X
- 1960
- Approved
- United Artists
- 2 h 5 m
- 1960
- Approved
- United Artists
- 2 h 5 m
Summary 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.
Directed By: Billy Wilder
Written By: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond
- 1960
- Approved
- United Artists
- 2 h 5 m
- 1960
- Approved
- United Artists
- 2 h 5 m
The Apartment
8.7
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Summary 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.
Directed By: Billy Wilder
Written By: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond
Where to Watch
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 21 Critic Reviews
94
95% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
5% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 21 Critic Reviews
94
95% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
5% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
A scathing, ingeniously funny 1960 portrayal of corporate corruption and backstairs sex. [18 March 1988, p.C24]
Director Wilder handles his players superbly. He holds an amazingly tight rein on Actress MacLaine, which gives her performance a solidity she seldom achieves. Yet it is Actor Lemmon, surely the most sensitive and tasteful young comedian now at work in Hollywood, who really cuts the mustard and carries the show.
By Staff (Not Credited)
FULL REVIEW
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 93 User Ratings
8.7
97% Positive
90 Ratings
90 Ratings
2% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
1% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 93 User Ratings
8.7
97% Positive
90 Ratings
90 Ratings
2% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
1% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Lemmon and MacLaine are magical together, and MacMurray more than holds his own as the third part of the triangle. He commands the office - and, not incidentally, the big screen - with a sexual energy he would scarcely have a chance to show again.
By Simon Braud
FULL REVIEW
Production and direction wise, Wilder sustains his usual excellence. But his story is controversial and I am not one of those who can quite see The Apartment as the great comedy-drama he evidently intended it to be. He oversteps the bounds of good taste.
I wouldn't call this 1960 picture one of Billy Wilder's best comedies—it's drab, sappy, and overlong at 125 minutes.
Jack Lemmon plays C.C. Baxter, an over-accommodating insurance grunt trying his best to climb the corporate ladder by offering favors to his superiors. In this case, said favors include the use of his conveniently-situated bachelor pad for extramarital affairs, and Baxter often finds himself literally shut out in the cold while the bigwigs have their fun.
At heart, The Apartment is a tale of the meek taking orders from the ****, allowing themselves to be taken advantage of for fear of a distant, looming consequence. Baxter soaks up this treatment, of course, but so does his longtime crush, the lovely elevator girl Fran (Shirley MacLaine), who's found herself tangled in the complicated web of an office manager. Both reach personal lows, defeated by the world and pestered by constant external irritations, but see something familiar in each other that gradually nurtures a renewed sense of self-assurance.
Hopeful without feeling unrealistic, melancholy but not menacing, draining and also uplifting, it smoothly harvests a large crop of emotions before producing a set of forever-altered characters in the closing shot. Very well-made, affecting cinema that still feels relevant fifty-plus years later, my only nitpick is that it drags just a bit in getting to the point of the third act.
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One of the tighter, snappier and more memorable screenplays you'll encounter in the pantheon of Best Picture winners, "The Apartment" is as much an enticing exercise in dramatic irony and intrigue as it is a tender portrait of humanity and love. With all of this coming from the late, great Billy Wilder, you'll find I'm not the least bit surprised. I could watch Jack Lemmon in anything, and for days, to boot. With every performance the guy gives, in everything I've ever seen him in, he builds an express lane straight to your heart, immediately endearing himself to you and making you laugh. Shirley MacLaine is equally winsome, with the chemistry between her and Lemmon really comprising most of the film's appeal. What's most surprising about the film is its deft ability to juggle totally disparate tonalities. It's definitely a comedy in that it's "comedic" (in the Greek sense of the word), but "The Apartment" also takes great risks in its second and third acts, introducing certain thematic elements I didn't expect, but ultimately welcomed with open arms. It's brave, arresting and terrific in its execution. Again, I'm not at all shocked this won as many Oscars as it did.
Report
While the plot is pretty questionable in places, a great performance from Jack Lemmon and an even better one from Shirley MacLaine combined with Wilder's sensitive direction lead to a really good film.
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Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 5 Wins & 10 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 3 Wins & 4 Nominations
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
• 3 Wins & 3 Nominations