Rent The Apartment (1960)

Classic & Risqué RomCom - The Apartment review by GI

A great, classic Hollywood romcom that was very risqué at the time it was made delving, at times with a quite serious tone, into the nature of marriage and infidelity. Ultimately though it's a delightful love story. Jack Lemmon plays C.C. Baxter, a somewhat hapless insurance office worker who dreams of promotion but lacks the drive and ability to get it. However he attempts to ingratiate himself with various of the bosses by hiring out his apartment for their adulterous affairs. Managing the demands of his 'customers' is almost a full time job. When the top boss, Mr Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) wants to use the apartment C.C. thinks he'll now be in for that longed for advancement but he's in for a shock when he discovers Sheldrake is having an affair with Fran (Shirley MacLaine), the girl C.C. secretly loves. The film attacks the casual misogyny and attitudes of the men towards women, sex and the their reliance on the power of money and uses some dark turns of the story including attempted suicide, the exploration of vulnerability and emotional blackmail to expose these issues. But actually the film is a delight with Lemmon and MacLaine a sweet couple who, of course, find each other at the end. Fans of films like this will recognise where some aspects have been homaged in later romcoms (e.g. When Harry Met Sally - 1989, Sleepless in Seattle - 1993). This is a much respected film and one that is worth checking out if you've never seen it. The serious themes here are cleverly wrapped in a light comedy film making it quite a surprise when you see what it's trying to say about American society.

Timeless Classis - The Apartment review by CP Customer

Sorry about the cliched Title. It's true though. Jack Lemmons performance is outstanding how about this for a line

"I used to live like Robinson and Crusoe, shipwrecked among 8 million people but one day I saw a footprint in the sand and there you were"

Doesn't get quite the required reaction from Shirley MacLaine's character who seems to be a bit of a dullard hence 4 stars.

A classic for good reason - The Apartment review by ND

Just wonderful. The study of office politics is worth watching and the portrayal of a lack of morals in a moralistic age is not as hard hitting as it would have been at the time but still a bit shocking.

Strongly recommended.

Key-Swaps and Quiet Desperation - The Apartment review by griggs

Picture a grey, humming office hive where ambition has a punch-clock and loneliness gets filed in triplicate. That’s the world Billy Wilder builds in The Apartment, and it’s as funny as it is poisonous. Jack Lemmon plays C.C. Baxter, a company man who lends out his flat to the bosses for their affairs. It’s a “perk” that comes with a keyring full of shame, and it all plays out across Christmas and into New Year’s.

What gets me is how the comedy and the damage share the same space. Wilder lets the fallout sit there, then drops a joke that doesn’t fix anything — it just proves people still laugh while they’re hurting. Lemmon is perfect: a bit spineless on the surface, decent underneath, and painfully recognisable. Shirley MacLaine’s Fran — an elevator operator, not a fantasy — is fully alive: lonely, bruised, vibrant.

Fred MacMurray does genial menace with a smile, Jack Kruschen brings bruised decency as the neighbour-doctor, and even the side characters feel sharply drawn. It also looks incredible: that sea of desks, those cramped rooms. “The mirror, it’s broken.” “I know. I like it that way.” And when we finally get to “Shut up and deal,” it lands like release.

A dated film. - The Apartment review by Maureen

We enjoyed this film when it was first released, but now it feels very dated and boring. We didn't bother to watch it all.

George Roby.

Brilliant photography - The Apartment review by JD

Is it easier to do photography in black and white? It looks so clear and tonal. The plot however is unenchanting (multiple affairs) and the acting is wooden. Too dated for me.

Very disappointing - The Apartment review by CH

I suppose it was thought to be sophisticated and witty. It wasn't funny, it was vile. Acting very good, though. If such a film were made now, women would denounce it.