The Apartment (1960)

The Apartment is one of those movies that makes you remember why so many of our older movies are so much better than their modern counterparts. The writing is sharp, the directing by Billy Wilder is superb and the acting is absolutely brilliant. C.C. Baxter, played by the incomparable Jack Lemmon, works for an insurance company. He is an efficient and dedicated employee who has a slight dilemma. You see, he has an apartment that is in such a great location in New York City that his bosses decide that it is the perfect place for their afternoon and evening dalliances with their mistresses. As you can imagine, poor C.C. is severely inconvenienced. Throughout the movie, C.C. gets put through the paces by his bosses (two of whom are the late greats Fred MacMurray and Ray Walston) who demand certain days for their escapades all the while promising to see to it that he gets compensated in the form of promotions. Poor C.C. even gets locked out of his own apartment and catches cold! Playing the love interest is the out of this world Shirley MacLaine. She was actually nominated for an Academy Award for her role as the complicated Fran. She works the elevators at the insurance company and all the men (especially C.C. Baxter) are smitten with her but she pays no attention to their advances. Fran is mysterious and you slowly find out why. This movie is fantastic. It is both funny and dark. It is playful without being over the top. The subject matter dealt with in this film gets the Billy Wilder treatment so the comedic moments get to shine as do the very serious moments without bringing the movie down. Lemmon and MacLaine are divine. This movie should be on your "to watch" list! Now-go rent it!!!!