My Top 25 Favorite Films: #1!!!!!

And then there was one. I know some friends are baffled now that I have dropped "Some Like It Hot" down to the second slot on my list of favorite movies. I revisited both that movie and "The Apartment" last year, and I realized that, as a seasoned and perhaps jaded/cynical adult, the latter film resonates with me a bit more now than it ever did. In its sheer simplicity, it is incredibly complex. Because, indeed, "The Apartment" can't be called a comedy. Yet, there are hearty laughs throughout. It can't really be called a drama, simply because of the aforementioned laughter that pops up continually. Yet, smack in the middle of the movie, there is incredible darkness that would rival the most dramatic of films ever presented by Hollywood. So, realistically, "The Apartment" fits into no particular genre. It exists solely as a slice of life. The ups and downs. The hills and valleys. The sweet and the sour. It is the experience of yours and mine. It is ours. And, even though it depicts at its core a business world of almost 50 years ago, "The Apartment" is as true a reflection of the human condition as ever presented by any art form. It is no fluke that my two favorite movies of all time were both written and directed by the masterful Billy Wilder. As a matter of fact, "The Apartment" is the movie he made directly after "Some Like It Hot." There are some similarities, most notably the wonderful Jack Lemmon who stars in both. But, indeed, no two movies could be further apart. "Some Like It Hot" makes you laugh. "The Apartment" makes you laugh. And think. And feel. I did not see "The Apartment" till well after I got out of college. Now, it's one I see every year, usually during Christmas break when a lot of the film's action takes place. It is an essential part of my annual film viewing. But, every time I see it, there is some new emotion or nuance that reveals itself to me. Perhaps it's a look or gesture from Shirley McLaine or Fred MacMurray that I missed. Maybe it's a line of dialogue that I suddenly realize was set up by another line of dialogue one reel earlier. There's always some new discovery for me. Utter brilliance which the following trailer barely can describe.

The last time I saw "The Apartment" was on a big screen when UCLA opened their new Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood. You could tell that the movie still worked amazingly by the fact the audience started to hiss whenever Fred MacMurray (playing one of the great film dirtbags of all time) spoke. Shirley MacLaine was in attendance for a question and answer session following the screening. She could not stop talking about the movie, which she admits to having not seen for over 40 years. She, too, was seeing things in the film that she had never seen before. After a half hour, the moderator wanted to wrap it up. She asked him if he had any place he needed to be, because she wanted to talk some more. And she did for another hour! And I could keep going as well. But, you should sign off the computer and go watch it for yourselves right now. It was the Oscar winner for Best Picture of 1960. "The Apartment" is my winner for Best Picture of all-time! Dinner last night: Bratwurst at the LA Memorial Coliseum.