Days of Wine and Roses

Days of Wine and Roses (1963) is an American drama directed by Blake Edwards — watch it online on iFILM. Jack Lemmon plays Joe, a public relations man whose drinking starts as a professional lubricant and ends as something far harder to stop. When he falls for Kirsten, played by Lee Remick, he draws her into his habit until she can't find her way back out.

Adapted from a teleplay by JP Miller, the film earns its reputation by being relentlessly specific rather than melodramatic. The decline unfolds in small, recognisable steps — a drink too many at a party, a promise quietly broken, a morning that starts badly and gets worse. Both Lemmon and Remick picked up Oscar nominations for their work. Henry Mancini's score took home the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Few Hollywood films of the era were this honest about addiction without flinching or moralising. It holds up. Stream Days of Wine and Roses (1963) on iFILM.