cleans herself up and quits drinking once and for all. He wants her back more than anything. And Debbie sorely misses her mother. For Kirsten, it's not that easy, not even for her daughter and her marriage. 

"Days of Wine and Roses" is an accurate depiction of human nature, and to the extent a person must sacrifice to conquer vice. 

The film is predictable because alcoholism, or any other attachment and dependence to whatever pulls us from grace, is predictable. 

In this movie, Joe is the one who brought alcohol into Kirsten's life, and together they brought it into their marriage. But redemption is like walking against an escalator. It's slow, tedious and difficult, but not impossible.

There are a few references to Looney Tunes as these cartoons are seen playing on television a few times throughout the movie. When Kirsten gets drunk and ends up accidentally causing a fire in the apartment, she's watching a Looney Tunes cartoon at the time. 

I can guess what this might mean. Both characters treat life and their responsibilities as parents as seriously as a children's cartoon when they drown themselves in booze. They're as irresponsible as children.

Lemmon has a lot of emotions to convey, which he manages to do naturally. He starts off as trying to be charming, then shifts to being a pitiful drunk at rock bottom. His character goes through the turmoil of alcoholism which involves despair, fear, reformation, regret and heartbreak.

He has to play a character who goes through the dilemma of allowing his passions and desires to control his reason. And that's relatable to everyone. It's not easy to watch. 

One thing I did miss is Jack Alberson's role in this movie. Albertson is known for playing "Grandpa Joe" in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" 

"Days of Wine and Roses" is likely a familiar tale for a vast amount of people. It's relatable and real from beginning to end. The subject of alcoholism is treated as bluntly and straightforward as it ought to be. It doesn't end on a particularly happy note as I'm sure alcoholism takes something away from its victims each time, which they may not realize until they sober up.