[.ca] The Apartment (Widescreen)

Amazon.com essential video:
Romance at its most anti-romantic--that is the Billy Wilder stamp of genius, and this Best Picture Academy Award winner from 1960 is no exception. Set in a decidedly unsavory world of corporate climbing and philandering, the great filmmaker's trenchant, witty satire-melodrama takes the office politics of a corporation and plays them out in the apartment of lonely clerk C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon). By lending out his digs to the higher-ups for nightly extramarital flings with their secretaries, Baxter has managed to ascend the business ladder faster than even he imagined. The story turns even uglier, though, when Baxter's crush on the building's melancholy elevator operator (Shirley MacLaine) runs up against her long-standing affair with the big boss (a superbly smarmy Fred MacMurray). The situation comes to a head when she tries to commit suicide in Baxter's apartment. Not the happiest or cleanest of scenarios, and one that earned the famously caustic and cynically humored Wilder his share of outraged responses, but looking at it now, it is a funny, startlingly clear-eyed vision of urban emptiness and is unfailingly understanding of the crazy decisions our hearts sometimes make. Lemmon and MacLaine are ideally matched, and while everyone cites Wilder's Some Like It Hot closing line "Nobody's perfect" as his best, MacLaine's no-nonsense final words--"Shut up and deal"--are every bit as memorable. Wilder won three Oscars for The Apartment, for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay (cowritten with longtime collaborator I.A.L. Diamond). --Robert Abele

From Amazon.co.uk:
Romance at its most anti-romantic--that is the Billy Wilder stamp of genius, and this Best Picture Academy Award winner from 1960 is no exception. Set in a decidedly unsavoury world of corporate climbing and philandering, the great filmmaker's trenchant, witty satire-melodrama takes the office politics of a corporation and plays them out in the apartment of lonely clerk CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon). By lending out his digs to the higher-ups for nightly extramarital flings with their secretaries, Baxter has managed to ascend the business ladder faster than even he imagined. The story turns even uglier, though, when Baxter's crush on the building's melancholy elevator operator (Shirley MacLaine) runs up against her long-standing affair with the big boss (a superbly smarmy Fred MacMurray). The situation comes to a head when she tries to commit suicide in Baxter's apartment. Not the happiest or cleanest of scenarios, and one that earned the famously caustic and cynically humoured Wilder his share of outraged responses, but looking at it now, it is a funny, startlingly clear-eyed vision of urban emptiness and is unfailingly understanding of the crazy decisions our hearts sometimes make. Lemmon and MacLaine are ideally matched and while everyone cites Wilder's Some Like It Hot closing line "Nobody's perfect" as his best, MacLaine's no-nonsense final words--"Shut up and deal"--are every bit as memorable. Wilder won three Oscars for The Apartment, for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay (cowritten with long-time collaborator I A L Diamond). --Robert Abele

They Should All be Like This:
Wouldn't it be great if all movies were this good? This funny? This wise? This clever? This heartfelt? This true? My favorite Jack Lemmon movie. He plays a perfect schmuck who discovers himself. My favorite Shirley MacLaine movie. She plays a sweet but wounded modern girl who wises up. My favorite Billy Wilder movie. A perfect ear for dialogue and eye for mannerisms in his adopted country. Fred McMurray turns in a perfect performance as a shameless cad. No reason not to own this on dvd.

The boss borrows his apartmwnt for a love tryst:
Director: Billy Wilder Format: Black & White Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Video Release Date: August 3, 1999 Cast: Jack Lemmon ... Calvin Clifford 'C.C.' 'Bud' Baxter Shirley MacLaine ... Fran Kubelik Fred MacMurray ... Jeff D. Sheldrake Ray Walston ... Joe Dobisch Jack Kruschen ... Dr. Dreyfuss David Lewis ... Al Kirkeby Hope Holiday ... Mrs. Margie MacDougall Joan Shawlee ... Sylvia Naomi Stevens ... Mrs. Mildred Dreyfuss Johnny Seven ... Karl Matuschka Joyce Jameson ... The blonde Willard Waterman ... Mr. Vanderhoff David White ... Mr. Eichelberger Edie Adams ... Miss Olsen Mason Curry David Macklin ... Messenger Hal Smith ... Santa Claus Benny Burt ... Charlie (the bartender) Frances Weintraub Lax ... Mrs. Lieberman Dorothy Abbott ... Office worker C.C. 'Buddy Boy' Baxter (Jack Lemmon) has a downwtown apartment near his work where he is an insurance analyst in a large firm. He is ambitious to work is way up the ladder, and so loans his apartment out to various of his supperiors for their trysts in an effort to win their favors, which means that he is forced ro work overtime and stay out late while his apartment os occupied. Fran Kubelik (Shirley McLaine), elevator girl, is in love with big boss and branch manager Jeff D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), who is a married, cheating philanderer with a long history of conquests among the female staff. C.C. Baxter is also in love with Fran, who is having an affair with Sheldrake in his apartment. This is not really a comedy, although it has its funny moments. It is a good story which comes out all right in the end. Joseph (Joe) Pierre author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance and other books

No Rain:
I'm not going to rain on anybody's parade. This is a terrific movie, and lots of other reviewers have already ticked off all of the things that make it terrific. It's smart and sophisticated, with plenty of witty dialogue. Although some of the details are dated, such as the interminable rows of pencil pushers at desks with adding machines, the underlying office politics are just as real and just as nasty today as ever. The acting is great. Not only are Lemmon and MacLaine wonderful together, the rest of the cast is also excellent. The only thing I have to add is that, despite clever lines, funny scenes and an acceptably happy ending, THE APARTMENT is as much a drama as it is a comedy. The seamy undercurrent of office politics and the way people ruthlessly use each in their personal relationships gives this little tale a grim, almost vicious, feel at times. Much of what you see in THE APARTMENT is not the least bit funny. Not to be repetitive, but this is an outstanding movie. If you haven't seen it, you should. It's not really a family movie, though. True to the period in which it was made, there's no overt sexual content, but there are definitely adult themes and kids probably wouldn't fully "get" what's going on, anyway. Be that as it may, THE APARTMENT would be a great addition to almost any classic movie collection.

An absolute Gem from Lemmon and Wilder:
Mr. Lemmon figured prominently in a good dozen of the best films ever made, and he is at the absolute top of his game in "The Apartment" as C.C. Baxter - an up and coming business man who makes his way through the corporate ranks faster than usual by making his apartment available to higher executives to carry on affairs without paying for hotel rooms. This is probably a borderline premise for a romantic comedy today, and it must have seemed absolutely scandalous 44 years ago, but the truth is that it is very contemporary in tone today while also being funny, thoughtful and poignant. It's too bad there's noone as clever as Billy Wilder making Romantic Comedies today. Shirley Maclaine has never been better, and anyone who grew up watching Fred MacMurray in "My Three Sons" or any of those Disney films will be surprised to see him playing an absolute scumbag in this movie. The dialogue is witty and sharp and the acting is crisper than a fresh celery stick. This is a good time.

"I love you, Miss Kubelik.":
Buddy Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is a meek and mild nobody in an enormous insurance company who has an "arrangement" with his superiors: They can use his apartment to entertain their ladyfriends in exchange for recommendations for his promotion. The deal works out fine, until he discovers that his big boss (Fred MacMurray)'s girlfriend is the object of his own affection, elevator operator Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine). "The Apartment" is a quiet, character-driven comedy about shady dealings in the world of big business, with just enough touching dramatic scenes to tug at your heart, and it won the 1960 Best Picture Oscar, thanks to the excellent cast and honest script. Nobody played the Everyman character as well as Lemmon. He's involved in an unsavory situation, but is so sweet, likeable, and noble that you really care about him. MacLaine gives an uncharacteristically subdued and thoughtful performance, and MacMurray is perfect as philandering paramour. The beautiful title tune is one of the loveliest movie love themes ever. The subject matter was considered somewhat racy back then, but now it would probably be rated PG. A clever, sweet, and entertaining movie.