The Apartment (1960)

The Apartment (1960) is a darkly comic, tender romantic drama about loneliness, ambition and the moral cost of getting ahead. Mild-mannered insurance clerk C.C. “Bud” Baxter works long hours hoping for promotion — and to curry favor he lets a rotating list of company executives use his small Upper West Side apartment for their extramarital trysts. When his boss, Jeff Sheldrake, asks to join the roster, Bud expects advancement; instead he finds that Sheldrake’s mistress is Fran Kubelik, the elevator operator at his building — the very woman Bud quietly admires. What follows mixes screwball-style farce with bittersweet human drama: Bud’s careful plan to climb the corporate ladder collides with his growing compassion and eventual romance with Fran after a crisis leaves her vulnerable in his care. Along the way the film skewers corporate hypocrisy, exposes power imbalances and explores how loneliness and kindness intersect. Supporting characters — jealous colleagues, a long-suffering secretary, and a cranky neighbor — add both comic relief and moral pressure as everyone’s private lives spill into Bud’s tiny apartment. If you watch The Apartment you’ll get sharp, witty dialogue and perfectly tuned comic timing paired with unexpected emotional depth. The tone shifts from sly satire to genuine heartbreak and tenderness, making the film funny, uncomfortable, and ultimately humane. It’s a classic of character-driven storytelling: smart, morally observant, and quietly moving, anchored by memorable performances and a bittersweet look at love and integrity in mid-century urban life.

Actors: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray

Director: Billy Wilder

Runtime: 125 min

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance

8.4 /10 94 /100 8.3 /10 8.7 /10