When Chandler came to work with Wilder he was already a recovering alcoholic . As Wilder noted , " He was in Alcoholics Anonymous , and I think he had a tough time with me – I drove him back into drinking ... " By the time the picture was released , Chandler was thoroughly disillusioned with the writers ' lot in Hollywood ; he published an angry piece titled " Writers in Hollywood " for '' The Atlantic Monthly '' in November 1945 in which he complained : " The first picture I worked on was nominated for an Academy Award ( if that means anything ) , but I was not even invited to the press review held right in the studio . " He neglected , however , to mention that the studio had kept him on salary during the eight-week shooting schedule and that no changes to the script were allowed without his approval – a very rare accommodation for screenwriters , particularly newcomers , in those days . Offended , Wilder responded by saying , " We did n't invite him ? How could we ? He was under the table drunk at Lucy 's , " a nearby watering hole for Paramount employees . This relationship with Chandler is what drew Wilder to his next project , the Best Picture-winning '' The Lost Weekend '' , about an alcoholic writer . Wilder made the film , in part , " to explain Chandler to himself . " Cain himself was very pleased with the way his book turned out on the screen . After seeing the picture half a dozen times he was quoted as saying , " ... It 's the only picture I ever saw made from my books that had things in it I wish I had thought of . Wilder 's ending was much better than my ending , and his device for letting the guy tell the story by taking out the office dictating machine – I would have done it if I had thought of it . " Wilder 's and Brackett 's estrangement during '' Double Indemnity '' was not a permanent one . Years later Wilder would characterize their time apart as just another kind of adultery : " 1944 was ' The Year of Infidelities , he said . " Charlie produced '' The Uninvited '' ... I wrote '' Double Indemnity '' with Raymond Chandler ... I do n't think he ever forgave me . He always thought I cheated on him with Raymond Chandler . " Brackett spun the breakup in a decidedly different light , saying , " Billy got so despondent at being without me that we did '' The Lost Weekend '' , a depressing film about a writer who has trouble writing . " '' Lost Weekend '' was a distinguished offspring for the reconciled couple – they left Oscar night with three Awards : Best Picture for producer Brackett , Best Director for Wilder , and a shared pair of statuettes for both for Best Screenplay . They worked together through '' Sunset Boulevard '' in 1950 , then split for good
Oscar night
18th Academy Awards
Double Indemnity (film)