This film is part of our ARTHOUSES special, showing in November and December.
A romantic comedy by Billy Wilder that won five Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture.
C.C. Baxter, a mild-mannered office worker, struggles to keep his head above water at the imposing insurance company where he works. To climb the corporate ladder, he tries to curry favor with his managers by lending them his apartment after hours for their extramarital affairs. While they enjoy their escapades in his apartment, Baxter spends his time wandering the streets of Manhattan.
When his own love life becomes entangled in the whole affair, he must choose between his career and his feelings.
This film was inspired by a scene in the movie Brief Encounter (1945), in which an illicit couple arranges a rendezvous at a third party’s home. Wilder was fascinated by the question of what would drive someone to offer up their home for such purposes. This film—a sharp and biting satire on 1950s American corporate culture and the lengths people will go to for approval—represents his answer. The Apartment is an absolute classic that will make you laugh and think.