One of the greatest joys of cinemaphiles is that there is always something new to discover, whether it be a recent or an older release. The joy of watching an older, beloved movie for the first time as an adult is a feeling quite like no other. You sit back and watch a movie that you know is award winning, loved, cherished, and treated as nothing less than a work of art. You know that it MUST be true, since everyone thinks so. Your hopes are high, but you never let your guard down for fear that time hasn’t been so kind to the film. Watching The Apartment was not only my first time watching the film, but also my very first experience with a film by Billy Wilder.
Jack Lemmon plays C.C. Baxter, a working class man trying to advance in his company. In order to make a name for himself with the upper management, he begins letting them use his apartment as a meeting place for these men and their mistresses. This precarious living arrangement proves to be a challenge when C.C. falls for the elevator operator at work, a feisty woman named Fran Kubelik. Fran also happens to be in love with, and the mistress of, one of the members of management Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray).
The story is very simple, but deals with lots of emotion. In the “man’s world” mentality of 1960, surprisingly it’s Fran who takes center stage. Her job at the company may not be the most important, or the most rewarding, but Billy Wilder spends the time necessary to develop Fran as a strong yet fragile woman. She is deeply emotionally invested in her relationship with Mr. Sheldrake, more so than she would care to admit, even to herself. She has a connection with Mr. Baxter, but is still holding out for Mr. Sheldrake and his promises to leave his wife for her. Fran also has the best, most hard-hitting dialog in the film. When C.C. borrows her hand mirror, he notices it has a crack in it and makes a comment about it. Her response, “Yes, I like it that way. Makes me look the way I feel.” As she is crying over her relationship with Jeff, she so wisely says, “When you’re in love with a married man, you shouldn’t wear mascara.” Shirley MacLaine’s Oscar nominated performance is incredibly real, and she carries the emotional weight of the film.
Jack Lemmon was also rightfully nominated for an Oscar for his performance as C. C. Baxter. He plays the wide-eyed and earnest character with such boyish charm, we forget that he’s essentially allowing affairs to take place in his own home for his own personal gain. He provides most of the film’s comedic relief, as contrast to MacLaine. One notable scene in the film has him using a tennis racket as a strainer for spaghetti, as he’s humming cheerfully in the kitchen.
The Apartment plays out as a delicate mix of comedy and drama. In today’s age where there are enough independent drama/comedies to warrant the creation of the term “dramedy”, making this sort of film at the time was very daring. The subject matter – affairs, a suicide attempt – was bold in conservative 1960 America as well. Filmed completely in black and white, the film felt more like a noir drama than a Some Like It Hot type comedy, and when people saw Billy Wilder’s name next to Jack Lemmon’s, that was immediately what they thought of. Instead they got The Apartment, a bold look into the life of a working man, that wasn’t afraid to go to some of the darkest places.
Even though the film was considered risqué at the time by many people (even critics), that didn’t stop The Apartment from winning five of the ten Academy Awards it was nominated for, including Best Picture. As a film now 52 years old, it holds up incredibly well. The dialog is sharper, and more witty than many movies released this year, the score is great, the acting is amazing all around, and the direction by Billy Wilder is nothing short of perfection. This time of year when everyone is scrambling to watch every film nominated for the Oscars, it’s sometimes even more fun to discover winners from previous years. If you haven’t seen The Apartment yet, there is no better time than now.
The new Blu-ray release looks amazing. The black & white is very crisp, and the sound quality is excellent. Extras include a commentary track with film historian Bruce Block, a making of featurette called “Inside The Apartment” that is fascinating, and a featurette called “Magic Time: The Art of Jack Lemmon” which features his co-stars and his son talking about how wonderful the actor was. The Theatrical Trailer included is hilarious, just for the differences between the way trailers are made now and the way they were made back then. The only complaint about the Blu-ray is the menu. There isn’t one. The movie itself will play over and over again if you don’t hit the ‘pop-up menu’ button on your remote to access the extras.
This is the kind of movie that people are talking about when they say “they just don’t make ’em like they used to”. If you’re at all turned off by older movies, or black and white movies, you owe it to yourself to step out of your comfort zone and watch The Apartment.
MGM presents The Apartment. Directed by: Billy Wilder. Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray. Written by: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond. Running time: 125 minutes. Rating: NR. Released on DVD: January 24, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.
