Day 12 The
Apartment [1960]
Writer(s) Billy
Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond
Director Billy Wilder
Cinematography Joseph LaShelle
Music
Composition Adolph Deutsch
Leads Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred
MacMurray, Jack Kruschen.
Production The Mirisch Company
IMDb 8.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes 93%
First old film I have written about. I had read the script before as it is renowned for being one of the best ever screenplays. It won a few Academy Awards too. The writing is perfect, or as close to it as you can be. I have to admit however that I don’t watch that many old films. I try to avoid black-and-white films where I can unless they involve Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin. Old films in general I find fairly dull unless they are Westerns or War films. That is where this blog may let some people down. The real cinephiles amongst you may choose to ignore my blog forever more now that I have admitted that. Maybe I just haven’t watched enough old flicks, so I vow to watch more and perhaps you’ll see my opinion change throughout the blog. Where this film fails for me is mostly to do with its age so we will ignore them and focus on what I liked. I will re-iterate that it is very well-written and Jack Lemmon is great as Baxter. The title tells you all you need to know about the film. Personally I recommend reading the script as it exemplifies the story-telling element of films that is so key. Part of me though wishes I could have watched the film first to get a proper reaction and see if it had the same impact as the script did. Modern films are so focused on incredible action, acting or visuals that often you don’t care about the story. This is a film that shows that you only need a good story to produce a great film. They don’t make Rom-coms like this anymore.
Acting 3 / 4
Writing 4 / 4
Cinematography 1 / 4
(perhaps good for its day?)
Music 1 / 4
HMD rating 2.5/4