The Apartment

A few days ago, some girlfriends and I were sitting around watching North by Northwest and discussing which leading men from the golden age of cinema we would go for.  Naturally, I'm drawn to Cary Grant for his George Clooneyness but ultimately, I pick Gregory Peck.  Save for that time he played a Nazi in that movie with Steve Guttenberg (yes, that exists.  It's called The Boys from Brazil, 1978 - Save it for trivia night) I'm attracted to him in anything I've ever seen him in - including To Kill a Mockingbird.

Dreamboat

A friend of mine said Jack Lemmon.  I tend to associate Jack Lemmon with two things.  Grumpy Old Men and The Apartment.

Sigh, The Apartment.  One of the best movies of all time.  It was the last black and white film to win the Oscar for best picture in 1960 (except for Schindler's List) and it starred Shirley MacLaine opposite Lemmon.  The film is directed by Billy Wilder (Some Like it Hot) and is a bit risque for 1960.  It tells the story of a young insurance executive C.C. Baxter (Lemmon) with a well located bachelor pad.  The higher ups use his apartment for affairs with the office ladies a la Mad Men.  As he moves up the ranks he falls in love with an elevator attendant named Fran Kubelik (MacLaine) except Miss Kubelik is having an affair with his boss, Mr. Sheldrake, played fantastically by Fred MacMurray.  Distraught, Fran takes too many sleeping pills and is left in the care of Baxter.  While a comedy, the film is relatively dark and a bit intense, but I love every bit of it.  If it's not on your Netflix I recommend it.  Especially as a nice little primer for the premier of Mad Men this Sunday, July 25 at 10 PM. Watch the trailer for The Apartment below.