File:The_Apartment_(1960_poster).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
"The Apartment" is a 1960 comedy-drama directed by Billy Wilder about a office worker who lends his apartment to his bosses for their affairs, only to become entangled in unexpected emotional complications. The film is considered a landmark in cinema for blending humor with serious themes about workplace ethics and human connection, and it became a major critical and commercial success.
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Film · TMDB
8.2Bud Baxter is a minor clerk in a huge New York insurance company, until he discovers a quick way to climb the corporate ladder. He lends out his apartment to the executives as a place to take their mistresses. Although he often has to deal with the aftermath of their visits, one night he's left with a major problem to solve.
Cast
- Jack Lemmon as C.C. Baxter
- Shirley MacLaine as Fran Kubelik
- Fred MacMurray as Jeff D. Sheldrake
- Ray Walston as Joe Dobisch
- Jack Kruschen as Dr. Dreyfuss
- David Lewis as Al Kirkeby
Themes
- new year's eve
- new york city
- lovesickness
- clerk
- winter
- age difference
- suicide attempt
- office
- flat
- spaghetti
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Encyclopedic overview
The Apartment is a 1960 American romantic comedy film directed and produced by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond. Jack Lemmon stars as an insurance clerk who, in hopes of climbing the corporate ladder, allows his superiors to use his Upper West Side apartment to conduct their extramarital affairs. He becomes attracted to an elevator operator (Shirley MacLaine) in his office building, unaware that she is having an affair with the head of personnel (Fred MacMurray). Ray Walston and Edie Adams feature in supporting roles.
The Apartment was distributed by United Artists to widespread critical acclaim and was a commercial success, despite controversy owing to its subject matter. It became the 8th highest-grossing film of 1960. At the 33rd Academy Awards, the film was nominated for ten awards and won five, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Lemmon, MacLaine, and Jack Kruschen were nominated for Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor respectively, and Lemmon and MacLaine won Golden Globe Awards for their performances. Promises, Promises, a 1968 Broadway musical by Burt Bacharach, Hal David, and Neil Simon, was based on the film.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “The Apartment” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.