CelluloidKid Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 It's time to renew the lease on an American classic. The Apartment is getting a new collectors edition release on February 5. The classic Billy Wilder film stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley Maclaine and Fred MacMurray. Widely regarded as a comedy in 1960, The Apartment seems more melancholy with each passing year. Jack Lemmon plays C.C. Baxter, a go-getting office worker who loans his tiny apartment to his philandering superiors for their romantic trysts. He runs into trouble when he finds himself sharing a girlfriend (Shirley MacLaine) with his callous boss (Fred MacMurray). Director/co-writer Billy Wilder claimed that the idea for The Apartment stemmed from a short scene in the 1945 romantic drama Brief Encounter in which the illicit lovers (Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson) arrange a rendezvous in a third person's apartment. Wilder was intrigued about what sort of person would willingly vacate his residence to allow virtual strangers a playing field for hanky panky. His answer to that question wound up winning 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. The Apartment was adapted by Neil Simon and Burt Bacharach into the 1969 Broadway musical Promises, Promises. Special Features - Audio Commentary from Bruce Block-Film Producer, historian, UCLA Professor and AFI Member - Inside the Apartment Documentary - Tribute To Jack Lemmon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redriver Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 There's not a better movie anywhere. Poignant, ironic, witty and romantic. Softly underplayed, it opens the door and lets you walk right in. Career performances by all in the cast. Best writing and directing Mr. Wilder ever did. This is a brilliant, poetic little masterpiece. American filmmaking at its very, very best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhook47 Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 I enthusiastically endorse your comments. It is right near the top of my all-time favorites and easily one of my most watched movies. I never tire of it, even the late 50s slang. It contains my favorite Jack Lemmon performance. As an impressionable 13 year old when it was released, I probably didn't fully understand all of the dynamics of the story, but I did have a big crush on Shirley MacLaine. I often wished I was born about 8 years earlier to have experienced that time period in Manhattan as a young adult. "What will you do? " "I don't know; another job, another town, I'm on my own." Not one of the well-known all time great movie lines, but one that has stayed with me over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redriver Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 "It was six months before I could bend that knee. I got over the girl in two weeks." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelluloidKid Posted January 25, 2008 Author Share Posted January 25, 2008 BEST LINE: When you're in love with a married man you shouldn't wear mascara. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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