Which Billy Wilder film won the 1961 Oscar for Best Picture?
Answer
The Apartment
Which Billy Wilder film won the 1961 Oscar for Best Picture? The Apartment won the 1961 Oscar for Best Picture.
The Apartment was released in 1960, but its Academy Awards ceremony took place on April 17, 1961. The film won the top prize at the 33rd Academy Awards, along with awards for Billy Wilder’s direction, Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond’s screenplay, black-and-white art direction, and editing.
The film stars Jack Lemmon as C. C. Baxter, an insurance clerk who lends his apartment to senior executives for romantic trysts. Shirley MacLaine plays elevator operator Fran Kubelik, while Fred MacMurray plays personnel chief Jeff D. Sheldrake. Wilder blends workplace satire, romance, and serious drama about loneliness and moral compromise.
The award is sometimes described as the Oscar for 1960 because the Academy honors films from the previous calendar year. The Apartment was also the last black-and-white film to win Best Picture until Schindler’s List in 1994.