William G. Borchert Movies
- 2010
Winona Ryder stars as Lois Wilson, co-founder of Al-Anon and wife of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson (Barry Pepper), in this biopic centered on the rocky relationship between the two people who dedicated their lives to helping others who suffer from alcohol addiction. College graduate Lois Burnham was spending the summer in Vermont when she first met her future husband Bill. Teenage sweethearts, the paid married in 1918, just before Bill went overseas to fight in World War I. Lois worked as an occupational therapist while Bill was in Europe, and upon his return the couple tried unsuccessfully to start a family. It was during this time that Bill began drinking more than usual, but after landing a job at a local financial firm the hard-working veteran landed a high-paying job as a Wall Street securities analyst in 1927. For a while the couple was financially secure, and Lois tried repeatedly to help Bill to get his drinking under control. But it was all for naught; eventually Bill's alcoholism would cost him his job, his home, and nearly his relationship with Lois. It wasn't until Bill met Dr. Bob Smith, another recovering alcoholic, that he found the strength to finally sober up. Meanwhile, Lois was devastated by the fact that all of her own efforts to help Bill had ended in failure. After connecting with the wives of Alcoholics Anonymous members, however, Lois finally found her calling, founding Al-Anon in 1951 in order to help the family members of alcoholics build a functional support system for their loved ones. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Winona Ryder, Barry Pepper, (more)
My Name Is Bill W reunited the stars of the highly acclaimed 1986 TV movie The Promise: James Garner and James Woods. This time Woods has the bigger role as the real-life Bill Wilson, who comes marching home from World War One with a "little" liquor problem. He drinks steadily throughout the Prohibition Era, but Wilson's habit doesn't catch up with him until he is ruined by the 1929 stock market crash. This disaster propels Wilson into flat-out alcoholism, costing him his family and his reputation. While drying out in detox, Wilson strikes up a friendship with Bob Smith (Garner), an alcoholic doctor. Through Smith's influence, Bill Wilson organizes a small band of chronic drinkers into what will eventually become Alcoholics Anonymous. The formation of AA consumes the emotional final third of My Name Is Bill W, which like its Garner/Woods predecessor The Promise was originally presented as a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV special. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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