Proof that Hollywood romcoms were once unafraid to put some flint in the feel-good, The Apartment picked up the 1960 Best Picture Oscar (plus five others, including Best Screenplay) and remains a key sixties movie.

Mid-level insurance company number cruncher C.C. “Buddy Boy” Baxter (Lemmon) discovers the fastest way up the career ladder is to let four managers get horizontal with their mistresses in his apartment.

But, undeserved promotions leave a nasty aftertaste when Baxter’s unctuous big boss Sheldrake (MacMurray) muscles in on the apartment agreement to entertain fragile elevator girl Fran Kubelik (MacLaine), the same girl Baxter’s sweet on.

When Fran’s relationship with Sheldrake detours onto surprisingly dark terrain, Baxter must choose between the girl or the executive washroom.

Hot off success of Some Like It Hot, Billy Wilder was working at the top of his game on The Apartment (even making room for an anti-Marilyn gag), and the brio and confidence of him and all involved makes this a flawless joy from beginning to end.

Heartbreaking, dramatic, clever and frequently fall-down funny, Wilder and Diamond’s script finds the perfect cast in Lemmon, cementing his position as Wilder’s actor of choice with this Oscar nominated turn, MacLaine at her most adorable, and the often overlooked Fred MacMurray, graduating from schook in Wilder’s Double Indemnity to bad guy role here.

Lemmon is perfect as the not totally sympathetic Baxter, taking the rap for his bosses, straining spaghetti with a tennis racquet (and perhaps growing up to the be Lemmon’s tragic Shelley Levene in Glengarry Glen Ross), matched by the similarly Oscar-nominated MacLaine, whose speech on the pain of loving a married man remains an all-time knockout.

Matching the script and performances is Wilder’s keen eye, using the widescreen and large sets (Baxter’s hangar like office lined with desks still impresses) to initially dwarf Lemmon and then make him larger as his character grows more heroic.

A film for anyone who’s ever been in love or had a boss; forget the credit crunch and take out a lease on this Apartment right now.

Rob Daniel