A Few Words About A few words about...™The Apartment -- in Blu-ray (2 Viewers)

[Alan Tully]

Ha, I'm like that with films shot in London. The director is understandably trying to get an interesting background to shots, but that means characters walking past a couple of famous buildings that are in fact half a mile away from each other, & don't get me started on the liberties taken with the Underground (subway).

 

[lark144]

Well, if one really wants to be picky about the use of NYC locations in THE APARTMENT (& believe me, I'm not; I love this film) there is the issue of the location of the office building where Jack Lemmon works. In the second shot of the film, the camera pans from lower Broadway across the facade of the Customs House and over to a large office building on Whitehall Street. The film then cuts to an interior shot of a sea of desks, ultimately focusing on Jack Lemmon, so one is led to assume that we are looking at the interior of the office building on Whitehall Street perpendicular to the Customs House that we previously saw.

However, whenever the lobby of the office building is shown, one can clearly see what appears to be Park Place in the distance, which is roughly an 8 minute walk up Broadway, or .8 miles according to Google maps. Now that view of Park Place is, I believe, a Trompe-d'oeil painting that is part of a set, so I'm assuming this is what Billy Wilder wanted. And I must say that visually it works very well, even though it doesn't exist in reality.

But one must remember that THE APARTMENT is a movie which creates an alternative reality that looks and feels real to a viewer, even if the UN building is on the wrong side of the frame, and Whitehall Street and Park Place are suddenly across the street from each other. Also, in Billy Wilder's defense, except for those two minor alterations, which most people, probably even life-long New Yorkers, wouldn't notice since they're on the screen for only the winking of an eye, the treatment of West 69th street where the apartment is, it's relation to the Emerald Inn on Columbus Avenue, as well as its closeness to Central Park, is all completely accurate.

 

[JohnMor]

The office building still stands at 2 Broadway, although the block with the chinese restaurant has been replaced with newer buildings. And yes, the lobby was a set reconstruction.

http://onthesetofnewyork.com/theapartment.html

 

[Robert Crawford]

The office building still stands at 2 Broadway, although the block with the chinese restaurant has been replaced with newer buildings. And yes, the lobby was a set reconstruction.

http://onthesetofnewyork.com/theapartment.html

Except for a few weeks, the movie was mainly filmed in LA because the weather wouldn't cooperate so they filmed it on sets after they finished the outside theater and Central Park scenes.

 

[lark144]

What's really interesting about that building (which wasn't shown in the film) is that above the entrance is a large abstract mosaic by Lee Krasner, which I think is one of her most successful large works. I'm assuming it's still there, as I haven't been in that neighborhood for decades.

 

[Noel Aguirre]

You'd think this would be obvious.

Obviously not- especially not to a New Yorker but perhaps if one is from Backwardsville i.e. Desperate Living

 

[haineshisway]

Obviously not- especially not to a New Yorker but perhaps if one is from Backwardsville i.e. Desperate Living

Anything you can do to translate into English would be greatly appreciated. Never a good idea to quote someone out of, you know, context without including what that someone was responding to.

 

[TravisR]

Anything you can do to translate into English would be greatly appreciated. Never a good idea to quote someone out of, you know, context without including what that someone was responding to.

Desperate Living (the John Waters movie) has a sequence where the characters are forced to participate in Backwards Day where everyone must walk backwards and wear their clothes backwards.

 

[PianoPlayer]

It's still out of stock on Amazon -- but this morning there's a huge price drop, to $22.09:

https:/amazon.com/gp/product/B075VVPLFD/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[alstein]

The Amazon price is back up to $49.95 and is still showing out of stock. I had ordered at the $22,09 price, but then decided to check out some other retailers. Strangely enough Walmart was showing the Blu Ray at 22.09 and in stock with free shipping! I ordered immediately, and received confirmation that the item would arrive by FedEx in approximately 3 days. I received it today. Very pleased with their service. Unfortunately as of a few minutes ago, they also are showing a sold out position.

 

[JoshZ]

The limited edition has been coming in and out of stock at Amazon with prices that are all over the place without explanation. I was fortunate enough to get it during the brief window when it was $22.09. Then it went out of stock, then it came back at $49.99, then it went out of stock again.

It's currently back, this time at $31.88, which is a pretty decent price.

https://www.amazon.com/Apartment-Limited-Blu-ray-Jack-Lemmon/dp/B075VVPLFD/

I have no doubt that a standard edition will be released eventually, which will drop the book and the fancy packaging but should be easier and less expensive to obtain. When that will happen is unknown, however.

 

[Vincent_P]

...Rich D. noticed a very subtle "glitch" of some kind in the first scene inside of Baxter's apartment...

There's a short restoration featurette included in the supplements, and for this particular shot, there was a large rip in the negative that lasted over a few frames that they had to repair. My guess is they did the best they could given the extent of the damage over those frames.

Vincent

 

[battlebeast]

If anyone wants a copy of the Limited Edition, Brand new in package, PM me.