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The Apartment (1960)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
16 September 1960 (West Germany) moreTagline:
A Billy "Some Like It Hot" Wilder Production morePlot:
A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
Won 5 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 8 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(5 articles)
Promises, Promises - Hathaway Ready For Her Broadway Bow? (From WENN. 21 October 2008, 6:31 PM, PDT)
Edie Adams Dies
(From WENN. 16 October 2008, 9:12 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
One of my favorite movies moreCast
(Complete credited cast)Jack Lemmon | ... | Calvin Clifford 'C.C.' 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 Mary Olsen - Sheldrake's Secretary |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
125 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)Certification:
Brazil:Livre | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (1994) | Canada:G (Quebec) (2000) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #19647) | West Germany:16MOVIEmeter:
5% since last week why?Fun Stuff
Trivia:
It was said that while filming the scene where C.C. Baxter sleeps in Central Park in the rain, Billy Wilder had to spray Jack Lemmon with anti-freeze to keep him from freezing. moreGoofs:
Continuity: Baxter gives Fran coffee to drink. The coffee is freshly made and so it's boiling hot, but she drinks it quickly, as if it had been sitting around for some time. moreQuotes:
[first lines]C.C. Baxter: [narrating] On November 1st, 1959, the population of New York City was 8,042,783. If you laid all these people end to end, figuring an average height of five feet six and a half inches, they would reach from Times Square to the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan. I know facts like this because I work for an insurance company - Consolidated Life of New York. We're one of the top five companies in the country. Our home office has 31,259 employees, which is more than the entire population of uhh...
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Soundtrack:
Capriccio Italien, Op. 45 moreFAQ
Why does Baxter have a cold? It doesn't seem to fit into the plot.A NOTE REGARDING SPOILERS
How does it end?
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After the first time I saw The Apartment, I admired it so much and placed it in my favorite movies list. After watching it a second time on widescreen and digitally remastered DVD, my love for it just deepened. I was once again touched by Shirley MacLaine's portrayal of Miss Kubelik, a lovely but unlucky in love woman. I also laughed again at Jack Lemmon's perfect delivery of one-liners and other mannerisms.
Billy Wilder made The Apartment right after the huge success of his last film, Some Like It Hot, also with Jack Lemmon. The Apartment is not as funny, but it is more accomplished and deeper in meaning. Watching it in widescreen made me appreciate more the complexity of the story. Widescreen shots of C.C. Baxter's (Lemmon) apartment shows emptiness and loneliness. The shot of Baxter's office, which has employees in desks that seem to extend into eternity, shows that Baxter is just a faceless man in a populated world.
C.C. Baxter is an ambitious employee in an insurance company. He tries to work himself to a promotion by allowing his philandering bosses to use his apartment as a perfect hideaway. As an exchange for the use of his apartment, his bosses put him in the top ten of the efficiency reports. After getting a promotion and successfully asking the elevator girl Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) on a date, everything was going well for Baxter. Until he finds out that Miss Kubelik is the mistress of his big boss J.D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray).
Miss Kubelik and Sheldrake had a summer affair and Sheldrake wants Kubelik back admitting that he still loves her. Showing vulnerability, she agrees to get back together and ends up using Baxter's apartment twice a week. Naturally there will be problems. Sheldrake could not break up his marriage, and Kubelik does not like how the relationship is going but couldn't help being in love with him. Kubelik summed it up when she said `when you're in love with a married man, you shouldn't wear mascara.'
For Baxter, things couldn't be more complex. He wants to keep getting promotions but he might lose Kubelik in the process. He adores Kubelik but he doesn't want to be unemployed. Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond's script couldn't have been better written. It ranks up there with the likes of great scripts of Casablanca and Citizen Kane. They filled it with small intricate details and such funny lines. The Apartment is very ingenious and inspirational. When I wasn't laughing, I was smiling.
Billy Wilder perfected the style of satirical filmmaking. In The Apartment, he touches a lot of subjects. The movie deals with adultery, suicide, loneliness, and corporate cutthroats. The movie won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but surprisingly, no acting Oscars. I have seen many romantic comedies, and while many are good, most of them do not have the same heart and warmth as The Apartment. It is in my list of top ten favorite movies because it entertained me, inspired me, and showed me how to live human-wise.