Awesome classic! - The Apartment

I wasn't a huge fan of Billy Wilder's "Some Like it Hot" when I first saw it some years ago, but "The Apartment" didn't let me down at all. Jack Lemmon is superb as C.C. Baxter, the meek corporate worker who loans his apartment out to co-workers so they can spend alone time with their mistresses. In exchange for his services, Baxter is rewarded with high praise and before he knows it he is climbing the corporate ladder to success.

The movie also stars Shirley MacLaine as the young woman Baxter falls in love with, and Fred MacMurray as his boss -- and the man who also has his sex-hungry eyes on MacLaine.

In fact in one of cinema's greatest cases of irony, Baxter accepts tickets to a play from MacMurray in exchange for a night in his hotel room. Baxter invites his crush to go with him -- little does he know that she's the girl going to his own apartment that very night with MacMurray's character!

"The Apartment" must have been very risqué and controversial when it was first released in 1960. This was an era of squeaky-clean, bright and colorful romantic comedies and this put a harsh twist on everything. The implications of sex are none-too-subtle and one of Baxter's neighbors tells him to keep the noise down at night -- followed by innuendo that nowadays would almost garner a film a PG-13 rating! Lemmon is really great in his role and displays perfect comic timing and Woody Allen-like nervous twitches and neurosis. Teamed with Billy Wilder it really is a great combination and the film itself is engaging and thoroughly entertaining.

"The Apartment" -- along with other 1960s films such as "The Hustler" and "Midnight Cowboy" -- helped pave the way for future films, but its revolutionary status does not outweigh its lasting impact as a quality feature. This movie holds up on its own. Some films gain reputations due to their effect and for nostalgic purposes on behalf of critics and audiences; "The Apartment" really is a great movie and still is.