Comments on: The Apartment

By: Carole & Co. entries, August 2008 « Carole & Co.

Carole & Co. entries, August 2008 « Carole & Co. — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:06:59 +0000

[...] * “The Apartment,” about MacMurray’s role in that Billy Wilder classic (http://moviemorlocks.com/2008/08/07/the-apartment/). [...]

By: TCM’s Movie Blog

TCM’s Movie Blog — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:00:32 +0000

[...] Keelsetter’s post on it – http://moviemorlocks.com/2008/08/07/the-apartment/ MacMurray with Van Johnson & Tom Tully in THE CAINE [...]

By: Peter Macon

Peter Macon — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:28:36 +0000

I love Fred Mac Murry, wish they would play more movies with him but have them cc.

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:41:40 +0000

I love Fred MacMurray…I have now for many years. When I was growing up watching My Three Sons I thought that Robbie was cute but as I got older I thought boy that dad is really handsome…Overlooked actor really is the word for it, because some of my favorite movies he is in. I try to catch any that are on TCM with him in them.

By: Edward Patrick O'Brien

Edward Patrick O'Brien — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:19:38 +0000

Fred MacMurray was an under rated actlr. He could do almost anything they put in front of him as good as anyone. I saw manny Fred MacMurry movies with my mother in the forties. For reasons unknown they gave him lesser roles in the fifties. But as far as I am concerned, Fred MacMurray was as good an actor as any of them. Why don’t you release more of his movies on DVD? There is a whole new audience, plus an old one who would love to see Fred in his hey day

By: vero l

vero l — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:09:17 +0000

Yah know, just like Henry Fonda in “Once Upon a Time in the West” when you get type cast as the good guy and then you do a dispicable character like as in “the Apartment”, when people dislike the character and associate it so strongly with you, isn’t it really a nod to how good an actor and how believable the material is. I had the same feeling about Anne Baxter in “All About Eve” even tho’rationally I can separate the actor and the part. Deep down, it still raises the hackles on my id.

I grew up with what I consider ” Fred MacMurray lite” My Three Sons . . Flubber, etc . . so it is great to see him in these different roles. Alice Adams (leading man Fred), Double Indemnity (sexy,dangerous,anti-hero Fred), Caine Mutiny (backstabbing, self-serving Fred) .

Sorry to loose you, Mr. MacMurray, but glad we have you in black and white. Where as Gary Cooper was content to play the hero, kudos to Fred for trying to branch out to more complex parts even tho’ they might not have had the effect on his career he was hoping for.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:49:26 +0000

Yes, there is a biography which is still in print. FRED MACMURRAY by Charles Tranberg who actually answered questions about the actor from our blogger Moira yesterday – here is the link to that
http://moviemorlocks.com/2008/08/06/small-town-boy-makes-good/#comments

By: john august smith

john august smith — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:49:00 +0000

I do not remember reading a biography of MacMurray, is one available? I understand he invested wisely like randolph scott and died a multimillionaire. He credits carole lombard for helping him become a good actor.

By: Ann Brown

Ann Brown — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:20:41 +0000

Tall, dark, and handsome Fred MacMurray was adorable with a light touch in little comedies with Carole Lombard and Claudette Colbert. But my three favorite MacMurray films are ones in which he portrays a villain. His performance in Double Indemnity is perfection where MacMurray is a smooth talking insurance salesman who is sold on one sexy Barbara Stanwyck. His descent from a law-abiding middle class white collar employee to a cold-blooded murderer who shamelessly comforts the victim’s distraght daughter is remarkable.

MacMurray as the snakelike instigator of the Caine Mutiny is a great study in the kind of guy wants to manipulate others into conflict with each other while he makes popcorn and watches the fireworks. We see what he is up to, and want to warn the others are so deceived by him. His unctious performance in the Caine Mutiny makes the tragedy of Humphrey Bogart’s and Van Johnson’s fates so sad in the end of the film.

Finally, Fred MacMurray as the defiler of young secretaries and elevator operators in The Apartment is masterful. We could watch him phoning in his performance on My Three Sons every week as a patient and somewhat boring widower dad to three average boys, so the juxtaposition of suburban dad and ensnaring lecher was astounding. His handsome, older, predator is a great part for him to show his acting range especially as compared to his literally effortless work in a television situation comedy. I agree, Fred MacMurray is an underrated and overlooked star who happens to turn in great performances in three of my favorite films