The Apartment (12A)

★★★★★ Absolutely brilliant. ~ Empire.

Not to be missed on any account. ~ The Guardian.

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To celebrate the centenary of screen icon Jack Lemmon's birth, The Apartment returns to cinemas in a dazzling 4K restoration. 

Winner of five Oscars – including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay – The Apartment shows legendary filmmaker Billy Wilder at his best, expertly walking the tight-rope between sweetly-observed romance and razor-sharp social satire.

C.C. Baxter is an ambitious office clerk who courts favour with the executives in his office by giving them the key to his small New York City apartment for their extramarital flings. 

Among them is his callous boss, J.D. Sheldrake, who Baxter eventually learns is using his place to court Miss Fran Kubelik, the sweet elevator operator Baxter has loved from afar. When Sheldrake coldly dumps the vulnerable young woman, Baxter steps in to save the woman of his dreams – even if it means losing his job.

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★★★★★ A film for anyone who's ever been in love or had a boss; forget the credit crunch and take out a lease on this Apartment right now. ~ Sky Cinema.

★★★★★ This classic from Billy Wilder sees Jack Lemmon's put-upon, snuffling insurance clerk CC Baxter basically offer his apartment to his superiors so that they can indulge in extramarital trysts. From such potentially edgy material Wilder and co-writer IAL Diamond sculpt an unforgettable romance that won five Oscars, including best picture, direction and screenplay. ~ Radio Times.

★★★★★ Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine shine as two essentially good souls trapped in a tangle of office politics. ~ Daily Telegraph.

★★★★★ The effervescent comic charm of Jack Lemmon and quirky beauty of Shirley MacLaine give the film a palatable sweetness (while she would be given more glamorous treatment in later films, MacLaine was never more adorable than she was here), but they sugarcoat a very bitter pill in what is ultimately a story about moral accountability (and the lack thereof) in American business. ~ AllMovie.

★★★★★ The humanity of the film resides in the sweet interplay between Lemmon and MacLaine, and the development of their relationship from initial awkwardness to binding trust is beautifully acted out. ~ BBC.

★★★★★ No one does the pitchblack flipside of funny like Wilder, and 1960's The Apartment is the darkest he ever made. ~ Total Film.

★★★★★ A necessary holocaust movie made for a Western audience. At times over sentimental when the subject matter hardly needs any dressing up, but this is a beautifully crafted, hopeful movie. ~ Empire.