The Lost Weekend

By all accounts 1945 was an astounding year for Hungarian-born film score composer Miklos Rosza. Not only did he win the Academy Award for his soundtrack for Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Spellbound, but he was also nominated in the same category for another film score that same year - The Lost Weekend. Both films, of course, shared a very important and ground-breaking element - they both made extensive use of the theremin to dramatic effect.

Rosza's score for The Lost Weekend may not have grabbed the Oscar, but the film landed the coveted Best Picture prize for Paramount, whilst Billy Wilder and its star Ray Milland, scooped Best Director and Best Actor respectively. Rosza's use of the theremin brilliantly highlighted Milland's endless, desperate yearning for a drink over the course of an alcoholic binge and also the hallucinogenic effects of the DTs.

Once again, as with Spellbound, the theremin was performed by the maestro Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman