Director Billy Wilder once said of his classic film The Apartment, “Some people say it’s my best comedy but I never set out to make a comedy. I don’t consider it a comedy. But when people laugh, who am I to argue?” Not every filmmaker could thread the needle where comedy and drama are concerned like Wilder could. Laughing one minute, crying the next, the director was a master where balancing tones was concerned and that’s never more evident than in The Apartment, the winner of the 1961’s Best Picture Oscar which still packs a punch over 60 years after its release.
Jack Lemmon delivers one of his best performances as C.C. Baxter, one of the many drones working at a major insurance company who longs to climb the corporate ladder. He curries favor with the execs by lending them his apartment for their extramarital trysts. Baxter has no moral qualms about this, that is until he discovers that Fran Kubelik (a delightful Shirley MacLaine), an elevator operator he’s in love with, is visting his humble abode in the company of Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), his immediate superior.
Seeing the film today, you can’t help but be struck by how daring and ahead of the curve Wilder and his co-writer I.A.L. Diamond were regarding their subject matter. Met with moral outrage by some critics, the movie’s success at the box office kept it in theaters for months, members of the Academy embracing its edgy content as well as the professionalism with which it was rendered.
Kino-Lorber’s new 4K edition features the film in pristine condition, while including two informative audio tracks by cinema historians Joseph McBride and Bruce Block, each providing invaluable anecdotes and insight that casts the film in a new light. The documentary, Inside The Apartment features archival footage and a wide variety of interviews, while Magic Time: The Art of Jack Lemmon examines the actor’s career and his distinctive approach to his craft. Taken all together, this is a comprehensive package that does Wilder’s work justice while fostering a new appreciation for this seminal film.
