A bittersweet symphony of urban loneliness, where a man's desperate climb up the corporate ladder echoes through the borrowed walls of his solitary home.
The Apartment
"Movie-wise, there has never been anything like it - laugh-wise, love-wise, or otherwise-wise!"
Director:
Billy Wilder
Cast:
Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen
Drama
Comedy
Romance
Budget:
$3,000,000
Box Office:
$25,000,000
The Apartment - Easter Eggs & Hidden Details
Easter Eggs
While watching TV, C.C. Baxter tries to see the movie "Grand Hotel" (1932).
This is a direct reference to a previous winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture. "The Apartment" was one of the first Best Picture winners to explicitly reference another. The scene also highlights Bud's loneliness, as he attempts to watch a classic film alone but is repeatedly interrupted.
Sheldrake makes a comment about Bud and Fran having "a lost weekend" together in the apartment.
This is an in-joke and a self-reference to director Billy Wilder's own 1945 film, "The Lost Weekend," which also won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The prop master, Tom Plews, has his name on the door of the office next to Baxter's.
This is a subtle nod to a member of the film's crew. The name on the door reads "T.W. Plews."