Tuesday, July 9, 2013

The Apartment (1960)


A man is used and abused by his coworkers and company executives to use his downtown apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.

The Apartment is such a quirky movie with such a solid premise.  I mean, this poor guy, C.C.(Jack Lemmon), has a fairly decent downtown apartment, fairly close to work.  He leaves his key to guy who wants to change his shirt before a date and next thing you know, the whole office knows about it.  They want to use it as a little love shack for their mistresses.  Lemmon's apartment has turned into a sex den.  He just comes back at 8 o'clock to shave and go to bed.  He also restocks the apartment after uses with snacks and liquor.  Classsssssy.  Don't feel too bad for him... he uses his apartment as a bargaining chip to climb the executive ladder.  Then there is the tragically sad elevator operator, Fran (Shirley MacLaine), with a quirky personality who has been strung along by C.C. boss.  Of course, to make it interesting, C.C. develops a crush on her.  It's really quite funny and I think it talks about infidelity ahead of it's time, while still being funny.  I recommend it!  Fun for everyone!  Well, everyone but C.C. who doesn't get laid in his own sex den.  Shucks...


Each time I see a film by Billy Wilder for the first time, it reaffirms how incredible a filmmaker he is. Wilder tries his hand at comedy again a year after his smash Some Like It Hot with excellent results thanks to a really solid premise and great performances. That’s not to say this movie is all fun and games- after all, the whole film revolves around infidelity and the rich and powerful oppressing those they perceive to be their underlings. Nevertheless, the eventual success of the underdog makes this film a worthy successor to other Best Picture romantic comedies like It Happened One Night and Marty. 

In 1968, playwright Neil Simon adapted the screenplay as the book for the Broadway musical "Promises, Promises". It spawned the hit song "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. "Promises, Promises" opened at the Shubert Theater on December 1, 1968 and ran for 1281 performances. The first Broadway revival opened at the Broadway Theater April 25, 2010 starring Kristin Chenoweth




Kirkeby: Premium-wise and billing-wise, we are eighteen percent ahead of last year, October-wise.

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