The Apartment - IMDb

I'm developing a Billy Wilder addiction. But it's okay, because all his movies are fantastic.

This movie's premise is that Jack Lemmon's character is in the corporate world, and he lets his bosses use his apartment to have affairs, enabling him to advance up the ladder at work. Things get complicated when the Big Boss wants to use the apartment to bed Shirley MacLaine, who Jack Lemmon's character likes.

Jack Lemmon always delivers, and this is a fine role for him. I don't particularly like Shirley MacLaine, but I see her with Lemmon as a fitting screen pair. It's cute, and why he likes her is believable.

In short, this absurd premise for a movie flows smoothly from beginning to end, but I think the elements of traditional comedy have faded through the years and left this film a bit 'dated' by today's standards. Allow me to explain:

Point 1: We find out Jack Lemmon likes Shirley MacLaine.
Point 2: Jack Lemmon loans out his apartment to let his bosses have affairs.
Point 3: Lemmon's boss asks to use the apartment.
Point 4: Lemmon asks Shirley MacLaine out on a date, but she says she can't because she's seeing someone else.
Point 5: ...can you see how it all fits together?

Sure, this is a traditional setup and if it didn't happen this way there would be no movie; however, this happens numerous times, making the movie quite predictable. I can't push beyond that in my head and it takes away a lot from the surprise factor.

Though the comedy values are a little prehistoric, the message of the movie and overall complexities invoked emotionally still stand straight today, and make this movie stand strong. It's so hard not to spoil it... but the way things work out makes me feel a little warm and fuzzy on the inside.

The movie is highly enjoyable, and it even has an amusing jab at Marilyn Monroe, which is funnny if you know her history with Billy Wilder. There's a few good quotable lines and I'd definitely recommend it.

Rating: 8.5/10

White Heat - IMDb

I was loving this movie from the first shot - train robbery scenes almost always turn out good. What starts as a simple hold-up for $300,000 turns into a three chapter wild ride with plenty of gangsters, coppers, and murders to get the blood going for an hour after you see 'The End.' James Cagney is Cody Jarrett, a tough-guy gangster who loves his Ma more than anyone (even his scheming wife [Virginia Mayo]), and is smarter and tougher than your average mobster.

The plot gets going with a train robbery, but once the trail of evidence gets hot for Cody Jarrett, he plans confesses to another crime that happened at the same time as the train hold-up, resulting in him getting a few years of jail time instead of the gas chamber. Smooth move, until he runs into an undercover cop in the pen and befriends him (obviously not knowing he's a cop), planning an escape and a high scoring job for the road. Things get, well, complicated.

It seems like the writers sat down, did one scene, then thought, 'alright, the characters plan for this to happen, so let's go the complete opposite direction, and do this.' The whole movie is like this. Oh, and it all makes sense - no deus ex machina here. Superb writing, and when mixed with Cagney's amazing performance, this film rises up high in the rankings of 'Top Gangster Movies.' No, it doesn't top the list, but it's really damn good.

P.S. Virginia Mayo is really pretty.

Rating: 9/10

All About Eve - IMDb

Not applicable because my (rented) DVD was scratched, God damnit. Right when I was getting into the drama, too. Review pending a new, working copy of the movie.