The Apartment (1960)

By Mr. Tropnevad

Summary

C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is an office worker who loans his apartment to his philandering superiors in exchange for a serious of promotions. When head of the company, J.D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) asks for the key to take his mistress there things start to heat up because unbeknownst to Baxter they are both in love with Fran (Shirley MacLaine) the elevator girl. Now Baxter must choose between losing his job as the executive or losing the girl.


What I Expected

It’s been several years since I have seen this and I decided since Valentine’s Day is soon and that this was just released on blu-ray I could not pass it up.

The Bad

That's right folks, I have nothing to write about.

The Good

This movie came out in 1960 and for those of you that are unaware movies back then did not break boundaries and especially when it came to talking about sex. This movie broke the boundaries and then some. It did not show anything but it did discuss it a lot since that’s what this movie is all about. There are jokes here and there from the neighbors talking about how Baxter is always making so much noise and how sometimes it sounds like he may have more than one woman in his apartment at a time. Even the doctor next door wants to exam him when he dies to see what can be learned of his sexual escapades.

The movie is a dark romantic noir comedy drama and the opening sequence with the narration highlights this. This really sets the movies tone and for those of you unaware what film noir is, are missing out on some good movies. In the 30s and 40s noir crime and drama movies were made where we had narration thorugh the main character and since it was in black and white it worked evern better. Most movies that are in color can’t set this tone and in 1960 color was around, but director Billy Wilder opted not to have it and that really helps this movie. I would also like to point out one more thing that I found interesting and that is that he mentions how much he made a week and how much the rent on his apartment is. You can see a huge inflation from then to today.

The chemistry between Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray is phenomenal and this is something that most movies from today miss out on. The three of them make you believe that they know one another and the awkward moments seem like they a real. When Baxter learns Fran is Sheldrake's mistress you almost feel for him because he is trying so hard to get this woman to love him and his shocking expression and his change in the movie turns everything around about him at this moment. His entire character changes and is as expected and he does such a good job at it. Jack Lemmon even said that this is one of his best roles he has ever played and director Billy Wilder agrees with him. Even better than Some Like it Hot. As a huge fan of Jack Lemmon I would also say that this is one of his best roles ever. I would also like to point out that I think he should have won the Academy Award for this role.

Shirley MacLaine does an amazing job at being the mistress and love interest. She is able to juggle between the two men and show her emotion toward each in a different way. She isn’t that blonde girl with the nice bosom. She is the average girl and is very beautiful at the time and the movie shines on this because while there are hundreds of other women at their place of business she is the one that everyone is after and of course no one knows that Sheldrake has her. She wants him to leave his wife for her and he doesn’t want the consequences that would involve that. She does a great job at being emotional towards everyone. She acts like most women would under these circumstances, but when Sheldrake treats her like a floozy at one point she changes her complete attitude for the rest of the movie. I think she should have won the Academy Award that year but she lost to Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8 and I have seen that movie and Taylor did not do as good of a job as MacLaine did.

Fred MacMurray played a role that he had never done before. At the time this was filmed he was in the TV show My Three Sons, so this was a little unexpected out of him. Not to mention Disney owned him and we all know what happens when Disney owns people. They aren’t allowed to do anything to hurt the company’s reputation. Anyway, his role doesn’t really change that much in the movie till the end, but we know he wants to leave his wife. The problem is the way he treats her naturally something is going to happen between all three of them and it does. His one action in the movie changes his role and MacLaine’s role in the movie. We see what he really thinks of her and he hurries home to his wife. Side note, MacMurray said that after this movie was released women would come up to him on the street and slap him in the face for playing a womanizer.

Co-Star Jack Krunschen plays Dr. Dreyfuss, Baxter’s neighbor in the apartment. His role as the neighbor is funny at times, because every time he comes home he can hear what he thinks Baxter is doing with another woman or a party going on and he yells to his wife he is at it again. He brings some comedy to this movie and some seriousness to it, too. Not to give anything away, but when he is in Baxter’s apartment doing some aid he does a wonderful job at it. Even as a minor character he did an excellent job at his role. /*Spoiler. While we only have one scene with Fran’s brother-in-law he does a great job at being the tough guy who is wanting her to come home. He punches Baxter in the face and knocks him down. This was an actual punch to the face believe it or not. The guy did it on accident and his pinky and index finger hit him causing him to fly back. Spoiler*\

This movie still holds up to today better than a majority of older movies. The jokes are still funny and some people can relate to some of them, especially the ones that revolve around drinking. People still sleep with their superiors to move up in a company and people still cheat on each other.

You might say why should you buy or watch this movie on blu-ray, because it is old and what could they do it. It looks amazing and it is the best transfer from a black and white movie to a blu-ray that I have seen yet. The picture is completely cleaned up and sharpened to where you can you see the darkest spots of the movie even better. There are a few extras on the disc and if you are a fan of the movie you will definitely enjoy them.

If you still think this movie is not good enough to watch then let me point out the following to you. It received ten Academy Award nominations and won the following; Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction, and Best Film Editing and it was nominated for the following; Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography,and Best Sound. While Lemmon did not receive the Oscar that year, Kevin Spacey dedicated his Oscar in 2000 for American Beauty to him and his role in The Apartment. The movie also won a BAFTA award and so did Lemmon and MacLaine and the two of them both won Golden Globes for their performances. The Apartment is listed in American Film Institute's top 100 films as well as their list of 100 laughs and 100 passions list. In 1994 United States Library of Congress selected The Apartment for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 2002 The Apartment was named 14th greatest film of all time by film directors. In 2006 Premiere voted The Apartment as one of the 50 greatest comedies of all time. This was the last movie shot entirely in black and white to win the academy award for best picture.

Overall Thoughts

This is one of my favorite movies now that I am older. This is a great romantic movie to watch around this time a year or for that matter any time of year. I would be incredibly furious at Hollywood if they choose to remake such a fantastic movie. You will not be able to stream this on Netflix, but uou can rent it through them or iTunes. I recommend going to Amazon and buying it for the $15 if you can’t find it in a store near you.

Overall - BUY