Review of The Apartment (1960) by John C — 14 Feb 2009
I find the Billy Wilder comedies from this period, including The Fortune Cookie, Irma la Douce, and Some Like It Hot, to be the greatest works of his career. Of all, The Apartment takes a serious message film and makes pure entertainment.
The chemistry between Lemmon and MacLaine, MacMurray, all American "Steve Douglas" on the outside but a secret womanizer, I.A.L. Diamond's brilliant script, all make The Apartment the best of Wilder's best.
This and The Fortune Cookie are Wilder's morality tales. It's being a winner in America vs. being a loser and the perspective you have in determining winners and losers --- in both, Lemmon plays the '60's everyman who compromises his values for money.
Wilder teaches us what you lose; Lemmon has to chose to be a good man over being a winner in the American success context. The Apartment is a critique of the rule of the organization man while making us laugh and care about those on the lower rungs of the organization.
It is sad to me that this film hasn't yet been rediscovered in these days of "Mad Men" as it covers the same territory in 2 hours and 5 minutes and does so with humor. "Shut up and deal".
This review of The Apartment (1960) was written by John C on 14 Feb 2009.
The Apartment has generally received very positive reviews.
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