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If you've never seen "The Apartment," we suggest you don't watch this clip.
If you have, read on. Billy Wilder's Oscar-winning dark comedy laid the
groundwork for the running-to-your-beloved scene so often copied in later films.
Jack Lemmon, a too-nice office worker trying to climb
the corporate ladder, is being used by his sleazy bosses for his apartment (they
cheat on their wives in his cozy bachelor pad). He falls for one of the "other
women" (Shirley MacLaine). Only she's not a floozy -- she's a
flawed but ultimately warm human being. And she deserves to be treated with much
more respect than Fred MacMurray is giving her. When she realizes that
(duh!) the nice guy is better for her, she pulls the iconic movie moment of
rushing to Lemmon with smiles and tears in her eyes. You saw it in "When Harry Met Sally" and you saw it in "Jerry Maguire." You even saw it, in a more hysterical form, in
"The Graduate." But it's never been as powerful as in "The
Apartment" -- especially when MacLaine's response to Lemmon's affirmation of
amour is "Shut up and deal."
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