or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
22 used & new from £2.71
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Apartment [DVD] [1960]
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

The Apartment [DVD] [1960]

DVD ~ Jack Lemmon
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
RRP: £15.99
Price: £4.88 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £11.11 (69%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Usually dispatched within 1 to 3 weeks.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Wednesday, November 18? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
15 new from £2.71 6 used from £2.79 1 collectible from £5.00
Christmas Offers--Up to 70% Off DVD and Blu-ray
Christmas Offers--Up to 70% Off DVD and Blu-ray
Low-priced gift ideas, TV box sets, Blu-ray documentaries and recent drama, action and sci-fi hits. Go easy on your wallet this Christmas. Shop now
Learn about Lovefilm
Amazon's choice for DVD rental.
With a 14 day FREE trial. Learn more

Frequently Bought Together

The Apartment [DVD] [1960] + Some Like It Hot - Special Edition [DVD] [1959] + Odd Couple [DVD] [1967]
Total RRP: £48.97
Price For All Three: £14.44

Some of these items are dispatched sooner than the others. Show details

  • This item: The Apartment [DVD] [1960] DVD ~ Jack Lemmon

    Usually dispatched within 1 to 3 weeks.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Some Like It Hot - Special Edition [DVD] [1959] DVD ~ Marilyn Monroe

    Usually dispatched within 1 to 3 weeks.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Odd Couple [DVD] [1967] DVD ~ Jack Lemmon

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Apartment [DVD] [1960]
84% buy the item featured on this page:
The Apartment [DVD] [1960] 4.9 out of 5 stars (20)
£4.88
Odd Couple [DVD] [1967]
6% buy
Odd Couple [DVD] [1967] 5.0 out of 5 stars (12)
£4.98
Some Like It Hot - Special Edition [DVD] [1959]
6% buy
Some Like It Hot - Special Edition [DVD] [1959] 4.8 out of 5 stars (44)
£4.58
Barefoot In The Park [1967] [DVD]
3% buy
Barefoot In The Park [1967] [DVD] 4.4 out of 5 stars (9)
£2.98
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Actors: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen
  • Directors: Billy Wilder
  • Writers: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond
  • Producers: Billy Wilder, Doane Harrison, I.A.L. Diamond
  • Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: MGM Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: 26 Nov 2001
  • Run Time: 120 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00005Q61O
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 6,441 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

Romance at its most anti-romantic--that is the Billy Wilder stamp of genius, and this Best Picture Academy Award winner from 1960 is no exception. Set in a decidedly unsavoury world of corporate climbing and philandering, the great filmmaker's trenchant, witty satire-melodrama takes the office politics of a corporation and plays them out in the apartment of lonely clerk CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon). By lending out his digs to the higher-ups for nightly extramarital flings with their secretaries, Baxter has managed to ascend the business ladder faster than even he imagined. The story turns even uglier, though, when Baxter's crush on the building's melancholy elevator operator (Shirley MacLaine) runs up against her long-standing affair with the big boss (a superbly smarmy Fred MacMurray). The situation comes to a head when she tries to commit suicide in Baxter's apartment. Not the happiest or cleanest of scenarios, and one that earned the famously caustic and cynically humoured Wilder his share of outraged responses, but looking at it now, it is a funny, startlingly clear-eyed vision of urban emptiness and is unfailingly understanding of the crazy decisions our hearts sometimes make. Lemmon and MacLaine are ideally matched and while everyone cites Wilder's Some Like It Hot closing line "Nobody's perfect" as his best, MacLaine's no-nonsense final words--"Shut up and deal"--are every bit as memorable. Wilder won three Oscars for The Apartment, for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay (cowritten with long-time collaborator I A L Diamond). --Robert Abele


DVD Description

Billy Wilder embraces both sentiment and cynicism in this superb comedy-drama, set in New York City, that chronicles the trials of a young ambitious insurance clerk
See all Reviews

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Some Like It Hot - Special Edition [DVD] [1959]

Some Like It Hot - Special Edition [DVD] [1959]

DVD ~ Marilyn Monroe
4.8 out of 5 stars (44)  £4.58
Odd Couple [DVD] [1967]

Odd Couple [DVD] [1967]

DVD ~ Jack Lemmon
5.0 out of 5 stars (12)  £4.98
The Fortune Cookie [DVD] [1967]

The Fortune Cookie [DVD] [1967]

DVD ~ Jack Lemmon
4.0 out of 5 stars (3)  £3.98
Twelve Angry Men [DVD] [1957]

Twelve Angry Men [DVD] [1957]

DVD ~ Henry Fonda
4.8 out of 5 stars (53)  £4.88
Sunset Boulevard [DVD] [1950]

Sunset Boulevard [DVD] [1950]

DVD ~ William Holden
4.8 out of 5 stars (26)  £3.88
› Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(3)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

20 Reviews
5 star:
 (18)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "I love you, Miss Kubelik.", 9 Oct 2006
By Kona (Emerald City) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)      
Buddy Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is a meek and mild nobody in a big company who has an "arrangement" with his superiors: They can use his apartment to entertain their ladyfriends in exchange for recommendations for his promotion. The deal works out fine, until he discovers that his big boss (Fred MacMurray)'s girlfriend is the object of his own affection, elevator operator Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine).

It's a quiet, character-driven comedy about shady dealings in the world of big business, with just enough touching dramatic scenes to tug at your heart. "The Apartment" won the 1960 Best Picture Oscar, thanks to the excellent cast and honest script. Nobody played the Everyman character as well as Lemmon. He's involved in an unsavory situation, but is so sweet, likeable, and noble that you really care about him. MacLaine gives an uncharacteristically subdued and thoughtful performance, and MacMurray is perfect as her philandering paramour. The beautiful title tune is one of the loveliest movie love themes ever. The subject matter was considered somewhat racy back then, but now it would probably be rated PG today. Clever, sweet, and entertaining movie.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Wilder Comic Genius, 6 Sep 2007
The comic genius of Billy Wilder was never better illustrated than by this bitter sweet romantic comedy. It's focus ranges from the general with its' seering indictment of the corporate world to the particular and a wonderful exploration of the central characters's lives in the persons of Lemmon, MacLaine and MacMurray.

Lemmon's performance as the central "everyman" or John Doe character caught between career enhancement and love, is superb. MacLaine provides a wonderfully tragic heroine and McMurray is immoral corporate America personified.

Laughter freely mingles with tears as Lemmon struggles to assert his identity against a rising tide of corruption and infidelity. It's warm, it's funny, it's wonderfully evocative but most of all it makes you consider the ethics of the corporate world and their impact on society at large.

An all together superior romantic comedy

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Truly Sublime, 12 May 2006
By E. Currie - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is a story of exploitation and cynicism and one man's ultimate refusal to play that game. Billy Wilder has never been so perceptive or thought-provoking as in this study of selfishness and ego.

The plot surrounds a young aspiring insurance executive and his initial enthusiasm to use and be used in order to further his career. Gradually we see the cold, soulless New York inhabited by such racing rats, warmed and illuminated as two human beings begin to think and feel for themselves, then for each other. The cold, calculating, what's-in-it-for-me world is replaced by something more meaningful, more enduring and ultimately more powerful.

Vintage Wilder this, with tremendous acting performances from Lemmon and Maclaine. Fred McMurray is also excellent as the predatory boss but the real star is the writing of Billy Wilder. His wit and barb are glorious and make this commentary on 1950s mores, interesting and entertaining.

Wilder was light years ahead of his time and it was never more obvious than in this delightful film.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars collectors edition
again amazon has just put the reviews of the bare bones region 2 disc under the graphics of the new collectors edition on region 1,so i will try to review that edition. Read more
Published 4 months ago by ciaran moore

5.0 out of 5 stars The Apartment
I was lucky enough to see this film at my local cinema as they have "Classic Monday" on once a month. Read more
Published 6 months ago by P. Long

5.0 out of 5 stars Seamless from beginning to end
A cracking romantic comedy which flows so beautifully, you forget it has an intricate narrative. Lemmon is his perkiest best and a young MaClaine has rarely looked more ravishing... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Lou Knee

5.0 out of 5 stars great art can be great entertainment in right hands
realist art can entertain
billy wilder looKs from the claustrophobia of office compartments and single bedroom apartments at the social and sexual reality of new york and... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Dr. U. L. Khawaja

5.0 out of 5 stars Cynical but romantic comedy, beautifully done
This movie manages to be funny, romantic and true. It's great entertainment and the acting and writing is superbly done. One of Billy Wilder's best, Jack Lemmon's too. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mr W

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic 1960s Love-Tangle Comedy-Drama
This is a classic film from the 1960s which deservedly won 5 Oscars (including Best Picture, Director and Screenplay ALL for Billy Wilder). Read more
Published 20 months ago by Mr. Laurence Williams

5.0 out of 5 stars You can almost smell the evocative smell of the pasta...

Am not talking about Delia Smith... I watched this film when I was 12, and still love it.

The scenes were meant to be very cool and modern at the time the work... Read more
Published on 29 May 2007 by Hiro

5.0 out of 5 stars That's the way it crumbles, cookywise!
Great great romantic comedy, at once warming and cynical, sharply observed - Wilder indeed at his best. MacLaine is wonderful, Lemmon superb. Be a mensch! Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2006 by Sverdlov

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic
What would you do to get a promotion?

For CC Baxter the answer is loan his apartment. He is lucky enough to have an apartment in a desirable part of town. Read more

Published on 20 Jun 2004 by Francisco

4.0 out of 5 stars A classic romantic comedy :)
This is a wonderful Romantic Comedy - light-hearted, funny, engaging - on a par with Some Like it Hot. Read more
Published on 16 May 2004

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject








i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.