The Apartment
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Movie Reviews of The Apartment
Movie Review: WHAT COULD BE WILDER?
Summary: 5 Stars
THE APARTMENT was a wonderful satirical harpooning of the corporate world in the sixties ( when I first saw it ),and it hasn't lost any of its 'edge' in the intervening decades. Although Billy Wilder's view of romance always seemed to be slightly askew, even with darker subject matter ( attempted suicide, as a for instance ) there was usually a current of hope beneath the ascerbic wit inherent in his films.
Jack Lemmon's character, C.C. Baxter, has inadvertantly found his key to success, and oddly enough it happens to be the same one that opens his apartment door. He manages to get promoted several times by allowing his slimey bosses to use his apartment for a 'love nest,' even at the expense of his health. His own loneliness seems to be about to end when the lovely, Fran Kubelik ( Shirley McLaine, who is electric in this role ) agrees to a date, but stands him up after succumbing ( once again ) to the lines of the philandering director of the company Baxter works for. Baxter is promoted by J.D Sheldrake ( played to oily perfection by Fred MacMurray ), the aforementioned director, in return for access to his apartment.
Then Fran tries to kill herself on Christmas Eve in Baxter's bedroom, while Baxter is on his drunken way home with the equally, intoxicated, wife of an incarcerated jockey.
If you have not seen this movie you owe it to yourself to do so. It is at the top of the food chain comedy-wise.
Movie Review: "Shut up and deal..."
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie, directed by the legendary Billy Wilder, is one of my all-time favorites. It features a funny script, great acting, and an interesting and original plot. The Apartment is a perfect example of what is missing in Hollywood today: it is a witty, entertaining movie that relies on the script and on the acting to keep the viewer's attention and consequently does not need to use obscene language or inappropriate scenes to be amusing! Essentially, The Apartment is about a young insurance company worker (played by Jack Lemmon in an excellent performance) who is forced to allow his philandering bosses to use his apartment on dates. In exchange for allowing his bosses to use the apartment, Lemmon is recommended to recieve promotions. Things get more complicated, however, when the bigger boss, Sheldrake (played by Fred McMurray) gets involved in the apartment renting. This would seem like a good thing for Lemmon - but there is one problem: McMurray (who is married and has no plans of divorcing) is dating Lemmon's dream girl, the beautiful elevator operator at the company (played by Shirley MacLaine). To say any more would be to give too much away...
In addition to having an intertaining plot and a funny, sarcastic script (like most Billy Wilder movies), The Apartment features amazing performances by all of its actors, especially Lemmon and MacLaine.
So I don't know how else to recommend this movie - get it soon and enjoy!
Movie Review: Is this funny?
Summary: 5 Stars
That question has been asked since this movie was released. Is it a drama with comic undertones or a comedy with dramatic overtones? I don't know. I do know that the Academy "got it right" when they made this the Best Picture of 1960. Wilder's genius in seeing the humor of everyday life and how it helps us continue living is fully developed in this movie. The principals experience the triumph of humor over pain. While this may not be a feel good film, "Shut up and deal." is an excellent battle cry.
How realistic is the movie? Very! The office is Met Life in New York. Yes, this is office work prior to the introduction of computers. No one thought the conditions were bad and Met Life was thought to be an excellent employer. There is no law about sexual harassment and the term MCP has not been coined. I say this to show how realistic the film is and how sure the portrayals are.
The cast is great! Jack Lemmon is a sure-footed as ever. He is the rising young white-collar worker determined to secure every advantage and promotion. Smitten by Shirley MacLaine, Lemmon proceeds in a stumbling bumbling comic courtship of the unattainable. Fred MacMurray breaks out of his good guy image with an outstanding performance as a bully and womanizer.
This is one of Wilder's best films and one of the few must see movies in existence. While not a funny comfortable film, it is thought provoking and enjoyable.
Movie Review: Mr Hopeful: "I gotsm paper towels." Mrs Dreyfus: "Beatnik."
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Apartment" is a well-executed film presenting real human dilemmas handled in comical fashion. C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) has himself in a pickle in both a practical and moral sense. He often can't get to his NYC apartment until late at night because he's lent it to married, upper-level personnel from work. They want a place to take girlfriends. Baxter doesn't seem to know how to say no to these higher-ups; besides, he's hoping his largesse will lead to a promotion. The demand for his apartment becomes a real burden on him. And it gets worse. In a superbly delivered twist of plot, a really big cheese, Mr Sheldrake of Personnel (on the 27th floor), asks for the apartment key--offering Baxter two Broadway tickets in exchange. Baxter reluctantly agrees but then seeks to turn the situation in his favor by asking an attractive elevator girl out to the play. But she also happens to be the girl Sheldrake was hoping to bring to the apartment. Baxter's moral dilemma arises from these circumstances.There is great acting all around: Lemmon does one of his very best nervously funny characters; watch him make spaghetti. Shirley McClaine is sweet and vulnerable; Fred MacMurray is a real cad--with irresistible charm. The characters of Dr. and Mrs. Dreyfus (Baxter's neighbors) are funny yet wise. Ray Walston is great too.
I'm not a big Jack Lemmon fan but it's hard not to like this film; it's done so well in every respect.
Movie Review: Liberal 1950s New York Mores + Suicide
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie provides great sociological insight into 1950s liberal New York's sexual mores. It also features suicide attempts by the two protagonists. Shirley MacLaine's character takes an overdose of sleeping pills; Jack Lemmon's character admits he tried to shoot himself as a younger man.
The suicide theme plays through to the very end, when MacLaine hears the "pop" of a champagne cork and thinks Lemmon has shot himself again.
The movie is mostly about sexual mores, however.
At the office Christmas party you see all sorts of couples making out (presumably they're not married couples), and one of the company's telephone operators does a great mock striptease with a long strand of pearls.
The one time that the Jack Lemmon character "scores," it's with a married woman whose husband is away in Cuba. They're both drunk on Christmas Eve and she's looking for some action.
Many of the female characters are chippies who get picked up by older married businessmen. Fred MacMurray, of the wholesome "My Three Sons" fame, is a total slimeball in this picture.
The movie won a number of Oscars. I thought it was adapted from a Broadway play, but it wasn't.
It was the last black-and-white film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, until Schindler's List (1993), Steven Spielberg's feel-good Holocaust flick.