The Apartment (1960)

 This is another gem from Billy Wilder, even though the film is rather dated.

C.C. Baxter (a brilliant Jack Lemmon) is a nameless, faceless guy who works in the accounting department is a sea of thousands at an insurance company but he rises above the rest by offering his apartment to the executives for them to carry on their extra-martial affairs so he can get a promotion and his plan seems to be working, until he realizes that one of mistresses is elevator operator Fran Kubelik (Shirley Maclaine), whom he has a giant crush on, so much so that he's looked up her card and knows all of her personal information, which isn't creepy or anything. Fran is having an affair with Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), the big boss on the 27th floor. But this isn't the first affair Mr. Sheldrake has had, and when Fran discovers this, she attempts suicide and nearly dies in Baxter's bed. Fortunately, his neighbor, Dreyfuss (Jack Kruschen) is a doctor which saves him. And her. She survives, Baxter gets another promotion and Mr. Sheldrake's wife leaves him, so everything seems to be working out until Fran learns that Baxter quits his job, refusing to sit on the sidelines as the unhealthy affair continues. And that is the trigger Fran needs. 

Now, I won't completely spoil the ending, as the screenplay is a clever one, as Billy Wilder is extremely talented in both writing and directing. And there are certainly both funny and heartfelt scenes with wicked dialogue and effortless performances of a time not long ago, all but forgotten, life before computers or even remote controls for the TV, using a tennis racket as a pasta strainer, the simple life, although it wasn't all that simple for Baxter and Fran, but the found each other, in the end. Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-While dated, this film still manages to be solid, showing you how life was back then. It is just shocking seeing all those people in an office setting, doing God knows what, researching insurance.

-You could apparently get booze delivered to your apartment in New York City in the 1960s, who knew?

-Who plays gin rummy these days?

-It is sad that Baxter had no family worried about him on Christmas.

-Baxter should really clean out his sofa more often.

-At the office Christmas party, there are tons of couples making out with each other. It's shocking.