Classic 60s Movie: “The Apartment”

January is Classic 60s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Daryl Powell.

Movie Title: The Apartment

Year: 1960

Writers: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond

Lead Actors: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray

Director: Billy Wilder

IMDB Plot Summary: A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.

Why I Think This Is A Classic 60s Movie: One of the reasons this is such a great movie is casting. With Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, you have two Everyman types of actors, who deal with universal emotions like love and ambition.

The movie also asks a very universal question. “Just how much would you do to get ahead?” Something that is still relevant today.

Another great thing about this movie is that it isn’t afraid to serve the story, wherever it needs to go. It switches genres whenever it needs, going from comedy, to drama, to thriller and back. Rather than forcing it into only one genre, the movie feels very organic and true to life.

My Favorite Moment in the Movie: My favorite scene is the one between Baxter and Fran at the office party.

My Favorite Dialogue in the Movie:

Fran Kubelik: She doesn’t seem to like you very much.
C.C. Baxter: Oh, I don’t mind. As a matter of fact I’m flattered. That anybody’d think a girl like you would do a thing like this over a guy like me.

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: Billy Wilder used to say “Let the audience put two and two together. They’ll love you forever for it.” He uses this concept to great effect in the movie. For example, we never actually see Fran attempt suicide. She just looks at a pill bottle and fills a glass of water.

Likewise, so much gets said just by having Baxter look at Fran’s broken compact at the Christmas party.

Thanks, Daryl! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

We already have a set of classic 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 60s Movies.

We have 25 volunteers. I have put in bold those who have already sent their guest post to me.

Ipsita Barik — Rosemary’s Baby
Bookman Film — The Sound of Music
Brandnewusedcar — Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Markham Cook — Jules et Jim
Steve Cook — The Blue Max
JasperLamarCrab — 2001: A Space Odyssey
N D — Lonely are the Brave
Drew Dorenfest — Easy Rider
Felicity Flesher — The Music Man
PaulG — Lawrence of Arabia
D.L. Gill — Zulu
Jeff Guenther — Cool Hand Luke
Kate Hagen — Repulsion
John Henderson — Night of the Living Dead
John Henderson — The Odd Couple
hoernsch — The Graduate
Zach Jansen — They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
Will King — The Pink Panther
Lisaisfunny — Blow Up
Jack McDonald — Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Daryl Powell — The Apartment
jprichard — Persona
Ally Shina — The Jungle Book
Liz Warner — The Manchurian Candidate
Michael Waters — Dr. No

I’m looking for more guest posts to take us through January. Why not pitch in to help add to this online resource to inspire writers to learn about and — most importantly — watch great movies.

If you have a classic 60s movies on which you’d like to do a writeup, please either post in comments or email me.

And for those who have signed up, but have yet to email me your post, please do so ASAP.

Thanks in advance!

For the original post explaining the series, go here.