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The Apartment

Oscar™ Best Picture - Winning Movies

8.4

80,626

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Original title: The Apartment
Year: 1960
Running time: 125 min.
Country: United States
Director: Billy Wilder
Screenwriter: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond
Music: Adolph Deutsch
Cinematography: Joseph LaShelle (B&W)
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Edie Adams, Jack Kruschen, Joan Shawlee, Hope Holiday, David Lewis, Naomi Stevens, Johnny Seven, Joyce Jameson, Willard Waterman, David White
Producer: United Artists, The Mirisch Corporation
Genre: Comedy. Romance. Drama | Comedy-Drama. Christmas. Cult Movie. New Year's Eve
Synopsis: C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is an office clerk who curries favor with the executives in his office by giving them the key to his small apartment for the odd afternoon dalliance. Among them is his callous boss, J.D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), who Baxter eventually learns is using his place to sleep with Miss Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), the sweet elevator operator the clerk has loved from afar. When Sheldrake coldly dumps the vulnerable young woman, she tries to commit suicide, but is saved by the intervention of Baxter.

Rankings Position

#3 Best Romantic Movies in the history of film
#7 Best Comedy Movies
#16 Best Drama Movies
#18 Best US Movies of all time
#22 Best Movies in the history of film

Show 5 rankings

Awards: 1960: 5 Academy Awards: Best Movie, Director, Original Screenplay, Art Direction, Editing. 10 Nom.

1960: 3 Golden Globes, including Best Movie - Comedy. 4 nominations

1960: BAFTA Awards: Best Film, Foreign Actor and Foreign Actress

1960: Directors Guild of America (DGA): Best Director

1960: Writers Guild of America (WGA): Best Comedy Screenplay

1960: Venice: Best Actress (Shirley MacLaine)

Show 2 more awards

1960: New York Film Critics Circle: 3 Awards, incl. Best Film (ex-aequo)

1960: National Board of Review: Top 10 Best Films

Critics' reviews

"A gleeful, tender and even sentimental film"

Bosley Crowther: The New York Times
"In many movies, the characters hardly even seem to have jobs, but in “The Apartment” they have to be reminded that they have anything else (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of four)"

Roger Ebert: Chicago Sun-Times
"Billy Wilder has furnished 'The Apartment' with a one-hook plot that comes out high in comedy, wide in warmth and long in running time."

Variety
"Production and direction wise, Wilder sustains his usual excellence. But his story is controversial (...) He oversteps the bounds of good taste."

New York Daily News
"'The Apartment' represents Wilder at his most complete -seamlessly weaving the lighthearted and the serious without encountering a snarl or tangle (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"

James Berardinelli: ReelViews
"It’s easy to admire the director’s precision in blending drama and comedy. Altogether, a very satisfying experience"

Entertainment Weekly
"Lemmon and MacLaine are magical together, and MacMurray more than holds his own as the third part of the triangle"

Ruthe Stein: SFGATE
Show 9 more reviews

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Ranking Lists Position

6 My Favorite Comedies (635)
9 My Favorite Romantic Comedies (282)
14 My 10 favorite Film Directors and my favorite movie of each one of them (211)
20 Movies with Great Screenplays (100)
41 Movies I Want to Own (123)
52 Movies I Want to Watch (old releases) (3400)
53 Movies with a Great Male Lead (79)
53 Movies with a Great Female Lead (57)
72 My Favorite Movies (2960)
88 Movies with the Best Endings (91)
92 Funniest Movies Ever (36)
96 Movies I Own (961)
98 Movies with the Best Beginnings (not including opening credits) (17)

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