I just watched this film and I'm very surprised that it got such relatively low ratings on IMDB. I was really impressed by the film and gave it a 10. I think it perfectly shows where a life of addiction usually leads, as well as the seductiveness of alcohol. I'm glad that the ending was the one it was (not wanting to spoil it), I think it's the only possible coherent ending with the message it tries to convey.
shareI agree with you--I saw it in July because I happened to see Days free at the library. I watched it and I was mystified--by the performances and the film making, I mean. Jack and Lee were perfect and had brilliant chemistry (they would become good friends off-screen)
SOME SPOILERS BELOW:
I tried submitting this as trivia but it hasn't gone through yet: In two separate interviews Blake Edwards (director) and Jack Lemmon talked about the ending and how the studio wanted to change it. Blake said for Entertainment Weekly magazine that the studio head at the time (Jack Warner) said "You can't NOT have Lee's character get better." Luckily he came in with a beautiful woman who vetoed the idea, and he reluctantly gave in.
Jack has a separate story: He was so worried that the ending would be re-shot in favor of a happier one that he purposefully flew to Paris so that he would be "unavailable" for re-shoots. He recounts that in an interview for Charlie Rose.
Either way I'm so happy that the film stayed the way it is! People compare this film to Billy Wilder's "The Lost Weekend", and while Wilder's film may have better film making and is more subtle, the happy ending is what ruined it for me. This one is more realistic, and the love story only makes this even more heartbreaking.
Did he train you? Did he rehearse you? Did he tell you exactly what to do, what to say?
8/10.
"Did you make coffee...? Make it!"--Cheyenne.
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As great as the movie, sometimes people get beat up by the message. This is an important film about addiction, and abuse. I gave it a 710. What stopped me was the theatrics of the production, telling me what I should like, where I should feel with the soundtrack. It's hard to find that perfect mix of words and music. The soundtrack is amazing, the message frightening. I think the goal was to contrast how terrible life was with the sugary sweet music. But sometimes the music took me out of the message.
If we can save humanity, we become the caretakers of the world