The Apartment is for me one of around 10 films that I have seen So Many times( again, starting as a kid- both mom and dad loved classic movies) So Many times- I truly lost count. One of my favorite lines was Shirley McClaine 's " When you're in love with a married man, you should never wear mascara." A bit more background: Billy Wilder had, at one time, more films in most movie critics top 20 list than any other director. Except for extremely effective, artistic direction in Double Indemnity- the first Real film noir ( voice-over, venetian blind shadows, hazy air in dark room( by putting metal dust filings scattered in air just before filming)- Billy Wilder never was that adventurous with the camera. By his own admission, he became a movie director so he could get his scripts filmed without being mutilated. The Apartment - a mammoth winner at the Oscars- turned out to be Wilder 's last great film. The guy was a born Romantic with a cynical streak- no one will ever fit his shoes. Billy Wilder also has one marriage lasting around 50 years until death. Possibly my favorite of his: One, Two, Three - that makes me laugh out loud every single time ( and for the same Anti- communist attitude - check out his screenplay to Greta Garbo in Ninotchka) Another favorite: Love in the Afternoon. Thank you, Billy! ( I hope you're up there with Ernst Lubitch trading wisecracks over brandy)
This is such a classic for a good reason. It is very real for the time and so surprisingly dark for a comedy. The characters all feel so flawed, especially the villains because they just don't care about the adulterous affairs they are heartlessly involved in. Bud's character development is one of the all-time greats, he goes from being pushed around the really taking charge at the end like Fran which makes them made for each other. Their love for each other is just so honest and real brought out by the all-time great performances from Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon. Shirley undoubtedly deserved her Oscar and it is a robbery that she never won for his but it is understandable even if sort of a snub for me that Jack Lemmon lost to Burt Lancaster. His performance as the charming con man who swoons onlookers with his sermons Elmer Gantry in the movie of the same name was so compelling and really held my attention throughout. That ending made me cry and is a really poignant cautionary tale on the pitfalls of unchecked ego and blindly following instructions without being aware of the consequences which is kind of similar to Jack Lemmon as CC Baxter in The Apartment but more straight-forward dramatic and theatrical and it works for a film of this sort. I'd highly recommend Elmer Gantry if you haven't seen it yet and it is so unbelievably left out of so many discussions on RUclips as it is such as rich and complex film with characters of the sort that make it so fascinating. But Jack Lemmon had to effortlessly weave through pathos, drama and comedy in this whole movie which really made you like and root for Baxter which makes the ending all the more satisfying and an all-timer for an all-timer movie which makes me think he should've won the Oscar for it but it is what it is I guess but both performances are hardly separable from each other in quality and I bet he was a close second in that race. The technical elements of this film are all perfect and I love that it is filmed in black and white as it makes the film feel a lot more depraved and cynical, way more than it already was and the script is fantastic as well. It is just a perfect film and one that is endlessly rewatchable
Too close to me and my life to be a comedy… Haha. Letting people take advantage of me for much of my life, learning to stand up for myself, feeling friendzoned all my life, and cynical of love and relationships but still wanting to get the girl.
I am an "Elmer Ganrty" person, myself. Saw "The Apartment" and "Elmer" only once and both films were good for one viewing. However, "The Apartment" was not up to par, I think, with "Sunset Blvd." and "Some Like It Hot", also directed by Billy Wilder.
The Apartment is for me one of around 10 films that I have seen So Many times( again, starting as a kid- both mom and dad loved classic movies) So Many times- I truly lost count. One of my favorite lines was Shirley McClaine 's " When you're in love with a married man, you should never wear mascara." A bit more background: Billy Wilder had, at one time, more films in most movie critics top 20 list than any other director. Except for extremely effective, artistic direction in Double Indemnity- the first Real film noir ( voice-over, venetian blind shadows, hazy air in dark room( by putting metal dust filings scattered in air just before filming)- Billy Wilder never was that adventurous with the camera. By his own admission, he became a movie director so he could get his scripts filmed without being mutilated. The Apartment - a mammoth winner at the Oscars- turned out to be Wilder 's last great film. The guy was a born Romantic with a cynical streak- no one will ever fit his shoes. Billy Wilder also has one marriage lasting around 50 years until death. Possibly my favorite of his: One, Two, Three - that makes me laugh out loud every single time ( and for the same Anti- communist attitude - check out his screenplay to Greta Garbo in Ninotchka) Another favorite: Love in the Afternoon. Thank you, Billy! ( I hope you're up there with Ernst Lubitch trading wisecracks over brandy)
This is such a classic for a good reason. It is very real for the time and so surprisingly dark for a comedy. The characters all feel so flawed, especially the villains because they just don't care about the adulterous affairs they are heartlessly involved in. Bud's character development is one of the all-time greats, he goes from being pushed around the really taking charge at the end like Fran which makes them made for each other. Their love for each other is just so honest and real brought out by the all-time great performances from Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon. Shirley undoubtedly deserved her Oscar and it is a robbery that she never won for his but it is understandable even if sort of a snub for me that Jack Lemmon lost to Burt Lancaster. His performance as the charming con man who swoons onlookers with his sermons Elmer Gantry in the movie of the same name was so compelling and really held my attention throughout. That ending made me cry and is a really poignant cautionary tale on the pitfalls of unchecked ego and blindly following instructions without being aware of the consequences which is kind of similar to Jack Lemmon as CC Baxter in The Apartment but more straight-forward dramatic and theatrical and it works for a film of this sort. I'd highly recommend Elmer Gantry if you haven't seen it yet and it is so unbelievably left out of so many discussions on RUclips as it is such as rich and complex film with characters of the sort that make it so fascinating. But Jack Lemmon had to effortlessly weave through pathos, drama and comedy in this whole movie which really made you like and root for Baxter which makes the ending all the more satisfying and an all-timer for an all-timer movie which makes me think he should've won the Oscar for it but it is what it is I guess but both performances are hardly separable from each other in quality and I bet he was a close second in that race. The technical elements of this film are all perfect and I love that it is filmed in black and white as it makes the film feel a lot more depraved and cynical, way more than it already was and the script is fantastic as well. It is just a perfect film and one that is endlessly rewatchable
One of my favorites
Mine as well
In my top 3 Wilder films, who's in my top 3 directors. He proves yet another time that his screenplays are absolutely masterful
Too close to me and my life to be a comedy… Haha. Letting people take advantage of me for much of my life, learning to stand up for myself, feeling friendzoned all my life, and cynical of love and relationships but still wanting to get the girl.
I am an "Elmer Ganrty" person, myself. Saw "The Apartment" and "Elmer" only once and both films were good for one viewing. However, "The Apartment" was not up to par, I think, with "Sunset Blvd." and "Some Like It Hot", also directed by Billy Wilder.