AllMovie

Days of Wine and Roses is among director Blake Edwards's best films, likely his best non-comedy. Where many films about alcoholism may indulge a smug, moral superiority, the tone here is more of examination than of judgment. The performances from Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick are first-rate, as is the supporting performance of Charles Bickford. It is among the screen's most realistic and believable depictions of its subject matter, remarkable as a commercial success in an era that supposedly didn't want films of personal realism. While The Days of Wine and Roses is seldom studied in film schools, it is still often shown in college courses in the social sciences, for its continuing relevance to alcohol and other substance abuse problems. The film was nominated for six Oscars but won only for Henry Mancini's title song, which is now one of its few aspects that seems dated.