#375. The Apartment
- Year: 1960
- Country: USA
- Production: Mirisch, 125m B&W
- Director: Billy Wilder
- Producer: Billy Wilder
- Screenplay: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond
- Photography: Joseph LaShelle
- Music: Adolph Deutsch
- Cast: Jack lemon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday
- Oscar Wins: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Editing
- Oscar Noms: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing
- Blog Club Rating: 9.3/10
Abridged Book Description[]
Billy Wilder used to scratch American society where it itches. Inspired byt David Lean's Brief Encounter (1945), he had to wait ten years for the necessary slackening of censorship before being able to tell the story of the "third" man, the one who lends his apartment to the adulterous couple. Surprisingly, despite its sensitive subject matter, The Apartment won no fewer than five Academy Awards, and is now considered by many to be the last truly "realist" film made by its director... The Apartment skillfully blends various genres, but, by and large, it begins as a satiric comedy, transforms into a powerful drama, and finishes as a romantic comedy. Meticulously constructed, the disillusioned screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond can in some ways be considered a kind of bitter follow-up to The Seven Year Itch (1955) - one that was beautifully shot in a rather gloomy black-and-white CinemaScope.