The Apartment (1960)
The Apartment is a 1960 comedy movie directed by Billy Wilder, with a running time of 2h 6m. It stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray.
C.C. Baxter is one of thousands of clerks at a giant Manhattan insurance firm, and he has found a shortcut. He lends his apartment to executives for their affairs, and they reward him with good words and promotions. It works until it doesn't. Baxter spends his nights locked out in the cold, cleaning up after other men, and nursing a quiet crush on Fran, the elevator operator. Wilder plays it as comedy with a hard, sad center, sharp about ambition, loneliness, and the small compromises people make to get ahead.
Quick answers
What is The Apartment about?
C.C. Baxter is one of thousands of clerks at a giant Manhattan insurance firm, and he has found a shortcut. He lends his apartment to executives for their affairs, and they reward him with good words and promotions. It works until it doesn't. Baxter spends his nights locked out in the cold, cleaning up after other men, and nursing a quiet crush on Fran, the elevator operator. Wilder plays it as comedy with a hard, sad center, sharp about ambition, loneliness, and the small compromises people make to get ahead.
When was The Apartment released?
The Apartment was released on 21 June 1960.
How long is The Apartment?
The Apartment runs 2h 6m.
Who made The Apartment?
The Apartment was directed by Billy Wilder.
Where can I watch The Apartment?
The Apartment is available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Criterion Channel, Philo, YouTube TV and Fawesome.
Where to watch The Apartment
Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Criterion Channel, Philo, YouTube TV
Watch free with ads: Amazon Prime Video Free with Ads, Tubi TV, YouTube Free
Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home, Google Play Movies, Plex, Spectrum On Demand, YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Cast
- Jack Lemmon as C.C. Baxter
- Shirley MacLaine as Fran Kubelik
- Fred MacMurray as Jeff D. Sheldrake
- Ray Walston as Joe Dobisch
- Jack Kruschen as Dr. Dreyfuss
- David Lewis as Al Kirkeby
- Hope Holiday as Margie MacDougall
- Joan Shawlee as Sylvia
- Naomi Stevens as Mrs. Mildred Dreyfuss
- Johnny Seven as Karl Matuschka
- Joyce Jameson as The Blonde
- Willard Waterman as Mr. Vanderhoff
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A few thoughts on The Apartment
The office-as-battlefield comedy travels well. What's Wrong With Secretary Kim mines the same executive-and-underling dynamic for romance and farce, while Rhoda shares Billy Wilder's affection for a striving single New Yorker just trying to get her footing. Both keep the laughs and the loneliness in the same frame.
Single-in-the-city comedies about work and love
The Apartment finds comedy in a lonely clerk lending his flat to climb the ranks. These shows keep that mix of office politics, cramped apartments and quiet longing: Rhoda making her way solo, the messy flatmates of Men Behaving Badly, and the office courtship of Secretary Kim. Funny with a wistful underside.
Bittersweet romances that ache as much as they charm
Wilder plays The Apartment as comedy with a sad, honest center, two lonely people finding each other around a lot of compromise. These romances go for the same tender bruise, love stories that know how much longing and disappointment sit under the sweetness. Bring tissues alongside the smiles.
Dramas about the small compromises people make
Under the jokes, The Apartment is sharp about ambition and the deals people cut with their own conscience. These dramas sit in that uncomfortable space where love, money and self-respect pull in different directions, and someone always pays. Adult, character-driven films for when you want the sad center without the laughs.