Rating: 
Summary: UNFORGETTABLE
Review: A lovable and quite unforgettable comedy about why you cannot be a partner in other people's evils. Jack Lemmon is JUST RIGHT as the lead, a man who climbs the corporate ladder by renting out his apartment to his bosses for their extra-marital activities. He learns his lesson when he falls in love with the unfortunate mistress of his department head, realizing at the same time that she is unwittingly a victim of false promises & lies. Shirley MacLaine stars as an elevator girl who must be "the martyr" because she fell for a married man.
One of the joys of this film is watching Jack Lemmon perform; and the film's whacky premise is a perfect compliment for him. "Young, cute and vulnerable" Miss MacLaine (complete with a suicidal tendency) is wonderful as well in one of her most memorable performance. This film is truly an Oscar winner.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Classic!
Review: I watched this movie recently on VHS and I loved it! Jack Lemmon gave a geniune feel as C.C. Baxter; Shirley McLaine was great as Fran Kulblick (She should've won an Oscar for her "crying" portrayal in the movie); and I was surprised about Fred McMurray on how he portrayed his character, J.D. Sheldrake, as a villian so well. All three, plus Joan Shawlee and Ray Walston, made this movie so entertaining to watch. I also enjoyed seeing the time capsule parts in this movie (i.e. the steno equipments) and the part where C.C. Baxter met Mrs. McDougall in the bar ("What is Castro?" "The man from Havana with the crazy beard"). This movie is NOT one to miss! :) You will enjoy it as much as I did!
Rating:
Summary: Classical Gas!
Review: If you've never seen this one...you're missing one of the great classics! Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are perfectly cast in this comedy set in New York around 1960. To climb the corporate ladder, Lemmon's character is letting his bosses "use" his apartment for extra-curicular activities. It's interesting to see how things have changed...(and how some things never change)! P.S. You'll never look at a tennis racket the same way!!!
Rating:
Summary: Be a mensch
Review: And what a mensch Jack Lemmon is. He gives his best performance in this comdy-drama, that makes you first laugh out loud and then want to cry for these people. The slimy, gritty story plays perfectly off of Lemmon's character, so he seems like the only good guy in a bad bad world. I cant believe he didnt win an Oscar. Also great performances from Shirley MacLaine and Fred McMurray.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing twists
Review: Directed by Billy Wilder, who is the director of "Sabrina" (1954). You may even finish the film before realizing that you were engrossed in watching anticipating and maybe a little kibitzing. I think it is a great story and well executed. There are a lot of details and clues as to what is to happen and who the mystery person is in Fran Kubelik's life. I am mot saying. One may think this is a timeless film, but at least the technology is dated; look at the steno pool equipment. Jack Kruschen plays Doctor Dreyfuss who thinks that Jack Lemmon as C. C. (Bud) Baxter is wild and at it again. He administers first aid to Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine.)
Rating:
Summary: We All live There!
Review: Jack lemmon has this undeniable presence that just draws you into what ever role he played! He Just fit into this every man magic that it seemed as if a hidden camera is placed into his real life situations and we are allowed to observe. This quality trancends acting this just is Jack Lemmon, he never was an actor he was just a genius! The Apartment gives him the ultimate setup and sceneray to chew on and he rips into like a beaver attacking a sequoia! The film places him in the midst of being the ultimate underdog, he goes to work everyday to earn a living and returns home to his home life, one that he lives alone but even his home life is over run by those who have more power than him his co-workers at work. The higher ups use his apartment for rendevous and at times demand the key to his place, leaving lemmon no choice but to sleep on a park bench on a rainy moonlit night. But why does Lemmon put up with being the ultimate punching bag? Why do any of us? Because we have to survive and bite the bullet but as the film progresses and we meet the ultimate swine played to perfection by MacMurray and falls in love with Shirley MacLaine his reolve is tested and he breaks and when the plot spins from haate to love to suicide to friendship and back to love you never ever loose faith in Jack Lemmon you never doubt him or think of him as being weak or shallow because he is not Lemmon's character is the ultimate creation, the force of all great films, he is everyone! As the film went on I didn't find myself rooting for him to get the girl, or to get a great job or to even get even with those who have broken his spirit i just wanted Lemmon's Charater C.C. Baxter to be happy!
Rating:
Summary: A Very Nearly Perfect Film
Review: Most people consider Billy Wilder's best film to be SOME LIKE IT HOT, but while I love that movie, THE APARTMENT has not only been my favorite Billy Wilder film ever, but one of my favorite movies, period. Few movies have managed to blend together so many tragic, humorous, and romantic elements so completely and so well. Over the years I had managed to see THE APARTMENT five or six times. Each time I had seen it either as a TV broadcast film or on VHS. Therefore, I had never seen it in widescreen format. Seeing it for the first time in its widescreen version brought the film home with greater power than ever. What a great movie! The acting in this movie is utterly beyond reproach. In my opinion, this was Jack Lemmon's finest role. It is impossible to imagine anyone else playing C. C. Baxter. Cast anyone else in that role, and you have a lesser film. Although Fred MacMurray today is primarily remembered for his role on MY THREE SONS, he was also a highly capable villain, and he was never nastier than he was here. Shirley MacLaine was never more adorable than as Fran Kubelik. Unbelievably, she lost the Oscar that year to Elizabeth Taylor (for BUTTERFIELD 8. Although no one today would compare either Taylor's performance to MacLaine's in THE APARTMENT, at the time of the voting Taylor was seriously ill and appeared to be in danger of dying. Unfortunately, from time to time Oscars are awarded less on merit of performance, but for other reasons. For instance, in 1940, Jimmy Stewart won the Oscar for THE PHILADELPHIA STORY primarily because voters felt bad that he hadn't won the previous year for MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. But Stewart's winning meant that one of the greatest performances in the history of American cinema, Henry Fonda's portrayal of Tom Joad in THE GRAPES OF WRATH, was not recognized with an Oscar. (Far from being cutthroat competitors, Fonda and Stewart were best friends.) In the spring of 1961, Elizabeth Taylor's health apparently was a greater factor than Shirley MacLaine's much stronger performance. Having seen this movie several times, what strikes me is how many memorable though apparently everyday moments remain vivid over time: Jack Lemmon using a tennis racket as a spaghetti strainer; the way that Lemmon quickly rifles through cards on his desk; the game of cards that Baxter and Kubelik play in his apartment while she recovers; the toothpicks and olives arranged in a circle in a bar; the quirks and mannerisms of each of Baxter's immediate superiors; Lemmon starting to shave only to realize that he had earlier removed and hidden the blades in his razor. I don't buy many DVDs or videos, but I bought this one the second that I saw that it was available in widescreen.
Rating:
Summary: The Apartment
Review: This must be my favorite movie of all time. I've watched it 20+ times and bought the DVD so that I could watch it some more in widescreen and is much better video quality than VHS. Even though it is Black and White I still love watching it! It's a good guy gets the girl romantic comedy/drama. One of Jack Lemmon's best, along with Shirley Maclaine and Fred Macmurry doing one of his few 'bad guy' roles.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Billy Wilder
Review: Billy Wilder, one of the most talented and versatile writer/directors to ever work in the Hollywood studio system, was in top form with this film. Perfectedly structured, the films interweaves several subplots very effectively. The characters are well-crafted and well cast, from Jack Lemmon's C.C. Baxter all the way down to the scene stealing Santa Claus, who orders a drink and says, "My sleigh is double parked." In lesser hands, Santa Claus would have been given a perfunctory line, but in the able hands of Wilder (and co-writer I.A.L. Diamond), his character has a brief moment of life. Perhaps the biggest surprise in casting is Fred MacMurray ("My Three Sons") as J.D. Sheldrake, C.C. Baxter's adulterous boss. Even his rare shifty role as Neff in Wilder's Double Indemnity, doesn't fully prepare us for the nastiness of Sheldrake. This guy is coldblooded! Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine (who played "Fran") are great together. It's one of the great pairings in motion picture history. You feel for both of these characters, as they stumble through their lives. This is a testament to not only the brillant script (and Wilder's direction), but to the enormous talent of these actors. The Apartment is one of those films that you are compelled to watch over and over again. Whether it's the first time or the tenth time viewing, if you start watching the film, you've got to watch it all the way through. A true classic.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good, depressing, uplifting, a master piece
Review: This movie is a great Billy Wilder. It deserves the recognition it gets. Jack Lemmon is great as the nervous 'doormat' business man, who rents his apartment to his CEOs for them to have their affairs so Jack Lemmon can get a promotion. His character is great, and his style of nervous, jumpy, manic derpressive character is perfect for the part. You really get attached to him. The doctor who lives next to him is great as well. Shirley Maclaine, in her beauty, plays a confused and misused elevator attendant. Jack Lemmon falls in love with her, but she only likes the boss, who mis treats her badly. This is a great film, where people do very human things instead of acting like cliches. Sometimes I yelled at the screen to try to make them understand that they were doing the wrong thing. That's how involved I got to this movie. A masterpiece indeed.
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