The Apartment

• Title:  The Apartment
• Director:  Billy Wilder
• Date:  1960
• Genre:  Drama, Romantic Comedy, Classic
• Studio:  United Artists / MGM
• Cast:  Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, David White
• Format:  Black/White, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  NTSC, R1

The Apartment is a genre-stretching, masterwork directed by Billy Wilder.  Though billed as a comedy, and having a strong romantic comedy sub-plot, the main body of  the film is very dramatic and almost depressing.  In a sense, rather than a Romantic Comedy -- this film is Romantic Film Noir.

The film also puts paid to the idea that only women can be taken advantage of  by their bosses in corporate society.  CC Baxter, "Bud", to his friends, is a good guy -- but in order to rise in the corporate world, he's found a little secret -- he lends out the use of  his apartment to the advantaged jerks who happen to be over him in the corporate hierarchy, so they can fool around without their wives getting suspicious.  Whenever he tries to assert himself - the carrot of a promotion is held out, and Bud hands over his apartment key.  'Til one day he gets the call upstairs for what he thinks is a promotion - he gets the promotion, but only if  he also allows the head boss, Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), in on the use of  his apartment.

Meanwhile, Bud has started to fall for the elevator girl, Ms. Fran Kubelik (MacLaine).  However, she confesses to him that she's in love with the married man she's been having an affair with.  On Christmas Eve, she and the Married Man, who turns out to be Bud's boss (Sheldrake), have a fight - and she takes an overdose of sleeping pills in Bud's apartment.  Bud comes home, finds her, gets his neighbor the doctor over, and rescues her.  What looks like the start of a promising relationship ends when her brother-in-law shows up and takes her home to her sister, after decking Bud.  Later, Bud decides to tell Sheldrake he wants to marry Ms. Kubelik, but before he can, Sheldrake announces his wife has left him after finding out about his affairs, so he's going to take Fran -- he offers Bud an position as his assistant - deputy director.

Later, Fran and Bud run into each other in the lobby and Bud remarks, "Well, we both got what we wanted.  I have a corner office, and he left his wife for you." (or words to that effect).  At New Year's, Fran figures it all out, goes to find Bud who's quit his job and may be thinking about quitting his life.  And they end-up together.

But unlike many fluffy romantic comedies -- there's more tragedy and drama in this movie than comedy or even romance.  And Wilder's beautiful direction adds to the sense of  urban isolation.  That is, how a person can be surrounded by people but be completely alone -- as Bud, Fran, and even Sheldrake all are.  Scenes like Bud being alone in the office - with the white lights on the ceiling, and the endless identical desks, all stretching out into the unseen distance emphasize how alone Bud is.  Or the play of light on Fran's face in the bar on New Year's as she figures out just what a louse Skeldrake is.  Even the various infidelities referred to seem to emphasize the isolation of the characters.  And what can I say?  The film is written, produced, and directed by Billy Wilder - one of my favorite directors, ever.

The cast is excellent.  Jack Lemmon really pulls off  the character of a complete nebbish perfectly, and we cheer for him when he stands up to Skeldrake.  Fred MacMurray  is a complete slimeball (surprisingly for the guy later known for My Three Sons and tons of  Disney flicks), though he's not as traditionally bad (yet strangely sympathetic) as in Double Indemnity.  Shirley MacLaine, extremely young and a burnette, does a brilliant job playing an incredibly deep character - the movie is as much about her as it is about Bud.  Overall, a film that very much needs to be seen.

Recommendation:  See it!
Rating:  4 Stars
Next Film:  Austin Powers:  International Man of  Mystery