I first watched this movie many years ago and I didn't like it. Often, I give a film a second chance a while later as I might have had the wrong impression the first time.
I started watching this on Turner Classic Movies earlier tonight and I quit about halfway through, being reminded once again of why I disliked it.
"The Apartment" was made shortly after "Some Like It Hot", probably the funniest English-language comedy ever made. SLIH is a movie which is not only fast-paced, but there isn't a scene or shot that's wasted. The action and humour start right after the opening credits and they don't let up for the rest of the film.
"The Apartment", however, doesn't go anywhere. The premise is clever and had a lot of potential if Billy Wilder had chosen to make it like, say, the play "Box and Cox". Instead, it takes about half an hour to get started and, even then, it sputters and stays that way.
Jack Lemmon is wasted in TA. He shows none of his comedic talent that he demonstrated in SLIH or "Mister Roberts". Fred MacMurray played cads in movies like "Double Indemnity" and "The Caine Mutiny" and did so effectively, but not in TA. Shirley MacLaine seemed to play the same character that she did in the Alfred Hitchcock film "The Trouble With Harry".
Another thing that disappointed me was that "The Apartment" came after Wilder had directed a number of great movies in the previous decade or so, such as "Sunset Boulevard", "Stalag 17", and "Witness for the Prosecution".
I'll avoid watching this one in the future.
I started watching this on Turner Classic Movies earlier tonight and I quit about halfway through, being reminded once again of why I disliked it.
"The Apartment" was made shortly after "Some Like It Hot", probably the funniest English-language comedy ever made. SLIH is a movie which is not only fast-paced, but there isn't a scene or shot that's wasted. The action and humour start right after the opening credits and they don't let up for the rest of the film.
"The Apartment", however, doesn't go anywhere. The premise is clever and had a lot of potential if Billy Wilder had chosen to make it like, say, the play "Box and Cox". Instead, it takes about half an hour to get started and, even then, it sputters and stays that way.
Jack Lemmon is wasted in TA. He shows none of his comedic talent that he demonstrated in SLIH or "Mister Roberts". Fred MacMurray played cads in movies like "Double Indemnity" and "The Caine Mutiny" and did so effectively, but not in TA. Shirley MacLaine seemed to play the same character that she did in the Alfred Hitchcock film "The Trouble With Harry".
Another thing that disappointed me was that "The Apartment" came after Wilder had directed a number of great movies in the previous decade or so, such as "Sunset Boulevard", "Stalag 17", and "Witness for the Prosecution".
I'll avoid watching this one in the future.