The Apartment (1960)

The Apartment, winner of the Oscar for Best Picture of 1960, is a funny movie not because of the jokes (although there are some) but because of its situations. It's one of the few "comedies" to have been chosen for the Academy's top honor, but it isn't a traditional comedy. Thanks to a brilliant and insightful script by Billy Wilder (who also directed) and I.A.L. Diamond, The Apartment is a pretty dark examination of the soul of the business world and the male-female dynamics of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon, in one of his greatest performances) literally holds the key to the happiness of several of the executives at the insurance company where he works. He allows them to use his bachelor apartment for trysts with their girlfriends, and he keeps getting "attention" from these same executives when it comes time for promotion. In fact, he is sent to meet with Jeff Sheldrake (played with malicious glee by Fred MacMurray) to discuss his future, only to find that his success depends upon his willingness to give Sheldrake a key as well. He, of course, submits and has to spend more than a few nights outside of his apartment thanks to the last-minute dates that his superiors make to avoid going home to their wives.

One night, though, he comes home to find that the elevator operator with whom he has been flirting, Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), has attempted suicide because of her increasingly frustrating relationship with Sheldrake. He tries to get her to wake up and even enlists the help of the doctor next door, who has been under the impression that Baxter must be some kind of sex maniac given all of the women who have been in and out of the apartment. They manage to save Fran, but rather than allow Sheldrake to rekindle a relationship with her, Baxter chooses to walk away from his job. That may sound like I'm spoiling the outcome of the movie, but the last scene is really one of the best ever made, and it doesn't diminish its power to know what I've told you so far.

How could you go wrong with a cast like Lemmon and MacMurray and MacLaine? There's also able support from such great character actors as Ray Walston and Jack Kruschen and David Lewis and Edie Adams. The script is sharp and tells us a great deal about the corporate mentality of the time. It's a pretty humdrum life, from the looks of things, and the early scenes with Baxter at his desk with the typewriter and phone are a marvel of production design. Lemmon always specialized in this kind of character, the sort who was always put out by others but never seems to have minded; it's as if he's accepted his lot in life and plans to make the most of it. This was one of MacLaine's best early performances; you can see just how conflicted her character is. Should she stay with a man she loves but has no chance of keeping, or should she move on with her life and find someone else? That's a difficult dilemma, and MacLaine helps us to understand the pain that Fran feels.

MacMurray is perhaps better known nowadays as the dad on My Three Sons or maybe as the scientist in The Absent-Minded Professor or for his roles in other Disney movies. However, he had a long and distinguished career in the movies, and this performance demonstrates just how much range he had as an actor. He's almost as good here as he was in Double Indemnity (my favorite of his performances). Watching his manipulations of Baxter and of Fran, you get a sense of just how he managed to work his way to his level in the company.

I've seen The Apartment many times over the years. It's always an enjoyable experience. There are chuckles to be had from time to time, certainly, but this is not a happy-go-lucky romantic comedy. Wilder and his various writing partners over the years never seemed to be content with the easy laugh, and that's what makes his movies all the more worthy of the attention (and awards) they received at the time and the praise they continue to receive from moviegoers now.