50 years ago: The Apartment, Best Picture Oscar winner, released

The Apartment Released: June 15, 1960 Studio: United Artists Genre: comedy/drama/romance Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 18.60 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 232.10 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Billy Wilder Screenwriting: I.A.L. Diamond, Billy Wilder Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Jack Kruschen Review: The Apartment is “a classic, caustically-witty, satirically cynical, melodramatic comedy” FS Its “wry take on corporate America skewers the climb through the bedroom to the boardroom.” A07 Reportedly, director/screenwriter Billy Wilder’s inspiration for The Apartment came from a scene in Brief Encounter in which a man lets a friend use his apartment for an affair. MSN In this movie, it is C.C. Baxter (Lemmon), “an ambitious, lowly, misguided and young insurance clerk,” FS who is loaning out his apartment, but to his “company’s higher-up, philandering executives.” FS This includes “his callous married boss J. D. Sheldrake (MacMurray).” FS However, Baxter’s plan falls apart when he develops a crush on Fran Kubelik, the building’s melancholy elevator operator. She turns out to be “the boss’ flighty and fragile girlfriend.” A98 After she attempts suicide in the apartment, Baxter is convinced by his “next-door, philosophizing doctor/neighbor Dr. Dreyfuss (Kruschen)” FS that it is time to “confront the craven ethics of his superiors – and he wins the affections of Fran.” FS Sources: A98 American Film Institute (1998). “AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Movies” A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Oscars: Wins: 5 – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Story and Screenplay, Best B/W Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Film Editing Nominations: 10 – including Best Actor (Lemmon), Best Actress (MacLaine), Best Supporting Actor (Kruschen), Best B/W Cinematography, Best Sound. Other Awards: Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Roger Ebert Francis Ford Coppola First posted 5/30/2023.