Days of Wine and Roses

"From the days of wine and roses, finally comes a night like this."

1963 1h 57m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.8

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 217🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes●74Metacritic★7.8IMDB · 14,336

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An alcoholic falls in love with and gets married to a young woman, whom he systematically addicts to booze so they can share his "passion" together.

“From the days of wine and roses, finally comes a night like this.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Jack Lemmon
Joe Clay
Lee Remick
Kirsten Arnesen Clay
Charles Bickford
Ellis Arnesen
Jack Klugman
Jim Hungerford
Alan Hewitt
Rad Leland
Tom Palmer
Ballefoy
Debbie Megowan
Debbie Clay
Maxine Stuart
Dottie

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Blake Edwards
Writers: J.P. Miller
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

63 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Blake Edwards, shot by Philip H. Lathrop. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Henry Mancini. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Patrick McCormack shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick and Charles Bickford carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "From the days of wine and roses, finally comes a night like this.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0055895 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Blake Edwards directs. Philip H. Lathrop behind the camera. Henry Mancini scores. Patrick McCormack cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

163 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Blake Edwards, shot by Philip H. Lathrop. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Henry Mancini. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Patrick McCormack shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick and Charles Bickford carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "From the days of wine and roses, finally comes a night like this.".
7IMDB entry: tt0055895 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Philip H. Lathrop
Original score: Henry Mancini
Editing: Patrick McCormack
Costume design: Donfeld
Makeup / hair: Myrl Stoltz
Runtime: 117 min · 1h 57m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Days of Wine and Roses (1963)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 74/100
IMDB rating: 7.8/10 · 14,336 votes
MPAA: Approved
US box office: $8,123,077

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 10 wins & 13 nominations total

Also by

Blake Edwards

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2017-02-08
★ 9/10
It's as true to life as a vodka martini. The above quote is from director Blake Edwards, it's taken from the highly recommended commentary track he provides on the DVD for this excellent and compelling piece of work. Joe is a social drinker but he's social all the time, during one of his arranged parties for a client he meets and falls in love with teetotal Kirsten. They get married and changes start to dominate their marital bliss, he is stressed from work and drinks daily to forget the rigours of the job, she being the loving wife chooses to drink with him to help ease his pain, but soon the joyous days of wine & roses will turn to something dark and terribly turbulent, and this will threaten their own respective sanity. The film begins with Henry Mancini's academy award winning title theme tune, it's a truly beautiful piece of music that perfectly sets the tone of the film for its first third, it lulls you into this couples love, the bond they share is a truly wonderful thing, it really is all sweetness and light, but then the bottle becomes part of this couples life, they become a threesome from which only dark horrors will form. Containing emotionally shattering scenes that once viewed can not be forgotten (witness Joe's soul destroying search for liquor in a greenhouse), Days Of Wine & Roses still manages not to force feed the viewer a moralistic stance, it lays down the facts of alcoholism and the perils of co-dependency with honest appraisal, we as the viewers are left in no doubt that it is us, and us only, that can make of it as we see fit, the ending especially is a particular poser of which we ourselves seek clarity. Wonderfully written by the talented hands of J.P. Miller, Days Of Wine And Roses boasts marvellous direction from Blake Edwards and two academy award nominated performances from Jack Lemmon & Lee Remick, it's a testament to all involved that come the finale the viewer feels drained, yet strangely...not at all thirsty for the amber nectar.
barrymost2019-09-30
★ 9/10
This is an intriguing, heavy drama about the downward spiral into alcoholism, and how it irrevocably tore apart the lives of one man and his wife. I have some respect for Blake Edwards, having seen this, as I previously had a low opinion of him after seeing The Pink Panther, which to this day I do not understand why it was so successful. But I'm not reviewing The Pink Panther, so I'll lay off it for now. In Days of Wine and Roses, Jack Lemmon really is brilliant, and Lee Remick is disturbingly realistic. The film is right up there with The Lost Weekend (1945), and the story carries an important moral lesson, which it delivers with a punch. Would I recommend? Yes. But to the mature viewer, who can really understand and appreciate it.
CinemaSerf2024-11-19
★ 7/10
What a departure for Jack Lemmon this is! Together with the also Oscar nominated Lee Remick, they offer us a really gripping performance. She ("Kirsten") is a tea-total secretary who is introduced to one of the PR guys "Joe" at a boat party. After a bit of a sticky start, she starts to warm to him and they begin to date. He is never far from a bottle; "hit me again" being his most oft used expression and gradually, even after the arrival of a child to this now married couple, he begins to wean her onto the sauce. Despite the best efforts of her father (Charles Bickford) they quickly spiral into a cycle of drunkenness that costs them their jobs, imperils their daughter and as an example of how badly, and completely, alcoholism can come to dominate their lives, this has to be amongst the most potent depiction on film. Jack Klugman ("Hungerford") tries to offer some route to salvation via AA, and we are offered a few less cerebral drying out methods - all of which offer Lemmon a chance to really show what he is made of an an actor. Some of it still quite distressing to watch (especially if you happen to have a drink in your hand at the time). Messrs. Mancini and Mercer came up with the title song, which perhaps features just once too often; but for the most part this really is captivating cinema with both and director Blake Edwards (usually known for much lighter works) on top form.