The Apartment (1960)

This is another Billy Wilder film, who if you don't know was one of the most versatile movie directors ever.  Wilder made many films, often probing relatively untapped ground for the usually unimaginative film industry like alcoholism (Lost Weekend); murder for insurance money (Double Indemnity); Hollywood's unfair treatment of actors of former generations (Sunset Blvd); WWII prison camps (Stalag 17); and cross dressing musicians (Some Like it Hot).   All these films were big hits and most of them still retain their edge today, fifty or so years later.

The Apartment was the last of these movies and it bridged the gap between the classical era where Wilder did most of his work and the modern immoral era where movies were free to show or at least acknowledge extra marital hanky panky. This makes The Apartment a little dated and stodgy compared to most of Wilder's other films that have largely retained their satiric barbs intact.

Jack Lemmon made his name as a comic actor in my book in The Apartment. He plays CC Baxter, a junior employee of the gigantic Consolidated Life Insurance firm that allows the big brass to use his apartment for their trysts on weeknights because he hopes that will get him up where they are in the executive suite. 

But Lemmon has his own designs on comely elevator operator Fran Kubelic (Shirley MacLaine) who he doesn't know has been sharing his apartment with company boss Mr Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) on his nights in the apartment. So the movie has a double workout for your emotions as you see the brass get on with the young chick but then remember your hero, Jack Lemmon, is pining for her and is going to explode when he finds out. 

The thing about The Apartment, like all of Billy Wilder's work has a way of getting to you.  He used Fred MacMurray, usually a very staid fatherly character who most remember from My Three Sons and several Disney films.  Wilder drew the best out of Fred in two separate movies by casting him against type, making him a killer in one, and an adulterer in the other.  Never did Fred MacMurray get reviews like he got when working for Billy Wilder, and no, never did you hate him so much, or did it seem so right, either. 

Shirley MacLaine was a fresh face and made a great tragicomic appearance here.  She takes an overdose of sleeping pills and goes to sleep in Lemmon's bed, hoping to never wake up.  Lemmon, of course, finds her and nurses her back to health with the help of his neighbor a doctor played by familiar face Jack Kruschen.  Nobody else could flirt with suicide in a movie, but Billy Wilder did.  He also had Lemmon mentioning his own attempts with his .45 pistol. Yet Wilder could bring these heartbreaking issues into the middle of a movie that had comic overtones. He was truly a story telling genius.

This was probably Jack Lemmon's best role and there are a couple more familiar faces from TV among the cast - David White (Bewitched) and Ray Walston (My Favorite Martian). The story is just a little dated because the sexual revolution was already underway and Wilder did not quite beat it to the punch. 

The MGM DVD is presented in 2.35:1 black and white - unusual for a widescreen format but it is the theatrical format.  The movie runs a slightly long 125 minutes.

The Apartment won five Oscars including Best Director, Best film, Best Story, Best Editing, and Best Art Direction. Jack Lemmon missed out on Best Actor.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening