MOVIE MUSIC UK

GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Original Review by Craig Lysy

The genesis of the film arose as director Billy Wilder was directing his previous movie, Double Indemnity. His screenwriter Raymond Chandler was a recovering alcoholic, who returned to drinking during the stress of collaborating with Wilder. Wilder related that he made the film, in part, as an attempt to better understand Chandler. Wilder sold his story idea to Paramount executives who assigned production to Charles Brackett with a budget of $1.25 million. Brackett and Wilder collaborated in writing the screenplay, by adapting the novel The Lost Weekend by Charles R. Jackson. Notable was their excising of the novel’s homosexual overtones, which portrayed Don Birnam as a closeted homosexual. Wilder himself would direct and he assembled a fine cast, which included Ray Milland as Don Birnam, Jane Wyman as Helen St. James and Phillip Terry as Wick Brinam. Controversy arose from the liquor industry, which was willing to offer $5 million to kill the project as they feared it would reignite political efforts to restore prohibition. Most interesting is that Wilder later related that he would have accepted the offer and burned the negatives himself had they presented it to him personally. Groundbreaking is film’s uncompromising depiction of the pathos of personal destruction precipitated by alcoholism. Today the film is seen as catalyzing a paradigmal change in how Hollywood portrayed drunks, which up to this film had always been portrayed them comedically.

The story explores the life of Don Birnam, a New York writer and the pathos of his self-destruction by alcoholism. We bear witness to how his drinking not only affects him, but his girlfriend Helen, his brother Wick and all that come into his orbit. After he descends into despair and purchases a gun, he is talked out of suicide by Helen who finally convinces him that “Don the writer” and “Don the alcoholic” are the same person. To facilitate his recovery to sobriety, he commits to writing a book title “The Bottle” that he dedicates to her, which details an unvarnished account of his struggle with alcohol, and to the extents a person will go for a drink. The film was a massive commercial success, which earned a profit of $9.75 million. It was also widely praised by critics and earned seven Academy Award nominations, including; Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Film Score, winning four awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Composer Miklós Rózsa enjoyed, as an artist, working with directors who valued and appreciated the power of music in their films. He had recently acquainted himself well in scoring director Billy Wilder’s two previous films Five Graves to Cairo (1943) and Spellbound (1945) and was more than happy to pursue future collaborations. Wilder hired him without a second thought for this project even though Paramount Director of Music Louis Lipstone objected to his music, whose dissonance he believed better served Carnegie Hall that supporting a film. The film foundered after a preview with a temp score was a disaster with the test audience laughing at, and ridiculing it. Brackett was despondent, but Rózsa assured him that it was the jazzy Gershwinesque temp score that set the wrong tone for the film, and that he would fix that. I believe that Rózsa wrote a paradigmal score for Double Indemnity (1944), which transformed the genre using scoring methods which included pronounced dissonance, as well as; “wide melodic leaps, terse rhythmic ostinatos, yearning sequential motifs, frequent tritones (both melodic and harmonic) and dark orchestral colors”. Those methodologies flourished with this latest film, not only saving it, but propelling it to an Academy Award for Best Picture. Both his scores for “Spellbound” and “The Lost Weekend” secured Academy Award nominations that year, however when “Spellbound” won the Oscar Rózsa related; “I was sorry for this because although Spellbound had the more popular theme, The Lost Weekend was an infinitely better score”.

Rózsa understood in crafting his score that Don’s pathos of addiction, self-destruction, despair, as well as the rippling effects of his alcoholism on loved ones was the essential thread of the film’s narrative tapestry. To that end he composed three primary themes and a motif to anchor is soundscape; The Main Theme offers a classic ABA construct where the A Phrase expresses a descent of despair by strings sofferenti and contrapuntal horns, which wallows in a dark tritone, while the B Phrase offers striving upward leaps by strings di speranza, which are never realized. The theme speaks to the pathos of Don’s life and the crucible of pain and dissolution of the soul brought on by the ravages of alcoholism. Throughout the film Rózsa would employ short repeating versions of both phrases to create tension, distress and drama. The serpentine Addiction Theme is brilliantly conceived, and speaks to Don’s psychic and physiological cravings for alcohol. It emotes with the eerie, wailing Theremin joined by a swirling, mesmerizing clarinet figure. Yet for me, the joining of a solo violin seducente, wailing Theremin and eerie harp arpeggios offers the most powerful iteration of the theme. The third theme is Helen’s Theme, the steadfast, long-suffering and hopeful lover of Don. It also evolves into the Love Theme as she falls for Don’s charm. It is borne by strings romantico, with intimate lyrical expression emoted exquisitely by strings romantico or solo violin. The Tension Motif offers a disturbing, repeating, ascending minor third by foreboding strings or woodwinds, which speak to the dread all alcoholics fear – no alcohol and withdrawal agony. Lastly, cues coded (*) offer music not found on the album.

“Prelude (Alternate)” offers a grand score highlight, where Rózsa masterfully sets the tone of the film and reels the audience in. It opens dramatically with surging strings, which usher in at 0:11 an extended exposition of the Main Theme, perhaps the score’s finest. It supports the roll of the opening credits, which display as white script against a grey textured background. At 1:07 we segue into “New York Skyline” atop a pastorale for strings and woodwinds as a camera panorama reveals the New York City skyline. At 1:39 the Main Theme flows out of the pastorale as the camera slowly moves towards an open apartment window, from which hangs a bottle of Rye whiskey. We enter the apartment though the window and the Tension Motif ushers in the Addiction Theme on a ghostly Theremin as Don nervously looks out the window, his mind craving the Rye as his brother Wick assists with packing. They are planning a brotherly sojourn to the country for Don in hope of strengthening his rehabilitation.

“Don Stays Home” reveals Helen arriving to wish the brothers a safe trip. Yet when Wick sees a cigarette burning on the window sill and retrieves it, he finds a string with a bottle of Rye whiskey hanging from the window. Don denies remembering it was there, stating it must have been placed during an earlier bout. Wick empties it and Don is clearly agitated raging that they do not trust him. Wick agrees to go to a concert with Helen since she has an extra ticket and as they depart Don tells Helen he is really trying not to drink, and she responds that she is also trying – not to love him as she kisses him goodbye. A sad rendering of the Main Theme enters to support the kiss and their departure. At 0:22 the Tension Motif joins as Don hears their voices fade as they depart down the stairs. Don has no money, and at 0:32 a thirsting Addiction Theme rises on clarinet and Theremin as Don locks the door and commences a frantic search of all his secret hiding places for liquor. The theme swells with the intensity of desperation yet dissipates when he collapses, in frustrated desire unable to find anything.

“Morning” offers an intervening scene not supported on the album. It reveals the arrival of the housekeeper who is locked out. Don tells her to comeback Monday and she asks for her $10 pay, which Wick always leaves in the sugar jar. Don grabs the money, tells her Wick forgot and she departs disgruntled. The Addiction Theme rears its insatiable head as Don dresses and heads to the liquor store with his newfound wealth. The theme carries him on his path of desire to the liquor store where he buys two bottles of Rye and places them in a paper bag. As he walks down the street, he buys three apples, which he strategically places atop the bottles to obscure them, and then enters the Nat’s bar to buy some shots. The Main Theme swells with anticipation and crests with satisfaction as he grabs the shot and swigs it done. At 1:58 we segue into “The Weekend Begins” where we see Don drink multiple shots. He becomes animated and verbose, supported by a romanticized rendering of the Main Theme as he forgets to return home before Healn and Wick return. In a change of scene Wick and Helen argue as he gives up on Don and leaves, cancelling the trip. Helen remains waiting in from of the apartment building, but Don sneaks up the stairs behind her and locks himself in the apartment where he hides one bottle and opens the other. At 3:12 a seductive Main Theme and intense Addiction Themes entwine as he dinks a shot of Rye and falls back into his chair full of satisfaction.

In “The Next Day” Don departs his apartment in the morning and finds a loving note from Helen on the door, which Rózsa supports with the Love Theme. He walks straight to the bar and demands a drink from the bartender, which he swigs down supported by the Addiction Theme. “Rye and William Shakespeare” offers a score highlight of exquisite beauty, which opens with the Main and Addiction Themes joining in communion. At 0:21 we are bear witness to one of the score’s finest passages where Rózsa graces us with a rendering of the Main Theme as a beautiful rhapsody for solo violin with ethereal harp adornment, which blossoms as he relates how Rye releases his inhibitions and allows him to write. In (*) “Flashback: Don Meets Helen” Don informs Nat of his planned novel “The Bottle” and in a flash back to three years earlier we see him attending an opera where he first met Helen. He is watching the Champagne Aria from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La Traviata (1853). As the actor’s drink on stage, we see agitation and craving rise up in Don. He begins to sweat and hallucinates the actors changing into overcoats with Rye bottles hidden in their pockets. He leaves his seat, but cannot depart as the coat check switched his coat with a woman’s coat. He is forced to wait as he needs the bottle of Rye in the coat pocket. After the play he exchanges coats and we see him smitten by Helen, whom he charms, supported by her theme, which enters tentatively. A comic woodwind faux tribute supports his goodbye to the coat checker. As they walk out together and chit chat Helen’s Theme warms as we see a nascent attraction in her. As they commit to an opera date next week her theme is unshackled and emotes with happiness. A distressed Main Theme moves to the forefront when the Rye bottle falls from his coat and shatters on the sidewalk. Now lacking booze, Don takes up Helen’s offer to join her at a cocktail party and they depart happily carried by her theme.

“Hotel Lobby” reveals Don waiting in a hotel lobby to be introduced to Helen’s parents, supported by the Love Theme creates a soothing ambiance of anticipation. Fate would have it that they sit behind him and he hears her father express doubts about him. We segue into “Phone Call” atop the eerie Theremin of the Addiction Theme, which rises up as Don becomes anxious, frets about his inadequacies, and panics. The theme swells at 0:26 as he flees to a nearby phone booth as Helen enters the lobby. He dials the front desk and asks them page a Miss Helen St. James for his phone call supported by a plaintive Main Theme. He tells her he will be late, to go ahead and have lunch, and to apologize to her parents. He then sneaks out unseen, consumed by the Addiction Theme as Helen rejoins her parents. “Broken Date and Hidden Bottle” offers a masterful score highlight, which reveals Wick arriving at Don’s apartment and finding him drunk. Don reveals he could not bear to face her parents, thought a single drink would help, but it did not, and he ended up drinking half the bottle. Helen buzzes the doorbell and Wick hides Don in the bedroom. Helen enters and Wick makes up an excuse for Don, which like most lies requires additional lies as the bottle of Rye rolls out when Helen sits down on the couch. Wick asserts that it is his bottle and that he hid it from Don as he has a drinking problem. Helen is sympathetic and decides to depart, yet Don can bear it no more, opens the door, determined to reveal the truth. Music enters on a flute delicato borne Main Theme as he exonerates Wick. At 0:20 the Main Theme surges with distress as Don reveals the naked truth – he is a drunk. Helen is surprisingly undeterred and offers comfort and empathy. She states that there must be a reason why you drink supported by a genuine yet plaintive rendering of the Love Theme. He then at 1:29 woodwinds of despair emote the Main Theme as he recounts all the failures in his life, and how he turned to drinking to numb his pain. At 1:57 aching strings emote the Main Theme and surge on a crescendo of pain, joined at 3:05 by an eerie Addiction Theme, which entwines as we see him lost, full of despair, and caught in the clutches of alcohol. We dissipate on a diminuendo of hope as Helen refuses to leave him, instead offering him a kiss and her vow to fight this.

The Liner notes indicate that the following “Novel” cue was dialed out of the film. Upon viewing the film, this assertion is incorrect. It is the “Frustration” cue, which is dialed out, which is a shame as I believe it to be the finest cue of the score, offering a testament to Rózsa’s compositional gift. “Frustration” opens with a plaintive rendering of the Love Theme full of yearning, which dissipates at 0:28 as we flow into the melancholia of the Main Theme. At 1:02 the powerful allure of the Addiction Theme enters borne by a confluence of a solo violin seducente and the Theremin for a most disturbing presentation. Yet at 1:30 aching strings full of frustration rise up yet quickly dissipate as the Addiction Theme by solo violin seducente and the Theremin return, draped with eerie harp arpeggios. At 2:29 we return to a molto tragico iteration of the Main Theme, which transforms at 2:53 into a dour marcia funebre of the soul. At 3:17 we soar upwards on strings appassionato, a breath-taking ascent of a mind shackled, and crying out in pain. We crest at 3:39 and return to the tragedy of the Main Theme, yet hope remains as we conclude on the romanticism of the Love Theme.

“The Novel” reveals Rózsa’s brilliance as we bear witness to the power of music to drive a scene. Don has had a few shots at Nat’s and becomes angry when Nat tells him from where he sits, he does not have it in him to write the novel. He stands up and declares “This time I am going to do it”, and walks out propelled by strings energico (not on the album). Don sits down at his desk and types out three lines;

“The Bottle”
“A Novel by Don Birnam”
“To Helen With All My Love”

A sumptuous rendering of the Love Theme empowers him motivated by the dedication, yet after these three lines he pauses and the theme slowly loses vitality as he becomes nervous and lights a cigarette. His inspiration dissipates before our eyes and the Main Theme enters softly on questioning woodwinds buttressed by tension mounting pizzicato strings. Writer’s block unfolds and we see anxiety and frustration rising up in him. At 1:36 a seductive Addiction Theme enters when he stands up and sees an empty Rye bottle. The theme begins a horrific crescendo of desperation as he begins franticly searching his apartment for the missing bottle of Rye, tearing it apart in the process. At 2:56 the Addiction Theme storm crests and subsides, and dissipates as he sits down and sees a pack of matches with the caption; “Harry and Joe’s, Where Good Liquor Flows”.

“Harry and Joe’s” Don goes to the nightclub, which Rózsa supports with diegetic piano player singing the song “It Was So Beautiful” (1932) by Harry Barris and Arthur Freed. Don runs up a tab he cannot pay, panics, and steals the purse of the lady next to him. In the Men’s room he takes the out the cash and then returns to find restaurant management and an angry crowd waiting. When accused he fesses up and returns the purse and money. Luckily the woman saves him by asking he beau not to press charges. Don informs the maitre de that he cannot pay his tab but will return to do so. He is then thrown out and humiliated as the piano player sings “Somebody stole a purse!” and is joined by all the patrons. As he is thrown out to the street people look down on him, adding to his humiliation and dissolution. We segue into “Bottle Is Discovered” where his walk home to his apartment is carried by a molto tragico rendering of the Main Theme. At 0:54 he enters his ransacked apartment and lies down on his sofa supported by a now grieving Main Theme full of despair. We begin an impassioned ascent on strings, which crests at 1:13 with the seductive calling of the Addiction Theme as he looks up and at last sees the hidden bottle atop the light fixture. He smiles, gets up and retrieves the Rye, and guzzles the bottle as the Addiction Theme surges in satisfaction.

“Morning and Telephone” reveals a hung-over Don being awakened by the phone ringing. A discordant Main Theme, which shifts and darkens on the Tension Motif at 0:17 supports as he pathetically pours a residual few drops of Rye from each of the two empty bottles on his coffee table. He drinks it down, craves more, but lacks money. At 1:02 a crescendo of desperation rises up and joins with the all-consuming Addiction Theme as he decides to pawn his typewriter for money. We surge at 1:47 in tortured agony as he packs up the typewriter and departs. “The Walk” offers a score highlight where Rózsa masterfully brings out the desperation, futility and pathos of despair as Don seeks a drink at all costs. It reveals a tortured walk of despair supported by a Main Theme, which is emoted as a marcia funebre as Don’s walk down 3rd Street to pawn his typewriter. The walk symbolizes his complete dissolution as a man and his surrender to the addictive power of alcohol, which now demands his most precious possession. At 1:10 he arrives and finds to his horror, that the pawn shop closed. We crescendo on the Addiction Theme borne by writhing strings of pain, which join in painful synergy with a distraught Main Theme as he walks on in despair. At 1:44 we commence a crescendo of desperation atop a surging Main Theme as he walks with futility across the street to a closed loan shop. At 2:02 a descent by tortured strings empowers a resurgent Addiction Theme as he departs. At 2:19 a crescendo of agony commences on the Addiction Theme as we see him walking stuporous and aimless along the streets of New York. We climax at 2:50 with a powerful statement of futility borne by the Main Theme, which resounds full of pain as Don returns to where he began. A diminuendo of despair supports him being informed that all the pawn shops are closed due to the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, even the Irish ones per an agreement. The hand of fate reaches out to opposeshim and Don departs a broken man. The Main Theme entwines with the Addiction Theme in horrific withdrawal agony as he stumbles in to his last resort – Nat’s Bar and begs for a drink.

“Gloria and Fall” reveals Nat refusing Don’s offer of his typewriter and out of pity, gifting him one shot. The Main Theme full of despair supports as Nat kicks Don out, and we see him struggle walking down the street. He comes upon Gloria’s apartment building and the striving yet beleaguered theme carries him up the stairs. She is furious for being stood up for last night’s date. At 0:53 the theme shifts to woodwinds and becomes plaintive when he makes a pathetic plea for money. He calms her storm with a kiss at 1:47 and the melody shifts to a solo violin delicato, which emotes a romance for violin as she melts in his arms. She agrees to give him money, which he takes without shame and departs with just a cursory thank you. At 2:43 the music darkens, full of foreboding as he walks down the stairs, is passed by a girl running up, which causes him to lose his balance and tumble down, supported by a horrific descent motif.

“The Alcoholic Ward” opens darkly to a grim entwinning of the Main Theme and Tension Motif as Don wakes to find himself in a hospital ward with a man babbling incoherently next to him. Music ceases when a nurse called Bim arrives and informs him that he is in the alcohol ward. Don tries to escape but is stopped by a guard. He then refuses medicine to prevent delirium tremens (DTs) asserting that he is not an alcoholic. At 0:38 we segue into “Night Alcoholic Ward” atop grim horns and the ominous ascending Tension Motif as we see the ward in darkness at night. At 1:20 a stinger alarm sounds and precipitates slithering strings as a man screams out and begins swatting imaginary bugs that are crawling over him. Dire horns declare the Main Theme as orderlies rush into the room and secure the screaming man. The music swells with a torrent of violence as another man joins in screaming and Don senses an opportunity to escape. A diminuendo at 2:36 unfolds into a misterioso, which supports his stealth escape as he grabs a physician’s overcoat and sneaks past the guard to escape down the stairwell. We flow into a stealthy rendering of the Main Theme by woodwinds as Don escapes hospital and makes his way home. At 4:24 we segue into “The Elevated” atop urgent ascending strings as Don runs upstairs and catches a train ride home. We conclude on a relieved rendering of the Main Theme.

“Dawn” reveals Don back in his neighborhood driven by a restless string ostinato from which arise desperate strings voicing his craving for a drink. At 0:44 the seductive Addiction Theme joins as he sees a man open his liquor store. At 1:26 Rózsa sow tension with strings bellicoso emoting repeating statements of the Main Theme B Phrase as Don enters the store with menace, intimidates the owner, and steals a bottle of Rye. Don has transformed into a man who will now use violence to obtain his booze and Rózsa’s music supports this transformation by becoming increasingly aggressive and menacing. Don arrives back at his ransacked apartment and at 2:49 sits down and pours himself a shot as the Addiction Theme fuels the satiation of his craving. At 3:14 we segue into “Nightmare” a powerful score highlight where Rózsa composes one of the most terrifying compositions in cinematic history. It is night time and Don wakes to see a mouse squeaking as it tries to crawl out of a hole in the wall. The Addiction Theme joins with an intermittent orchestral chirping motif by xylophone, which supports the mouse. At 3:56 Rózsa unleashes a horrific torrent as a black bat appears and proceeds to fly around the room. A crescendo of terror on the Main Theme and Tension Motif commences as the bat swoops down on him and keeps circling. We climax in horror at 4:25 as the bat pounces on the mouse and viciously kills it, resulting in blood flowing down the wall. Don screams repeatedly with abject horror, which elicits the apartment manager to telephone Helen. The musical horror Rózsa sow is sustained, and loses none of its terrifying potency. At 6:05 a grim diminuendo on the Main Theme supports the aftermath as Don lies in the chair traumatized. The theme resurges with new life as Helen arrives and cannot open the door. Don makes a desperate crawl to the door and tries to chain it closed but fails. Helen obtains a pass key and opens the door at 6:36 supported by a grim Main Theme, which surrenders to the Love Theme as she comforts him. In “The Rainy Day” strings tristi voice a Main Them full of despair as Don wakes the next day. At 0:25 strings appassionato surge with the Main Theme as he grabs Helen’s precious leopard coat and leaves the apartment over her pleas to stop. The music drives his walk to the pawn shop and Helen’s desperate pursuit in the rain. She confronts him as he exits the shop and demands the claim ticket for her beloved coat, which he refuses. At 1:25 the Love Theme so full of heartache supports her last fervent attempt to reach him, to no avail. He departs leaving her devastated as we close with despair on the Main Theme.

“Suicide Attempt” offers a poignant score highlight where acting and music achieve a sublime confluence. Helen enters the shop and asks the price to buy back her coat and is stunned when the owner states that he did not exchange it for money, but instead for a gun. A dire Main Theme resounds with the revelation as she departs, and we see Don writing a suicide note with the loaded pistol next to him. As he loads the gun and walks to the bathroom to perform the act the music surges with despair and feelings of regret as he gazes at himself in the mirror. At 0:47 the theme’s vital energy dissipates as Helen enters and Don sets the gun down in the sink. The Love Theme enters at 1:08 as he asks her what is the matter, and she tries to stall him long enough to find the gun. Tension builds as she sees the gun in the bathroom grabs it at 2:08 only to have him strip it from her. The Main Theme’s phrasing is unrelenting as she tries to dissuade him and offer hope. At 2:46 refulgent strings offer a shimmering statement of the Main Theme as Helen begins to make headway in changing his mind. At 3:04 the Love Theme joins as the power of her heart and belief in him at last turns the tide when Nat drops by and returns his typewriter. The Love Theme blossoms and after an impassioned ascent gains ascendency over the Main Theme. Yet at 4:37 the Main Theme returns, ascending with new potency as she sees him grab a glass of Rye, however it never climaxes, instead dissipating as he drops his lit cigarette into the glass. “Long Finale” reveals Don imaging all the people he intends to gift a copy of his novel, and Wick standing in front of a book store with a pyramid of his books and a sign saying; “A novel by Don Birnam”. He hopes that his book will be able to reach others struggling like him and make a difference in their lives. Rózsa supports Don’s narrative with a tender and life reaffirming rendering of the Love Theme, and closes the film with an impassioned ascent of hope at 2:08, which culminates in a grand flourish!

I would like to thank Lukas Kendall and Intrada for this long sought, remastered recording of Miklós Rózsa’s masterpiece “The Lost Weekend. The technical team obtained the master tapes, that were largely intact, however the complete score could not be realized as a number of tracks were damaged and not salvageable. Audio restoration and mastering efforts actually obtained a fairly good result, however 21st century audio qualitative standards were not achieved. This however does not detract from the brilliance of Rózsa’s music or the listening experience. Rózsa understood in conceiving and crafting his score that Don’s pathos of addiction, self-destruction, and despair, as well as the rippling effects of his alcoholism on loved ones was the essential thread of the film’s narrative tapestry. To that end he composed what I believe to be one of the greatest film noir scores in cinematic history. The score is grounded in three themes; the Main Theme speaks to the pathos of Don’s life and the crucible of pain and dissolution of the soul brought on by the ravages of alcoholism. The serpentine Addiction Theme speaks to Don’s psychic and physiological cravings for alcohol. It emotes with the eerie, wailing Theremin joined by a swirling, mesmerizing clarinet figure. Yet for me, the joining of a solo violin seducente, wailing Theremin and eerie harp arpeggios offers the most powerful iteration of the theme. The third theme is Helen’s Theme, which juxtaposes the Don’s two dark themes with a romantic feminine construct of hope. It evolves into the Love Theme as she falls for Don’s charm and is borne by strings romantico, with intimate lyrical expression emoted exquisitely by strings romantico or solo violin. Folks, as good as Ray MiIland’s Oscar winning performance was, I believe it was the conception and execution of Rózsa’s music, which brought home to audiences the seduction, horror, dissolution, and pathos of despair of alcoholism. In scene after scene Rózsa’s music achieved a masterful confluence with the film’s narrative, which enabled director Billy Wilder to win his Academy Awards and achieve his vision. I believe this score demands a re-recording of the complete score as it stands as one of the finest film noir scores ever composed and a masterpiece of the Golden Age.

For those of you unfamiliar with the score, I have embedded a YouTube link to a ten-minute suite; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYncdYwChoI

Buy the Lost Weekend soundtrack from the Movie Music UK Store

Track Listing:

• Prelude (Alternate)/New York Skyline (2:14)
• Don Stays Home/The Weekend Begins (3:47)
• Rye and William Shakespeare (1:25)
• Broken Date and Hidden Bottle (3:45)
• Phone Call (New Version) (2:04)
• Frustration (4:32)
• The Novel (3:23)
• Bottle Is Discovered (1:50)
• Morning and Telephone (2:06)
• The Walk (new version) (4:20)
• Gloria and Fall (3:05)
• The Alcoholic Ward/Night Alcoholic Ward/The Elevated (4:53)
• Dawn/Nightmare (7:19)
• The Rainy Day (2:04)
• Suicide Attempt (5:22)
• Long Finale (2:09)
• Prelude/Meet the People (1:51) BONUS
• Rye and William Shakespeare (Short Version) (1:16) BONUS
• Phone Call (Original Version) (1:52) BONUS
• The Walk (Original Version) (4:34) BONUS
• Alternate Finale/Cast of Characters (2:26) BONUS
• Wild Theremin (0:45) BONUS

Running Time: 67 minutes 02 seconds

Intrada ISC-321 (1945/2015)

Music composed by Miklós Rózsa. Conducted by Irving Talbot. Orchestrations by Eugene Zador, Sidney Cutner and Leo Shuken. Score produced by Miklós Rózsa. Album produced by Lukas Kendall.