New DVDs: 'The Apartment,' 'Fortysomething,' 'Smart Money'

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"THE APARTMENT: COLLECTOR'S EDITION." (1960. NOT RATED. MGM. $19.98.)This wonderfully nuanced dark comedy about sex in the workplace is the spiritual grandfather to "Mad Men." Both the movie -- which won five Oscars, including Best Picture -- and cable-TV series portray men behaving badly toward female co-workers (as well as their wives).Women didn't have the option of accusing bosses of sexual harassment. In fact, for attractive women in lowly positions, a tryst with an executive was practically part of the job description.Billy Wilder had just finished directing "Some Like It Hot" when he and screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond turned their attention to office shenanigans. Their ingenious approach was to focus on a low-level functionary, played by Jack Lemmon, who lends the key to his apartment to his higher-ups in hopes of advancing his career.Wilder got the idea from a scene in "Brief Encounter," in which Trevor Howard's character takes his paramour, played by Celia Johnson, to his friend's apartment. What kind of person, Wilder wondered, would hand over his keys for such a purpose and not mind cleaning up the mess of an evening of passion or climbing into a warm bed somebody else has heated?Lemmon plays the role as someone whose ambitions cloud any moral judgments. He seems to enjoy all the attention from his bosses and lends them his place even when he's sick. All is on track for his promotion when he discovers that his favorite elevator girl (the pixieish Shirley MacLaine), is being taken to his apartment by the big boss, played by Fred MacMurray.Wilder keeps the tone light while addressing some serious issues, including an attempted suicide. Lemmon and MacLaine are magical together, and MacMurray more than holds his own as the third part of the triangle. He commands the office -- and, not incidentally, the big screen -- with a sexual energy he would scarcely have a chance to show again.Film historians babble on in the commentary. Some of it is interesting -- like an explanation of why hotels were no place to bring a lover back then -- and some we've heard before.-- Ruthe Stein"FORTYSOMETHING." (2003. NOT RATED. ACORN MEDIA. $39.99. TWO DISCS.)Sometimes American TV has successfully transferred British sitcoms to the colonies, as in the rebirth of "Till Death Do Us Part" as "All in the Family." But it's not always good for British TV to be inspired by the typical American sitcom. Ultimately, that's what makes ITV's "Fortysomething" a bit wince-inducing in places, but it ends up being mildly entertaining anyway.The show stars Hugh Laurie, who went on to greater fame as the star of "House." In "Fortysomething," written by Nigel Williams and with many of the episodes directed by Laurie, a doctor named Paul Slippery (Laurie) is married to Estelle (Anna Chancellor) and has three sons, the youngest of whom, Edwin (Joe Van Moyland), is 16.The show feels a bit desperate for our attention as Paul begins to hear his wife's thoughts, a la "What Women Want," and is hypnotized into clucking like a chicken whenever he's around attractive women. While his two older sons swap girlfriends, Paul can never remember the last time he had sex with Estelle, who is trying to re-enter the work force as a headhunter.It's a distinctly different side of Laurie than we're used to on "House," a softer, gentler side, a guy facing midlife crises all over the place. Laurie, Chancellor and the rest of the cast almost make you forget that you don't believe very much of the plot.-- David Wiegand"SMART MONEY." (1931. NOT RATED. WARNER BROS. $19.98.)In the same year that Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney came into public consciousness with their respective gangster films -- "Little Caesar" and "The Public Enemy" (both 1931) -- the two tough guys were paired in "Smart Money," which is mainly remembered as the only Robinson-Cagney collaboration. In fact, it's very much Robinson's film, and it establishes the actor's pattern. He always played ambitious men who harbored a sense of inferiority and really wanted to be somebody. Here, he's a barber who becomes a famous gambler and then comes into a gambling racket.Cagney plays his friend, but he's not in it much, and for good reason. The Robinson hero was always slightly gullible, especially when it came to women. He was invariably a soft touch. Cagney, on the other hand, wasn't. He saw through everybody. He knew what other people were thinking before they thought it. That means that, with Cagney around, Robinson could never get into trouble. Cagney would always be warning him to avoid danger; hence, there would be no movie.More a curiosity piece than a classic, "Smart Money" is still an indispensable bit of history and, like every Robinson movie from this period, it's good entertainment. The film comes with a commentary by film noir historians Alain Silver and James Ursini, and the special features include a vintage newsreel and a George Jessel short.-- Mick LaSalle(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)