Billy Wilder's "The Apartment" was an enormous success. Nominated for ten Academy Awards, it won five, including Best Picture and Best Director. Made as a comedy, the film appears much darker today. However, the stereotype of business executives as cynical, manipulative skirt-chasers strains credibility, and the actions of characters both major and minor is entirely predictable.
Jack Lemmon works long hours at his modest
desk, one of hundreds lined up in rows at his
company. It turns out that he stays late because
he can't go home: he has allowed his corporate
bosses to borrow his apartment for sessions with
their mistresses. Lemmon is hoping for a
promotion, which he finally obtains when he
grants company bigshot Fred MacMurray exclusive
access.
Meanwhile, Lemmon is attracted to winsome
elevator operator Shirley MacLaine. His progress
with her is limited, as she is MacMurray's
mistress. When Lemmon discovers her secret, what
will he do? This being a movie, he tells his boss
off, walks away from his cushy job, and walks off
into the sunset with his willing love interest.
We are awaiting the sequel, which assumedly
begins with Lemmon and MacLaine standing in the
unemployment line.
Many scenes in "The Apartment" don't quite work.
Why do these executives go to such trouble to use
Lemmon's apartment, when they could get one of
their own, or rent a hotel? MacMurray and his
fellow bosses are excessively crass, and the
office party is so wild that one expects the riot
squad to show up. Lemmon's personality change
from toadying underling to "mensch" is sudden yet
predictable. MacLaine's hot-headed brother-in-law
is an unfunny plot device to gain audience
sympathy for chivalric Lemmon. (54/100)
Comedy Drama DVD - Billy Wilder always liked to thread a strong streak of cynicism through his comedies, and he rarely made a film with a darker under...More at Barnes and Noble
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