I once had a brother suffering from this terrible illness. Over the years I asked and begged him to try cut down his habitual drinking habit, but what a total waste of time that was. It would have been easier to have sex with the Pope !
I invited him over one night, and showed him this movie. It didn't stop his drinking - but it certainly made him think twice about it.
Joe Clay is a top-notch public relations man. Anything a client wants Joe can arrange for them, whether it be dancing girls or an article in a prominent magazine. Part of the job however is drinking and Joe's ability to consume alcohol seems boundless. When he meets the very pretty Kirsten Arnasen, she prefers chocolate to alcohol but Joe has a solution to that in the form of a Brandy Alexander ( made up of brandy and creme de cocoa ). They eventually marry but their love is insufficient to prevent them from the downward spiral that alcohol brings to them. They try desperately to break the habit but continually relapse until only one of them manages to break free.
Oscar Best Music, Original Song
Henry Mancini ( music )
Johnny Mercer ( lyrics )
For the song " Days of Wine and Roses."
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Jack Lemmon.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Lee Remick.
Download this and other original video files with Multiply Premium. | Great movie and song. The poem behind these lyrics, is usually up on my page. It's how I feel about life. Make the most of it while you can.
Thanks for sharing!
Cassandra |
 | Wonderful movie, the song is brilliant too!
I also have a friend who is a habitual drinker, nothing will make him change unless HE wants to.
thanks for sharing, hugs
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| Wow John...that's such an amazing movie. I think we all know someone and most of us do have a family member with this type of problem. It's very sad to watch...so very sad. You hold your chin up high John..there's nothing any of us can do...but love them, pray for them..and be there when they fall. I know it's difficult. Love and hugs....Paula |
 | Classic... always remember how the Jack Lemmon character inticed Lee Remick's character to start drinking with the Chocolate flavored liquor...as a kid that was fascinating to me.
Also loved the theme song...co-written by Georgia's favorite son, Johnny Mercer---- who knew more than a little about drinking, as do most in Savannah, GA. ...The town where you're asked, "What are you drinking?" before anything else... |
 | Amazing how badly something like alcohol can effect your life. Instead of admitting he's had enough when he can barely walk, Jack's character gets destructive in his pursuit of more. Painful to watch. My late husband drank himself to death. He was only 55. |
 | jazzjohn wrote on Aug 9, '09, edited on Aug 9, '09  Amazing how badly something like alcohol can effect your life. Instead of admitting he's had enough when he can barely walk, Jack's character gets destructive in his pursuit of more. Painful to watch. My late husband drank himself to death. He was only 55.  I am really sorry to hear this. My brother was similar, and wasted that precious gift God had given him on cheap booze, and small talk. |
| Bless you John. Alcohol can be a terrrible addiction. May they both RIP. |
 | gretex wrote on Aug 9, '09, edited on Aug 9, '09 I think the most important thing to remember is that alcoholism is a disease. Sometimes the victim of the disease faces the disease head on and finds recovery. Sometimes the victim chooses to fight the disease and the stages are so far progressed that they can not fight. Lastly, sometimes the victim is simply incapable of making a choice to fight.
My father died of an alcohol related death which including liver and heart disease based on years of alcohol abuse. My father was one of the victims that once he finally made the decision to stop drinking his disease and desire to drink had completely consumed him. As a child I thought my Daddy was the strongest man in the world. (Little girls look at their Daddy's that way) Funny, as a teenager, I thought my Daddy was weak because he couldn't give up the "drink" as he called it. He once said, "my baby blues please don't think my love for you is not real or strong for that matter." I was furious because he hadn't broken a promise to stop drinking. He said, I am weak and I am ashamed but I will always always love you. If I have one regret in this life I regret that I couldn't understand what he meant until I reached adult hood. I received a call that my Daddy was calling out for me and I thought he was in a drunken state and I refused the call. Two days later he died with a picture of me clasped in his hands. He was buried with that picture on Christmas Eve 1977.
As I look back I see the struggle that this disease causes. I once visited my Daddy in the hospital and he was going through the DDTS. Much like Jack Lemmon in the film. He wasn't in a straight jacket but he was handcuffed to his hospital bed. I was horrified and ask the doctor to release him. The doctor said, you don't understand your father has ask to be restrained and he has chewed through the hospital restraints and has agreed to be handcuffed. His desire to stop drinking is this strong. Even though I was horrified I was happy because I knew if he had a desire this strong surely he was stop. Needless to say after on a few weeks he began to drink again. My Daddy died believing that I thought he was weak but he wasn't, no quite the opposite. He was just in a stage of his disease that could not be controlled.
For those who are affected by this disease I give you the following advise. Let go and Let God. Forgive them and love them. Although this disease is self inflected it can't be controlled no more than cancer can be controlled. My Daddy was not weak. He was a strong wise wonderful man with a wonderful heart that would give a stranger the shirt off his back. He suffered polio as a child and survived. He taught himself to walk again. He taught me to say please and thank you and most of all he taught me to forgive others and remember not to judge the outward appearance and appreciate the human heart.
Oops. I've turned my comment into a blog.
Thanks for your blog John, I think perhaps both Daddy and Collin may be kicking back and waiting for this very day to be remembered fondly in the heart of their loved ones. |
 | To tell you the truth I never believed that ANYONE was really an alcoholic til I met a woman who was one of the nicest people I knew but was also an alcoholic. Over years I watched her struggle with it. The addiction and the rehab of trying to quit time and again. It is sad. She even had hepititus C from the drinking and risked dying and leaving her children motherless. Still she didn't stop. I wonder why some people are alcholics? What is it that makes them that way? Why can some drink what they want when they want and they don't have issues yet others become dependant? It is an odd thing. |
| As for the criminal cops? It is getting to the point where EVERYONE has either had a bad experience with them or knows someone who has had an incident with them!!! A Green Bay police shot and killed a man because he didn't obey him and put down his CELL PHONE!!!! What the hell is that? HE didn't even get reprimanded even though he also shot an innocent bartender when his first fricken bullet missed the guy with the Cell phone!!! I am sick of these criminal murderers around here while they make MORE laws for the criminal pigs to use against us!!! |
 | Thanks for sharing your story Lil TEX, I was there and I know how rough this was for you to share. Couragous woman. I know that your Dad is proud of Baby Blues.
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