Review of The Apartment (1960) by Brandon W — 09 Jul 2012

Billy Wilder will never be mistaken for Hitchcock or Kubrick as an innovator in film or the way movies are made but the man deserves to be a legend in his own right being a competent Director with some of the best written and most moving films of his time and indeed cinema history. He could create a compelling story and likeable relatable characters particularly against the mold female ones out of almost anything and nowhere is this more prevalent than his 1960 hit The Apartment which has since gone unjustly overlooked in popular culture.The film was written by IAL Diamond and Wilder almost immediately after they wrapped up production of Some Like It Hot the duo already desiring to do another film with Jack Lemmon.Wilder had wanted to do a film like The Apartment for some time but in the early days of his career the Hays Production Code wouldn't allow a film about adultery so he had to sit on the concept for almost two decades. When they finally started working on it the idea was born from a Hollywood scandal at the time in which an agent was murdered by a film producer for sleeping with his wife in a low level employees apartment, other from the plot being born from an experience of one of Diamond's friends in which he came home to find a girlfriend he'd just broke up with had committed suicide in his bed.And so The Apartment was made, born from Wilder and Diamond's idea and Jack Lemmon's improvisation. It one multiple Academy Awards including best picture for its frank treatment of not very often talked about issues and seemed destined to go down as another Wilder classic. So what went wrong? Why have not very many average people heard of this movie? Is Wilder just a product of his day whose films already seem horribly dated? Or do people just unjustly forget about him when listing the great Directors? Lets take a cooking with a tennis racket look.

Our film is about CC "Bud" Baxter (Jack Lemmon, in a really powerful and unsparing role devoid of very much of the vanity that surrounded acting in Hollywood of the day) a pathetic office drone at an Insurance Company that lives a solitary life in a single room Apartment (no I made the Fight Club comparisons as well). However CC is going places because he offers a very special service to higher ups in the firm, he loans out his apartment to his bosses to use for their various sundry affairs. As such Baxter is on the rise in the Company and all it costs him is his neighbors think he leads a fast exciting lifestyle when in fact it couldn't be further from the truth. Baxter in fact rises so far his apartment is commandeered bby the company's boss Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray it's not that easy pulling off the charming scumbag character but he does it remarkably well) but at this point a conflict of interest arises. Sheldrake is leading along the beautiful and much desired at the office elevator girl Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine, a commanding and powerful performance that breaks societal norms and expectations of female characters to a degree even now something Wilder had a penchant for) with talk of true love and promises of getting a divorce. Bud is himself infatuated with Ms. Kubelik and feels Mr. Sheldrake will destroy her with this wooing, so ultimately our little antihero must choose the girl or his job hes sacrificed so much for.

The directing of this movie is fine and moreso even as can only be expected by one of the pioneers of noir, I love all the carefully arranged shots and the sets particularly of the titular apartment which is much smaller and more well realistic than others shown in movies during that time (a lot of the furniture was Wilder's own). But what really makes the movie remarkable is the story. First of all for a basically situational comedy this is a highly developed and entertaining concept and one the movie makes full use of without ever being lewd which is probably just a result of the time period. But the movie handles the idea of adultery which such intelligence and maturity it's easy to forget how old this movie really is at this point with only a few dated details to give it away. There are a few pop culture references that firmly place the movie back before the sixties,as well as the fact all the women are in positions of servitude in the company, as secretaries and elevator operators but this seems more like Wilder imitating the real world than how it would be if he weren't con strained by the reality of the day. It's particularly groundbreaking and refreshing how the early affairs are played for scuzzy laughs but the central one is betweem too highly developed characters. Sheldrake may be an asshole but you're never certain how much is him lacking a heart and how much is him covering his ass he's certainly not an especially likeable character but he's not a one dimensional sex crazed monster either. But Fran Kubelik with her short hair and handsome face is the far more interesting one, with her short hair and handsome face we are very much meant to like and even desire Fran as opposed to the thoughtless bitch role we usually see in an adultery scenario. Fran is smart and charming, she got into the relationship not knowing what it was and now that she does she hates herself but can't seem to release herself from it. We're made to sympathize with her without really condoning her actions and the fact she keeps doing them is meant to make her in a twisted way a strong character and for whatever weird sick reason it really works. The worst I can say about Fran from a feminist standpoint is she needs to be protected and saved by Bud in the third act, and while she may leave Sheldrake of her own volition she sort of needs Buds permission to do so. But hey it's 1960 in Hollywood you take what you can get.

This is not my favorite Billy Wilder movie, but hey that's an impressive title to hold, and I do love it quite a bit. It's a tad dated but not really in a bad way and there's not much to not like about it. It's a well acted likeable little movie, that is equal turns funny and touching with a smart and moving script and a knockout central cast. Honestly as I wrap this review I find it hard to imagine what kind of person wouldn't like this movie because especially for the time period it's fucking fantastic. If you've never seen or heard of this I can't recommend it highly enough it's a dear one to my heart and deserves a special place in all of you as well.