Review of The Apartment (1960) by Alex S — 31 Aug 2014

Iâ??m beginning to think the question â??How exactly did this get made?â?? is a badge of honor Billy Wilder would wear with pride regarding the majority of his work. Which is not to say the story of a bachelor renting out his apartment to the higher ups he works for so that they can enjoy a little â??one-on-one timeâ?? with their secretaries, mistresses, floozies, etc.

is not that shocking of a concept in todayâ??s time (which is either a good or bad thing, depending on how you look at it, I guess). But for 1960? And with as sharp a satire as Wilder is used to brandishing? I imagine more than a few people got word of this flick and made a beeline for the self help section of their local bookstore back in the day.

Oddly enough, though, the Academy showered the praise on this at the Oscars that year and for good reason: this is a solid work. Jack Lemmon thinks nothing of lending out his apartment to get ahead in the company but when he gets practically to the top (his own office! the keys to the Executive Washroom!), things get a little fuzzy with head honcho Fred MacMurray (being wonderfully threatening and oblivious at the same time) and the object of both of their desires, elevator operator Shirley MacLaine (who really does a bang-up job with her character).

And thatâ??s about as far as you can take a basic plot description without giving some heavy stuff away (like, really heavy stuffâ?¦ stuff that, again, makes you ask â??How exactly did this get made?â??).

Wilder knows what he is doing so it should not surprise anyone that this is gold all the way but itâ??s hard not to watch this and feel a good 30 minutes of it could have been cut out. But unhealthy padding and some conversations that uncharacteristically leave you looking at your watch (which should never happen in a Wilder film) are not the worst offenses here â?? the fact that none of the three leads took home acting honors is flat out wrong.

Not â??wrongâ?? as in the Christmas morning scene in this at MacMurrayâ??s house (which is justifiably infamous) but wrong just the same.