Is it just us, or is it easier to find small apartments in mid-century film classics than it is to find them in movies today? Maybe it's because these films date back to a time when the average American home was under 1,000 square feet.
- Une femme est une femme: We could choose almost any Godard movie to add to this list, but this one (translated as A Woman is a Woman) has a very humble studio, and a great scene where Jean-Claude Brialy rides his bike around the apartment.
- Breakfast at Tiffany's: Bathtub furniture, crowded cocktail parties, and romantic fire escapes. What more could you want?
- Roman Holiday: In the film, Gregory Peck's tiny studio was only big enough for a twin bed, which made for some 50s style (i.e. repressed) sexual tension with Audrey Hepburn.
- Rear Window: The small size of Jimmy Stewart's apartment didn't stop Grace Kelly from wanting to shack up with him in this Hitchcock thriller.
- Rear Window (again): We had to include this film twice, thanks to the "composer's studio" across the courtyard from Jimmy Stewart's apartment. The grand piano and the greenhouse windows are amazing.
- Miracle on 34th Street: Maureen O'Hara's apartment is so small that her daughter (played by a young Natalie Wood) asks Santa for a real house.
- Annie Hall: Many of Woody Allen's films feature one-bedroom Manhattan apartments, but our favorite has always been Annie Hall's small space, with her black and white family photographs and tiny balcony.
- Lolita: Okay, so the apartments in this movie are creepier than they are covetable, but we included the film for the reason that the scale and orderliness of the interiors reflect the characters' internal states. At the beginning of the film, Humbert Humbert is a neat freak living in a rented room, but by the end of the movie, he's losing his mind in Clare Quilty's messy mansion.
- The Apartment: When we watched this Billy Wilder film, we were struck by the weird mixture of depression and quirky humor. This strange mood is reflected in the apartment's furnishings, which don't completely go together, but are interesting all the same.
- Jules et Jim: This classic film by François Truffaut includes a mountain cabin that's not an apartment, but a small space nonetheless. The interior is a hodge-podge of styles that seems like it could as easily exist today as 100 years ago.
This list is just a beginning. Add your own favorites in the comments below!
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I loved Barefoot in the Park's apartment.
I love the cute kitchen in A Woman is a Woman.
Rosemary's Baby!
Gene Kelly's apartment in "An American in Paris" had great space saving ideas. I loved it!
Rosemary's apartment is one of my favorites of all time too. But........ it's definitely not small. And it's located in probably the most beautiful (and expensive) building in all of New York. So not very accessible, unfortunately.
Ditto Rosemary's Baby!!
Not just the space, but the makeover of the space, and both of its moods are incredible.
I also love-love the colors/shapes used in Alex's parents' small apartment from Clockwork Orange.
I was also thinking of the Barefoot in the Park's Apartment!
Sunday in New York - I loved the loft in that apartment!
How about Gloria Monday's great SF apartment from "Foul Play"!!
Yes "Sunday in New York" has the best apartment!
In Hitchcock's vertigo Jimmy's Stewart friend (a painter/designer) had a great studio, Stewart's flat in the same movie was also good, although quite bigger if I remember well.
BTW: here you got my three absolute favorite films: rear window, the apartment and Jules & Jim
I've always loved Natalie Woods' apartment in Love with the Proper Stranger.
I know it's odd, but the best movie apartment to me is the one in Single White Female. I dream about that bathroom. I believe the apartment was located or modeled after ones in the Ansonia hotel on the upper west side.
Not mid-century, but I really covet our heroine's apartment in "Amelie"....heck, even the staircase and hallways are nifty!
I know there are quit a few but one that comes to mind Hitchcock's Rope that was a pretty great apartment with that long window.
I remember watching Rosemary's when I was a kid and loving her apartment but I guess it is on the larger side and that location Dakota on West 72nd Street.
I love this woman's blog lots of research and great photos go into this showing styles and interiors in cinema.
http://wwwcinemastyle.blogspot.com/
I love this post! My favorite, as a kid, was the tiny attic space in which Sara Crewe and the skullery maid Becky were confined in "The Little Princess". Especially after the wonderful Indian gentleman from across the way, magically transforms the space into a beautiful, glowing, mini palace!
And most of these were shot on sound stages, which are considerable bigger than 1,000 sq. feet.
Although the exteriors for Rosemary’s Baby and Vanilla Sky were filmed on location, the interiors were built on a LA sound stage. The Dakota building does not allow filming inside.
I adore the cabin in Jules et Jim. Catherine's mirror is gorgeous.
Just watched An Education last night and I'm in love with the teacher's apartment. It's small, but cheery and the kitchen is light and colorful. Love!
Lori, thanks for the great link!
I was just going to post about Midge's apartment in "Vertigo," plch. The studio and kitchen areas are absolutely perfect MCM.
Gloria Monday's apartment from "Foul Play".
I'm quite partial to George Peppard's apartment in "Breakfast at Tiffany's".
Katie Holmes' apartment in Pieces of April.