The Apartment [1960]

Director : Billy Wilder

Cast : Jack Lemmon, Shirley Maclaine, Fred Macmurray

Billy Wilder, the director of the cult comedy movie "Some Like It Hot" created this movie just one year after the classic. "Some Like it Hot" was an extravagant masterpiece with elements of crime, thriller, action, music, drama and offcourse mind boggling comedy. The Apartment on the other hand is a simple story about a person (Lemmon) who does a clerical job in an insurance company and gains popularity and promotion by making his seniors happy. He makes his seniors happy by lending his apartment to them for their extra-marital affairs.

The story takes a sudden turn when Lemmon's love interest(Maclaine) and his insurance company boss (MacMurray) visit his apartment . What follows is a topsy-turvy ride which includes Lemmon trying his best to keep his boss as well as his love interest happy while trying his best to hide his inner feelings for her.

The story is simple and the ending predictable. But what makes this movie enjoyable is the handling of the story by the director and the treatment by the actors . Lemmon plays his role to the tee where sometimes the viewer sympathies with his character. The dialogues of this movie are smartly written with intelligent humorous punches in between . The other cast also play their part perfectly. Some scenes may make you feel that the lead actors are overacting but I guess such acting was the style back then especially for light-hearted movies.


Rating : 8/10