Voice in the Mirror [1958] [DVD]

This second cousin to the screen's classic study of alcoholism, The Lost Weekend (1945), charts the decline of successful LA commercial artist Richard Egan who, after the death of his little daughter, takes refuge in the bottle and a world of sleazy bars, despite the supportive pleadings and sympathy of his wife Julie London and his doctor Walter Matthau. Why and how he finally regenerates himself provides the movie's rather wafty and sentimental message, but this modest and non-starry movie does fine in the wake of its hard-hitting predecessor.