The Apartment-1960

Director Billy Wilder

Starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine

Scott’s Review #7

Reviewed June 17, 2014

Grade: A-

The Apartment (1960) is another gem by Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard, The Lost Weekend), this one is set in 1959 New York City, a setting and period I adore.

The black and white are highly effective as they portray the loneliness and bleakness of the characters who are all friendless, sad, and starved for love.

It questions social morality and getting ahead in the corporate world, but goes from drama to romantic comedy, with no sappiness.

Quite the contrary, as the film has dark moments of despair and angst.

The film influenced the television series “Mad Men”. As with most Billy Wilder films, there is a darkness of humanity, which is fascinating to watch.

Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are terrific but knocked down a notch as I didn’t exactly see the chemistry between them, but is still an excellent film.

The Apartment (1960) won the Best Picture Oscar.

Oscar Nominations: 5 wins-Best Motion Picture (won), Best Director-Billy Wilder (won), Best Actor-Jack Lemmon, Best Actress-Shirley MacLaine, Best Supporting Actor-Jack Kruschen, Best Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (won), Best Sound, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White (won), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Film Editing (won)