Disc Reviews
The Apartment 4K Review
Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine star in Billy Wilder’s classic 1960 Best Picture winner. C.C. Baxter (Lemmon) falls hard for Fran Kubelik (MacLaine), the company elevator worker and mistress to his boss Jeff Sheldrake (Fred Mac Murray). Baxter has a problem though: His apartment. The very space he barely resides in because his bosses (that’s plural) like to use it as a location to entertain their young lady friends behind their wives’ backs. Baxter goes along with this discretion as it promises him a ladder up the chain.
So, A film about a guy who loans out his apartment to the male powers that be above him in his firm, so he can buy favour with them and excel in his career. Hmmm. Not sure you could remake that premise today. And with the tone deafness of modern audiences, it would be interesting to see how this lands with them, if at all. Cynicism aside, Wilder’s black comedy of sorts is about people finding their humanity through love, without ever going full Capra on us in the sentimentality department.
Both Lemmon and MacLaine shine in their roles, standing out in world of fakes and frauds around them, evoking charm, humour, and the simple daily tortures of the human mind that people put upon themselves in the name of living among others, succeeding in the world, and in the pursuit of happiness, attention,n and love.
When it comes to bonus material, there is only so much you can get from a film that is now officially 65 years old. Having said that, there isn’t quite like anything when watching a black and white film after it’s been given the 4K polish, the picture simply looks great.
Extras are largely from the outside perspective looking in. A historian’s commentary, a video essay on the work between Lemmon and Wilder. Film historian Philip Kemp provides a short appreciation as well as commentary over select scenes. The newest extra is from 2017, which was made for Arrow video, which is wife supporting actress Hope Holiday, who gives a lively recollection of her time on the film. There are archival extras that do feature the filmmakers, including a 2007 making of the film.
It’s an odd choice for Arrow Video, but they have in recent years stretched their arms out to more dramatic affairs and this further extends their reach as one of the best providers of physical media in the UK.
Steven Hurst
4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
• 4K restoration from the original camera negative
• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original lossless mono audio
• Optional lossless 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio remix
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with film producer and historian Bruce Block
• The Key to the Apartment, an appreciation by film historian Philip Kemp
• Select scene commentary by Philip Kemp
• The Flawed Couple, a video essay by filmmaker David Cairns on the collaborations between Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon
• A Letter to Castro, an interview with actress Hope Holiday
• The Writer Speaks: Billy Wilder, an archival interview from the Writers Guild of America’s Oral Histories series
• Inside the Apartment, a half-hour making-of featurette from 2007 including interviews with Shirley MacLaine, executive producer Walter Mirisch, and others
• Magic Time: The Art of Jack Lemmon, an archive profile of the actor from 2007
• Theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ignatius Fitzpatrick
• Collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by Neil Sinyard, Kat Ellinger, Travis Crawford and H.V. Hyche
The Apartment is out on 4K Blu-Ray November 24th