ReviewsNew York Times - A gleeful, tender and even sentimental film, Time Out - The quintessential New York movie û with exquisite design by Alexandre Trauner and shimmering black-and-white photography û it presented something of a breakthrough in its portrayal of the war of the sexes, with a sour and cynical view of the self-deception, loneliness and cruelty involved in æromanticÆ liaisons., Variety - Most of the time, it's up to director Wilder to sustain a two-hour-plus film on treatment alone, a feat he manages to accomplish more often than not, and sometimes the results are amazing, Empire - This comedy tells truths about American business and sexual morΘs as uncomfortable now as they were in 1960, The Guardian - Billy Wilder's The Apartment (1960) is a big-city satire with a romantic heart of gold: it's a welcome re-release, and for those who love the style of Mad Men, or Richard Yates's 1961 novel Revolutionary Road (and Sam Mendes's fine screen adaptation) it's a must.
Additional InformationWinner of numerous Academy and BAFTA Awards, Billy Wilder's THE APARTMENT blends his customary harsh cynicism with a humane streak that appears only fleetingly in his films. The movie stars Jack Lemmon as C.C. Baxter, an office clerk who curries favor with the executives in his office by giving them the key to his small apartment for the odd afternoon dalliance. Among them is his callous boss, J.D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), who Baxter eventually learns is using his place to sleep with Miss Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), the sweet elevator operator the clerk has loved from afar. When Sheldrake coldly dumps the vulnerable young woman, she tries to commit suicide, but is saved by the intervention of Baxter. As the clerk lovingly nurses the young woman back to health he begins to realize, with the help of epigrammatic neighbor Dr. Dreyfuss (Jack Kruschen), exactly how much of a fool he has been. Wilder brilliant depiction of the average American office as a place of brutality, coldness, and alienation conjure up Kafka and Marx. The director seduces the audience into what appears to be an unusually frank sex comedy, but turns the tables in displaying the consequences of the executive's cold indifference. Lemmon and MacLaine both give career performances and MacMurray is memorable as the blandly smiling snake.
AwardsBest Screenplay Written Directly For The Screen 1961 - I.A.L. Diamond, Best Picture 1961 -
ScreenwriterI.A.L. Diamond, Billy Wilder