The Apartment (1960) User Reviews (443)

They don't make 'em like this anymore

[markdroulston · 9/10 · 15 June 2011]

Billy Wilder's The Apartment was one of a huge list of movies that are considered classics which I haven't seen, and indeed knew very little about (other than the level of admiration which many people have for it). Having a vague knowledge of the stars of the film (Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine), for one reason or another I was expecting a light-hearted comedy filled with innuendo and witty banter, a tradition of filmmaking that was common around the period when this film was released. Thankfully I wasn't disappointed, as these elements are all in play in The Apartment, but what really thrilled and surprised me was the much more serious subject matter that the film deals with. To say this is simply a comedy is completely false, as it's a somewhat dark and daring study of the nature of love and infidelity, and the stunning performances and filmmaking on display had me enthralled from the first frame.

The film certainly begins as a comedy. C.C. Baxter (Lemmon) is a young bachelor trying to ascend the corporate ladder by allowing a group of his superiors to use his apartment for their extra-marital liaisons. After he falls for charismatic elevator attendant Fran (MacLaine), who is engaged in an illicit relationship with Mr. Sheldrake, the married head of the company, Baxter tries to free himself from the demands of his bosses, with hilarious results. While this is certainly risqué subject matter (for 1960), the film takes an unexpectedly sombre turn when Fran makes a suicide attempt in the apartment after learning the truth behind Sheldrake's motives. What follows is a touching, and at times heart-wrenching flowering of Baxter and Fran's relationship, and if the ending is a little predictable, the journey getting there is really something wonderful.

The Apartment features an excellent selection of fully-formed support characters, but the film really belongs to Lemmon and MacLaine. Lemmon's reputation as cinema's greatest everyman is really on show here, and it's impossible not to root for him and sympathise with his plight. Playing Baxter as a charming yet awkward underdog, his character is the embodiment of the 'nice guys finish last' maxim, and although some elements of his life may be a little shady to say the least, Lemmon is flawless. MacLaine is completely up to Lemmon's high standard as Fran, effortlessly making audiences fall in love with her just as Baxter has. She's just so damn cute that even when she's recovering from an overdose of sleeping pills, she exudes such a potent 'girl next door' allure that can't be avoided. Her chemistry with Lemmon is palpable, and when they inevitably end up together, it's one of those truly satisfying romantic moments seen all too rarely in modern cinema.

I'm not usually one to get nostalgic when it comes to film periods, but while I do have great fondness for many more recent romantic comedies, Hollywood really doesn't make movies like The Apartment any more. Wilder's screenplay (co-written with I.A.L. Diamond) is clever, witty and engaging, particularly in the subtle motifs and unique idiosyncrasies of all the characters, and the film is just so expertly crafted. I'm determined now to seek out more Wilder films, along with catching up on my Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. I can't recommend The Apartment highly enough!

A precise satire

[jdoan-4 · 9/10 · 1 May 2006]

Billy Wilder has made some tremendous satires. "Sunset Boulevard" is one of the greatest satires on film. "The Apartment", though not as cynical, is a very good one as well. I like that the satire is a backdrop for the main love story, and yet an integral part of it. The film shows just how much people are will to prostitute themselves in order to get what they want, whether that be a family or an executive office. Wilder handles some very serious and bawdy themes with a precise touch. This film could have easily turned into a wacky comedy of errors, but he is much to talented and sympathetic for that. He gives Baxter's character some sincere emotional depth. I could almost feel his loneliness and longing in many scenes. He is never really sure what he wants and how he can get it. He is a man searching for something, and he doesn't quite know it. Lemon plays this role to perfection. He doesn't go overboard. He gives the character the right amount of silliness and charm. McClaine is very strong. Her character is not stereotyped. She is a wounded soul that is looking for respite in the absolutely wrong place. I found her very charming and lovable. Some much of the film is in the wonderful cinematography. Wilder uses the widescreen to its fullest capability. The framing is so precise. You get a feeling of utter separation and distance. I really like the nearly infinite succession of desks in the office.

Some Like it Dark - Wilder and Dark Comedy

[jtmudge · 9/10 · 30 July 2004]

Billy Wilder knew how to make a great movie. Of course it helps to have one of the greatest all-time actors, Jack Lemon, play in your movies, but Lemon aside, Wilder was a genius. His gift for the comedic moment showed brilliantly on screen and reached deep inside the audience.

The Apartment, the last of the great Black and White films, showed a bit darker side to comedy than some of his other romps such as the hilarious Some Like It Hot. Some Like It Hot is just as funny today as it was in 1959. It is pure fun. At no point in the film are we approached with anything that we would take seriously. Let's face it, most of us are not running from the mob disguised as a member from the opposite sex.

The Apartment, however, brings up much more human themes and issues. Wilder is an expert and at no time does he leave you worried that it will turn out badly. This is, after all, a comedy. One mistake in the script and the movie could quickly become a deep film about suicide, loneliness, and peer pressure, but Wilder balances the subjects on the edge of a knife and allows us to smile at what could otherwise be a very depressing movie.

Wilder and his films like The Apartment are very similar to Shakespeare's comedies. It can be said that the difference between a Shakespeare comedy and tragedy is often not the story, but the ending. In a comedy, everyone is married; in a tragedy, everyone dies. the same is true with The Apartment, it all hinges on the outcomes. If Kubelik dies or Baxter is left alone, the movie would be a tragedy. But since they prevail in the end, the movie comes off as a great comedic success, albeit a bit dark.

Becoming A Mensch

[davidals · 10/10 · 21 January 2005]

Ohhh - after my 4th or 5th viewing, I think this may be one of the most remarkable blends of comedy and drama to have ever been filmed - THE APARTMENT - in subtle ways - rises well above the conventions of any genre. It was my introduction to the great Billy Wilder, and my fondness for Jack Lemmon (a remarkable and sorely missed actor) begins here as well.

*SOME SPOILERS*

The cold take on the sex-and-money ethos to be found in many corporate environments hasn't dated one bit; it could be argued that THE APARTMENT stands a bit ahead of its' time in the depiction of (what would appear to be) educated employees treated like (and feeling like) tools to be used in generation of someone else's income. Lemmon's character never forgets that he's disposable, even if the optimist in him hopes that something better may be found in his superiors. Deep down he knows this to be a pipe dream - the sexual adventurism of those same superiors betrays their utter lack of ethics. Of course, Lemmon's character isn't entirely above it all; he's been more than willing to hire out his own apartment as a place for his colleagues' peccadilloes, in exchange for career advancement, which of course - as Wilder early on links amoral sexual conduct and professional/corporate/financial misconduct in a greater social critique - gets him into trouble.

The dialogue is - as is always true with Wilder - very finely crafted, yet seems natural - this film is a remarkable display of the kind of reactions any of us would offer in similar situations. Interestingly, our two protagonists are also wonderfully imperfect as human beings - Lemmon and MacLaine bear some responsibility for the very serious situations they've gotten themselves into; they manage to realize this ("Be a mensch!" Lemmon's doctor neighbor exclaims) just in time to set things right. MacLaine in particular delivers a remarkable, complex performance - sweet and smart in her earliest scenes, bleak and emotionally ravaged in her climactic scene with MacMurray, naive elsewhere, sharp but hopeful at the end. The cinematography captures the entire cast beautifully - with minimal movement, abundant long takes, and a sleek lack of visual clutter, all of the principals are free to reveal their own best and worst impulses, within an environment that is stripped of artifice. The end result is a film filled with great moments one can easily identify with.

A rare gem, this is a blessedly adult comedy with great performances, great writing and the kind of depth hardly ever seen in the more vapid, formulaic romantic comedies of today.

[cwelty1 · 10/10 · 15 October 2004]

Written by the great filmmaker Billy Wilder, this is a serious, sardonic comedy for people who've known what's its like to feel the pressure of compromising your principles or your self- respect for the sake of getting ahead in life. And there are very few over the age of consent who haven't had to at one time or another. This isn't the laugh out loud comedy of Jim Carrey or the Farrelly brothers, but a subtle, nuanced comedy about two people who have both been jaded in love and yet continue to hope again and again that it will someday work out for them -- mainly because despite the unlikeable things they do, they are both basically decent, nice people. Flawed and even weak at times, but good people. This is a movie that doesn't just make it you laugh, it makes you think. A rare find indeed.

WILDER'S GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT

[KatMiss · 10/10 · 24 May 2001]

Billy Wilder's "The Apartment is his greatest accomplishment. It is his most successful melding of comedy and drama that he never quite pulled off again. I'm glad the Academy had enough good taste to award Wilder The Triple Crown: Best Picture/Director/Screenplay. But they still had enough bad taste to deny Jack Lemmon a Best Actor award, Shirley MacLaine a Best Actress award and Fred MacMurray a nomination and award.

The plot this time: C.C. Baxter (Lemmon; in case you're wondering: "C for Calvin C for Clifford, but most people call me "Bud")lends out his apartment to executives for their extramarital trysts in the faint hope of a promotion. Eventually, his boss, Sheldrake (MacMurray, excellent in a rare straight role) finds out and wants the key for his own affairs. Meanwhile, Baxter has a crush on Miss Kubelik (MacLaine, in a strong performance)the elevator operator.

For those who accuse me of spoiling the whole movie: rest assured. This only covers the first 20 minutes or so of the 126 minute feature. Wilder has many twists and tricks up his sleeve and I'll leave you to discover what happens. What amazes me about "The Apartment" is that unlike most films, this isn't about the plot. It's a study in human nature and the mistakes they make. That is a strong trait of most Wilder films (including "Kiss Me, Stupid" and "The Fortune Cookie", both hilarious comedies with a hidden meaning)

Also the dialogue by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond isn't just one-liners (although they are funny; especially when spoken by Lemmon and Ray Walston)There is real heartfelt sentiment here and it isn't the syrupy kind that makes my stomach churn (as in films like "Patch Adams") Wilder allows enough to make his points and then gets back to comedy.

The cinematography is fabulous too. Wilder's film (as most of his 60s films) is in widescreen Black and White (shot by Joseph LaShelle, in Panavision; one of the most unsung and unrecognized cinematographers in history, he was nominated but lost) It has a crisp,clean look and is one of the few widescreen films that actually make the viewer feel confined in a tight space.

"The Apartment" is a superior example of the "serious comedy", films that work as both comedy and drama. Sadly, many of today's filmmakers have lost touch with this genre. I can't help but feel that the freedoms granted today that weren't in the 1950s and 60s haven't been an advance. They've been holding us back. Smart characters have lost way to stupid and oversexed ones. That's a real shame and it's high time we go back to our roots.

**** out of 4 stars

That's the way it crumbles...

[gaityr · 10/10 · 24 March 2002]

What a wonderful way to spend an evening--dinner, Christmas and New Year's with CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon) and 'friends', accompanied by much champagne and laughter, and spaghetti and meatballs lovingly prepared by the host himself. There's even a game of gin rummy to get into that Baxter and Fran can't ever seem to finish--here's hoping it never does!

THE APARTMENT is one of those truly classic classic movies--for one thing, it has an absolutely top-notch cast, featuring Jack Lemmon (at his wryly humourous best); Shirley MacLaine (a glowing screen presence); Fred MacMurray (smarm personified); and a younger Ray Walston (still wisecracking, still hilarious). They also benefit from a clever, perceptive and timelessly relevant script by Billy Wilder, under his capable direction. Though there are plenty of brilliant one-liners, the best of the dialogue feels true and real, which adds to the feeling that you've known Baxter et al for years. I loved the score to the movie as well, artfully attributed to the Rickshaw Boys and used to great effect.

There are so many good moments scattered throughout the film (I can't even begin to enumerate them all here!). A lot of them are little touches that must have been added by the actors themselves (Jack Lemmon humming as he prepares the meatball sauce is just *so* funny!). I love the madness of the Christmas party scene, and when Baxter's doctor-neighbour takes charge of the situation with Fran, slapping her awake and marching her around the living room. I also love it when Baxter first starts playing gin rummy with Fran, and she reveals how she has a talent for falling for the wrong guy all the time. Best of all, Lemmon makes such a believable, sweet pushover that you often want to shake him and hug him at the same time--the things he would do for Fran! It makes his final scene with MacMurray that much more satisfying for the audience.

If you see this gem of a movie on a video store shelf, or (even better) playing in the cinema, don't let it pass you by. Join Baxter, Fran, Mr. Sheldrake and everyone else, and have a great time!

Sweet and Sour, Wilder Style

[marcelbenoitdeux · 10/10 · 19 November 2022]

Certain films travel in time, undisturbed. Always relevant. "The Apartment" is such a film. Jack Lemmon at the top of his form and the luminous Shirley MacLaine at the center of this bitter romantic comedy. The cynics with the keys and the ambition are also the corruptors of the little man. The ones dangling the golden carrot. Billy Wilder finds a way out, where love, if not triumphs, survives. Fred MacMurray is a surprisingly believable corruptor, living a socially acceptable life, at least on the surface. The laughs are well earned but with that Wilderian aftertaste that makes "The Apartment" a unique piece of film art.

I work on the 19th floor. Ordinary Policy Department, Premium Accounting Division, Section W, desk number 861

[Ford-kp · 13 April 2006]

In the beginning of The Apartment we see C. C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) being lost in a sea of desks within a gigantic office room. He works for a huge New York insurance company employing over thirty thousand souls spread over twenty-seven floors. Sometimes he is working overtime; "It's not like I was overly ambitious..." Baxter tells us defensively. "You see, I have this little problem with my apartment… I can't always get in when I want to."

The reason are several superiors, to whom he is lending his apartment for their extra-marital escapades. In exchange they promise to give his career a push by passing recommendations to the personnel manager, Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray). Although Buddy Boy (that's his disrespectful yet firmly established nickname) is daily surrounded by hundreds of people, he is drowning in lonesomeness. Apart from his mocking colleagues, there does not seem to be any family or close friends. In fact, the only decent person among his acquaintances is his neighbour, Dr. Dreyfuss (Jack Kruschen), ironically under the wrong impression that the man next door is a womanizing drunkard.

So Baxter meekly adapts to the mercilessness of corporate life, putting all hopes of happiness into his career. His free evenings consist of watching TV, preparing dinner or cleaning up after the occupants of his apartment. Yes, one could say that Baxter does not exactly lead a joyful life.

Yet, there is something, or rather somebody carrying light into the loner's gloominess when he falls in love with the pretty elevator girl Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine). Although Fran likes him for his decency and kindness, she does not quite share the feelings of her ardent admirer. But Buddy Boy refuses to notice any signs of unrequited love and eventually talks her into going out with him. You can imagine how Baxter feels when she fails to turn up, and how things get significantly worse when he finds out that she is actually having intimate meetings with the personnel manager Mr. Sheldrake in HIS apartment. The image of purity Baxter had of Fran is gone. On Christmas Eve, he decides to drown his broken heart in a bar while his apartment is occupied by the cause of his misery. But Fran doesn't feel any happier than Baxter, and with the depressing effect Christmas can have on the lonesome and desperate, the story threatens to take a turn into tragedy...

It is hard to pin The Apartment on a single genre. The sharp, witty dialogue as well as Jack Lemmon's hilarious mimic would hint at a romantic comedy. Yet, one cannot overlook the tragic elements which let us dive into thoughtfulness, but never too deeply. Then again the film works on a satiric level, operating as cynical social commentary on corporate culture in the sixties (which is not very unlike today's business life). The remarkable thing about this film is that these three qualities merge perfectly into each other without ever losing the balance. The Apartment is a most entertaining picture, sometimes rushing from one hilarity to the next, and then suddenly slowing down to leave room for contemplation. Sometimes uplifting, sometimes depressing, sometimes both at the same time. Billy Wilder mixed these contrary moods, and most amazingly, it worked out just fine.

First and foremost The Apartment deals with loneliness and the everlasting search for unaccomplished love. "I used to live like Robinson Crusoe. I mean shipwrecked among 8 million people. And then one day I saw a footprint in the sand and there you were." Baxter tells Ms Kubelik. Does any relationship ever work out the way one dreamed it would? Additionally the film points out how people let themselves be treated badly out of total lack of self-esteem. Standing up for oneself and saying the simple word "no" can sometimes be an art of its own.

As an able filmmaker and scriptwriter (together with I. A. L. Diamond, "Some like it Hot"), Billy Wilder once again produced a film classic of outstanding quality. I have yet to see another picture, equally consistent at providing such humorous and well-timed dialogues. The amount of memorable quotes is remarkable and the entire cast did a terrific job at delivering them. Moreover, Wilder chose to shoot in black and white widescreen, shining with beautiful cinematography, and thereby gave the film a very special melancholy mood.

Maybe the greatest strength of The Apartment is its honesty. It doesn't lie to us by painting images of perfect love or of perfect people. Neither does it create scenarios of utter hopelessness. However, it shows us that although life can be unfair on default, everyone is responsible for oneself to work up the courage to achieve happiness. With the director's cynical, yet comic approach to life, the film takes itself serious and it doesn't. It lets us taste the bitter and the sweet, thereby lending itself a tone of reality. For that reason alone I don't feel cheated by The Apartment and its story never failed to cheer me up. Then again, I may be too much of a pessimistic optimist.

"I've Decided to Take My Doctor's Advice, I'm going to become a mensch."

[bkoganbing · 10/10 · 14 June 2006]

In the recent biography of Billy Wilder by Ed Sikov, it is mentioned that for the first time Wilder used as his protagonist a lovable loser. Think about it. In a whole lot of his previous films the main lead in Ace in the Hole, Double Indemnity, Stalag 17 are the people who are the takers as Shirley MacLaine describes Fred MacMurray here.

In The Apartment, it's the schnook that's took who the story focuses on. Jack Lemmon creates one of his immortal characters in C.C. Baxter, a minor cog in the machinery of the insurance company he works for.

Lemmon has maybe found a way to move up the corporate ladder, but it's driving him nuts. He lives on West 67 Street in Manhattan, a most convenient location for kanoodling. Only it isn't him that kanoodles. One time he allowed one of the middle level managers to use his apartment for a little nookie. One guy tells another and so on and so on and pretty soon Lemmon can't call his place his own.

In walks big boss Fred MacMurray to seemingly save the situation. But it turns out he only wants exclusive use for himself and he actually does vault Baxter several steps up the corporate ladder. And unfortunately MacMurray is currently kanoodling with elevator operator Shirley MacLaine who Lemmon has a thing for.

The Apartment was years ahead of its time in that it was one of the first major films to deal with sexual harassment. The whole group of middle executives Ray Walston, David Lewis, Willard Waterman, David White and the big cheese Fred MacMurray just look on that insurance company as one gigantic harem. As typical for 1960 note there are no women in any managerial positions at all.

Fred MacMurray almost didn't play Mr. Sheldrake. Paul Douglas was cast originally, but died suddenly just before shooting on The Apartment commenced. MacMurray stepped in and got great critical reviews for another effort with Billy Wilder as a heavy. MacMurray was also starting at this time a long run in the family comedy My Three Sons on television. There would be no more bad guys in his future.

Billy Wilder held out in casting for Jack Kruschen as Doctor Dreyfus the next door neighbor who is available to save Shirley MacLaine's life. The folks at United Artists were ready to sign Groucho Marx for the part. Wilder's faith in Kruschen was justified, he got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Peter Ustinov for Spartacus.

Lemmon and MacLaine were also nominated for the leads, but failed to win. But The Apartment was chosen Best Film of 1960 and Billy Wilder was Best Director.

Also look out for a biting performance by Edie Adams who really makes her role count as MacMurray's secretary and former flame. During a Christmas party she tips off MacLaine to MacMurray's philandering ways and then later on brings the house of cards all around Fred.

The Apartment is so timeless in so many ways although women in the workplace have made great strides in the last 46 years. One thing though that does show how dated it is. It's mentioned that Lemmon pays $94.00 a month, presumably rent controlled, for a one bedroom apartment in the West Sixties in Manhattan.

Now that is dated.

Good first part, long and boring second part

[christophe92300 · 6/10 · 22 August 2013]

The Apartment starts off in a very catchy way by an original, dynamic, finely directed plot that arouses curiosity and impatience as to the following developments.

Unfortunately, the movie turns, after an hour, into a behind closed doors love story, where the rhythm drops significantly simultaneously with the interest for this conventional and schmaltzy romance. The film then struggles to find a second wind and this second part turns out to be very long, so much so that the viewer is almost relieved when it comes to an end.

It's a bit of a shame because, besides the cast and direction both accurate, the script suggests a cynical critic of the unmerciful world of business, the race for profit and individual success, foreshadowing, relatively speaking, other works on the dehumanization of work such as Brazil — think of the shot of the lined up desks.

A classic in every sense of the word

[bankofmarquis · 10/10 · 11 May 2018]

My local cinema does "Secret Movie Night" once a month, you just show up and watch a "classic" of their choosing, you just don't know what it is until it starts.

One of the reasons that I enjoy this is that I end up viewing films that I might not, otherwise, choose to watch. Case in point is the selection for May - the 1960 Oscar winner for Best Picture, THE APARTMENT - a "love story" with some comedy and some dark dramatic moments and themes. A very tricky combination of items that are bundled together, brilliantly, by a master of the craft.

THE APARTMENT tells the story of nebbish office worker C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon in an Oscar nominated performance, more on that later) who is talked into lending his apartment to higher-ups in his company so they can carry out extra-marital affairs. When one of the affairs goes wrong, Baxter is forced to "clean up the mess".

Written and Directed by the GREAT Billy WIlder (SOME LIKE IT HOT, SUNSET BOULEVARD), The Apartment is more than a love story, more than a look into the vacuous lives of those anonymous office workers, it is a look into the lives of those who are victims of abuse of power. Wilder, rightfully so, won the Oscar for Best Director and Best Screenplay for this film. The Apartment is strongly written and directed not flinching at the deep subject matter while also balancing things out with moments of comedy and joy, turning what could have been a dour, dark subject into a more joyous exploration of true humanity and love rising through the corruption and abuse of power heaped upon them.

In the lead role of CC Baxter, Lemmon is perfectly cast. Starting as a pure comedic character who is set upon by a world too strong for him, his character slowly turns sharper, deeper, more serious and more real as the film progresses. Lemmon was nominated for the Oscar for his performance - and rightfully so. I had to look up who beat him out for the statue and found out it was Burt Lancaster's powerhouse performance in ELMER GANTRY, so I can't really argue about this (but I digress).

Matching Lemmon beat for beat is Shirley MacLaine, the wronged girl who's "issues" (I'm not going to spoil what happens, if you haven't seen this) are at the heart of this film - and at the heart of Lemmon's character. MacLaine is charming and tragic in this role and she, too, was nominated for an Oscar (for Best Actress losing to Elizabeth Taylor for Butterfield 8). Rounding out the cast was a pre-MY 3 SONS Fred MacMurray (as the Exec who abuses both Lemmon's and MacLaine's characters). He was terrific as this cad, and thought for sure that he would have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but that honor went to Jack Kruschen as Lemmon's neighbor in the apartment building where they both lived. I am fine with that but preferred MacMurray's performance. Also showing up are such great character actors as Ray Walston (MY FAVORITE MARTIAN), David Lewis (GENERAL HOSPITAL), Willard Waterman (THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE) and David White (Larry Tate in BEWITCHED) as other Execs using The Apartment for their purposes.

This is a terrific motion picture and if you haven't seen it (or if you haven't seen it in quite sometime), I highly recommend you check it out (it is shown on the Turner Classic Movie channel on a fairly regular basis). It certainly shows a slice of life during the MAD MEN days that just doesn't exist anymore - and also presents a type of film, and a type of filmmaker, that just doesn't exist today.

Letter Grade: A+

10 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)

Light comedy with a darkness underneath

[Red-Barracuda · 6/10 · 10 December 2013]

Baxter, an office worker, makes his apartment available to philandering executives at his office in order to move up the corporate ladder. Things become complicated when his boss takes an elevator girl Baxter has taken a shine to back to his pad.

In this Billy Wilder film, Jack Lemmon is on hand with another effective comic performance. He seemed to be good at playing under-dog characters .We root for him here even though we know he is a bit of a weasel that bends over backwards for unlikable bosses. It's testament to Lemmon's charisma that we are never in doubt that he is a sympathetic character. He is more than matched by Shirley Maclaine here as the elevator girl, though. She was an elfin beauty and it's very easy to understand Baxter's infatuation with her. She is probably the best thing in this film to be honest. Her character undergoes the most extreme story arc, where she veers from comic scenes to an attempted suicide. It's because of this especially that The Apartment is a light film that has some pretty dark undercurrents. The central plot-line was pretty racy stuff for its time as well, with the apartment of the title being a den of iniquity and vice. But on the whole it's pretty light-hearted despite this. But it's often when it gets darker that it gets more interesting, the whole post-suicide attempt sequence was probably the best part of the film. The drama often outweighs the comedy in this one. While it is a romantic comedy, it's not really full of laughs and the plot-line is more melancholic a lot of the time. It also displays a definite cynicism towards the practices of big business in their carefree immorality and misogyny. It's probably a little overlong in fairness and some of the side characters and comedy don't add too much. But overall it's good enough, if perhaps a little over-rated.

How did this movie win Best Picture in 1960?

[cricketbat · 5/10 · 11 October 2018]

The Apartment is an adequate film, but the whole time I was watching it, I kept thinking, "How did this movie win Best Picture in 1960?" Keep in mind that 1960 is the same year that Spartacus, Psycho, Swiss Family Robinson and Ocean's 11 came out. This film drags on for too long and there really aren't any relatable characters. People still praise Psycho 50 years later, but The Apartment is fairly forgettable.

Likewise, it's a love-fest Lemmon-wise

[moonspinner55 · 10/10 · 28 June 2001]

One of the finest examples of smart, satiric comedy-drama ever created for the screen. Jack Lemmon (in amazing comic form) plays a working stiff in Corporate America--via New York City--whose bachelor apartment inadvertently becomes a love-nest for amorous, married executives. The film is extremely modern for 1960 and features a non-stop barrage of funny, clever talk. Lemmon is a mad genius at frenzied (yet sympathetic) characterization, and "The Apartment" catches him at his professional peak in the movies. Working alongside huggable neurotic Shirley MacLaine (also at her peak) and shady Fred MacMurray (parlaying his slimeball role with curt persuasion), Lemmon creates a new kind of acting: screwball realism. **** from ****

Another Wilder classic

[Primtime · 8/10 · 14 August 1999]

Jack Lemmon is the man.

The Apartment really surprised me. The Best Picture winner starts off right in the middle of the action, but yet the first hour seems long and overrun. Too much time seems spent in trying to develop the characters (and oh so many of them) and not enough time is spent on just seeing what will happen. Just when I was about to lose faith, the film picks it up like I have never seen before. The whole sub-plot of the four guys wanting to use Lemmon's apartment for their evening tyrsts is dropped and Wilder smartly concentrates on Lemmon, MacLaine and MacMurray and the film creates true magic.

The Apartment is more of a drama than a comedy and balances the two elements perfectly. Just after one of the more dramatic moments of the film, we see Lemmon straining his pasta with a tennis racquet. The use of the doctor and his wife in supporting roles are completely there for comedy and yet add so much to the film. The ending also rates up there with the best of all time using an old device that doesn't seem at all cliched in this film. Some say that "Some like it hot" was Wilder's best, but now I have to disagree. The Apartment is better and surely would have made my top ten had the first hour not been so predictable.

How Jack Lemmon didn't win Best Actor is beyond me. His is a great performance, getting to act on more than one scale. MacMurray, another Wilder favourite is perfectly cast in the role of a family-wrecker. I wish they would have put a scene in which his wife confronts him with "The News". MacLaine glows on the screen even when she is sick and in bed.

I fully recommend this film to all, it being Wilder's best makes it a must see.

8/10 stars.

A masterpiece

[MotoMike · 10/10 · 4 October 2001]

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Anyone that knows about comedy knows about "Some Like It Hot", and anyone that know about "Some Like It Hot" knows about Billy Wilder. This was his next film, and the reason I mention that is that this is a serious and melancholy drama with the form and rhythm of comedy. But it's not a funny movie, and part of the genius of the writing and direction is that Lemmon's character especially only figures this out in the third act.

Jack Lemmon plays C.C. Baxter, an unmarried drone amongst drones in a huge insurance company, possessing of two important things: a bachelor's apartment near Central Park (check out his rent!!), and an amoral willingness to allow company higher-ups to use his place for after-hours trysts with their girlfriends and pickups they meet in bars. To C.C., the problems associated with operating a safe-house for affairs are merely logistical, not moral; in one scene, he is seen rearranging his and everyone's schedule to accomodate Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) a real bigwig, with the expertise and interest of an air traffic controller.His hope is to promote himself within the company by pleasing his superiors, and for awhile that seems to be working. It turns out, however, that Sheldrake's current flame is Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), who C.C. has quite the crush on; in fact, she stands him up on their first date to meet Sheldrake at their favorite Chinese restaurant, where Sheldrake asks her to resume their affair, intimating that he will leave his wife for her (a lie that no-one except her even pretends to believe).

Without going into too many details, the joy of and intelligence this is how well this triangle works itself out slowly and with some pain by all concerned. Although C.C. really likes Fran, she won't give him the time of day, first because she's already bruised and involved with Sheldrake, and, later, because she sees his flaws better than he does (and, possibly, we do). At one point they agree that it's too bad that she doesn't fall for a guy like him, but the exchange is given additional bittersweetness not only by her inability to fall for a "nice guy" but her awareness that, as he is at that point, he's not really such a nice guy. One of the beauties of this script is that it takes awhile for us to notice that C.C. is just as bad as Sheldrake is; he's totally okay with the infidelities he is assisting in as long as he gets his promotion out of it, and it isn't his business whether anyone (wives or girlfriends) gets hurt in the process. Even the resounding disapproval from his next door neighbors (who just think he's a very busy playboy from what they can hear night after night coming through the walls) doesn't get him to think. Yet Lemmon plays the role with total innocence; he thinks he's in a comedy and it takes a real life-threatening problem halfway through to get him to start considering the error of his ways. Even then, he's still just trying to work the situation, without taking any stand himself. (There are only about two actors I know of that could pull this role off: Jack Lemmon and Tom Hanks, both of whom have such audience appeal that they can be this spineless without the audience despising them.) Interestingly, for all her personality, intelligence and self-awareness, Fran isn't much better; she's no stranger to the hazards of having affairs with married men, yet has little qualms about resuming her affair with Sheldrake. Both C.C. and Fran really are willing to sacrifice their integrity for something they hope to get from Sheldrake - him, the high-floor, corner window office, her, the gold wedding ring.

I've stressed that this is a drama in comedy form to emphasize that this screen play is one of the most intelligently written I have ever seen; it takes a non-story (or at least, obviously bedroom-farcical material) and inhabits it with character interaction and development of the most subtle and human kind. You expect lots of bedroom-closet-under-the couch people shuffling (like in The Pink Panther of three years later) and general hilarity, perhaps ending up with someone partially disrobed and dangling from a window; instead you find out that each of these characters has a little history of his own. I rented this the other night, thinking that it would indeed be a comedy, and about halfway through found myself thinking "This is REALLY good!". I've been renting lots of pre-1975 movies (The Sting, Spartacus, this one) in an unprecedented attack of escapist nostalgia, and have been rewarded with jewels like this. Winner of 5 Oscars including Best Picture, this is one of the best pictures I've seen this or any year. It's a cliche to say that Hollywood doesn't make movies like this anymore, yet the nearest thing to this is My Best Friend's Wedding?

(A couple of notes I really liked: Ray Walston's character is perfectly cast and played, as usual; the whole picture is a cynical Valentine to New York and the 50's at the same time; and anyone who saw this at the time could see that Shirley MacLaine was gonna be a big star).

The Apartment

[BandSAboutMovies · 10/10 · 28 March 2022]

The Apartment is astounding because it makes me consider how we view actors based on where we arrive in reality. For me, Fred McMurray is the kind Steve Douglas from TV's My Three Sons. For those born before 1960, they probably saw him on that show and wondered how the heel from Double Indemnity and The Caine Mutiny could be trusted around three growing children.

In Billy Wilder's The Apartment, he's Jeff Sheldrake, a man who uses everyone he meets, like lonely C. C. "Bud" Baxter (Jack Lemmon) for his apartment and Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) for her body, uncaring when he pushes both of their to the pit of depression and even a suicide attempt by Fran.

Bud is willing to let the rest of the world see him as the villain, as every executive - Ray Walston is one of them - uses his home to have dalliances with his secret lovers while he drinks in bars, dreaming of taking home a married woman when all he really wants is the kind of secure love that allows you to sit happily on the couch next to one another and play cards.

There's also a genuine sadness at the heart of this movie, as Wilder and co-writer I. A. L. Diamond based the film on reality, as high-powered agent Jennings Lang was shot by producer Walter Wanger for having an affair with Wanger's wife Joan Bennett. Lang had used a low-level employee's apartment for the affair, just like the film. Diamond also contributed something that had happened to a friend, who returned home after breaking up with his girlfriend to discover that she had committed suicide in his bed.

Back to McMurray. After this was released, women yelled at him in the street, complaining that he had made a filthy movie. One even hit him with her purse. I guess that was the Twitter of 1960.

This may be the best awarded movie we've talked about on this site, as it won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction and Best Film Editing at the 1960 Oscars. Jack Lemmon may not have won Best Actor, but when Kevin Spacey won that award in 1999 for American Beauty, he dedicated his Oscar to him, as Sam Mendes had the cast watch this movie for inspiration.

Since then, The Apartment has been remade as a musical (Promises, Promises, which played in 1972 and was revived in 2010) and as two Bollywood movies, Raaste Kaa Patthar and Life in a... Metro.

The amazing thing is that 62 years after this movie was made, it reduced me to tears. It pulled me in and made me care about every single character, even the villain, and the closing scene - and that last line! - absolutely devastated me.

The definitive movie for the comedy/drama genre

[DukeofPearl · 10/10 · 13 January 1999]

Billy Wilder's "The Apartment" is a film which can produce some of the biggest laughs and at the same time... can bring many viewers to tears, Billy Wilder's quaint little tale about everyday people who get tangled up in love, jealousy and infidelity boasts a top-notch cast led by the trio of Lemmon, MacLaine and MacMurray who are tremendous. The plot revolves around C.C. (Lemmon) who unknowingly makes the unethical attempt of climbing the corporate ladder by 'loaning' his apartment to members from his management chain to entertain their 'women on the side'. Given the change of circumstances, this premise certainly could even hit home in the current office environment. Although the office party and secretarial gossip scenes could be viewed as dated, the power and attitude of the corporate executive, Mr. Sheldrake (MacMurray) is certainly symbolic. The character of Fran (MacLaine) for today's standards of course seems too submissive and vulnerable but the reward of her finding true, admirable, unconditional companionship is quite enriching and fulfilling to any who see this memorable film.

One Of the Finest Scripts Ever Written, and Jack Lemmon Creates One Of The Greatest Character Performances As The Wonderful C.C. Baxter

[Det_McNulty · 10/10 · 27 October 2006]

For me Billy Wilder has always been one of my all time favourite directors and he has not made a single film that has not appealed to me. Billy Wilder sums up perfection all his films manage to succeed in what they set out to do. Billy Wilder is not just one of the greatest directors; he is also one of the finest scriptwriters ever. Creating flowing dialogue like no other and perfectly making his actors and actresses work with the script brilliantly. Billy Wilder has made dark noirs, hilarious musicals and studies of human nature. It is extremely difficult to fully describe a director as versatile and genius as Billy Wilder. His films have held up for generations and will continue to have the same mass appeal that his films have had since their opening days.

On the surface The Apartment might seem like a comedy and yes that's what it is on the surface. Once you start watching The Apartment you realise that actually it is a very dark film underneath and actually has characters that contemplate suicide. The fact is that The Apartment captures the realism of the everyday workman and makes you laugh as well as feel pity. The script is what keeps the film moving and shows how the characters in The Apartment change as the film progresses. The Apartment is about becoming somebody rather than being something that someone uses.

Jack Lemmon creates C.C. Baxter the young aspiring workman who just wants to have a good career and the perfect woman. Though something always goes wrong and he's perfectly able to get a woman, but not the one he wants. At times you pity C.C. Baxter because he's so kind to everyone and never gets the thing he wants in return because something will always get in the way. I think there are times in every man's life where you probably feel like C.C. Baxter in one way or another.

Jack Lemmon perfectly progresses with his character to make himself one of the most distinguishable character actors ever. Jack Lemmon works with an elegant skill at comedic performances and always captures the true essence of his characters. He seems to be one of those actors who are able to find the perfect chemistry with his fellow cast. What makes C.C. Baxter so brilliant is the fact he stands for everything the film is about. He becomes one of the mot uplifting and joyous ever put on screen. Shirley MacLaine is also excellent as the lovable Fran Kubelik (C.C. Baxter's heartthrob). From first impressions you'd think she is a beautiful and happy women, but she's actually very different to what you might expect.

The script is fast paced, memorable and most of all it helps sum up all the characters so well. It's a script that works so easily with its actors and helps to make some of the most superb character situations. The script is realistic as well and actually does feel like the kind of talk that would be used in similar situations in life. The script is extremely natural and the subtle undertones prove Billy Wilder's crafting of intellectual film-making.

The film is actually very similar to that of its A Wonderful Life and you could say Jack Lemmon is very similar to that of James Stewart. The direction is simple and fulfilling. It captures the image of "the apartment" perfectly and though just like any other New York apartment it feels extremely likable and memorable. The film's use of music is another high point and feels perfectly hand picked for the scenes it's used in. The film is actually quite sexually vibrant and does have many sexual undertones in its dialogue. Though subtle, it definitely is there and perfectly helps add more subtext to the film as a whole. A film to be studied in depth and not just watched.

A film that never gets old and always manages to make the viewer feel uplifted with happiness. A first class example of perfected film-making you're ever going to see. Yes it's a definitive must-see, a masterpiece that was way ahead of its time and much more than just a movie.

Executive Washrooms

[tieman64 · 28 August 2015]

"I used to live like Robinson Crusoe; I mean, shipwrecked among 8 million people. And then one day I saw a footprint in the sand, and there you were." - Calvin Baxter

"The Apartment" stars Jack Lemmon as Calvin Baxter, a worker at Consolidated Life, a New York insurance film. Desperate to ascend the corporate ladder, Baxter begins prostituting himself by becoming a kind of pimp; to his superiors he passes around the key to his bachelor apartment so that they may slip into their busy schedules casual sex with women other than their wives.

Directed by Billy Wilder, "The Apartment" contrasts the likability and good naturedness of Baxter with the depravity "necessary" for him to get ahead. In "The Apartment", competency and ambition account for very little. What matters, rather, is one's willingness to degrade and torture oneself, Baxter forced to give up his bed to his superiors, who dangle before him promises of promotion and keys to executive washrooms. Baxter consents to this sexual harassment by proxy. It is, he believes, a good career move.

Wilder introduces us to Fran Kubelik (the delightful Shirley MacLaine), an elevator operator at Consolidated Life. Baxter's madly in love with Fran, but she's having an affair with the head of personnel, Jeff D. Sheldrake (the inimitable Fred MacMurray), who keeps promising to leave his wife and marry Fran. Of course Jeff has no intention of doing this. Fran's situation thus parallels Baxter's, though Wilder never treats them as simple victims; for disrupting marriages, both Fran and Baxter are burdened by guilt, and both are always complicit in the behaviour of their bosses.

"The Apartment's" second half finds Baxter becoming preoccupied with becoming a "mensch" - a good man - rather than a financially successful one. One cannot be both, the film implies. It ends with Baxter and Fran eventually turning their backs on Consolidated Life. Futures uncertain, they huddle together on Christmas Eve.

Though overlong, "The Apartment" is elevated by some exquisite production design. Wilder's shots of oppressive corporations, workers dutifully arranged in elongated rows, recall Chaplin's "Modern Times", Lang's "Metropolis" and Vidor's "The Crowd". Elsewhere he sketches a New York awash with gorgeous clubs, theatre-houses and lonely bars. But it's in its titular apartment - designed by Austro-Hungaria-born Alexandre Trauner - that the film spends most of its time. Here Baxter seems to exist in a permanent state of agitation, his home repeatedly violated by his employers, both psychically and literally. When bosses aren't coming and going, all Baxter's free time seems to be spent fretting about promotions, duties and tomorrow's work. Insideously, Consolidated Life has intruded into every aspect of Baxter's life. This inseparability begins to annoy Baxter - when will his real life begin? - an exhaustive state of mind which Wilder alludes to with annoying television advertisements (Baxter never gets to watch the programmes he wishes) and frustrating knocks at doors.

Wilder's known for two of cinema's greatest film noirs. In "The Apartment" he uses a similar aesthetic, voluminous patches of black bleeding their way into beautiful panels of grey and white. The film's subtext and sets - sinister, looming - counterpoint its surface activities, which are comedic, farcical and filled with volleys of wisecracks. Beautifully scored by Adolph Deutsch.

8.5/10 – See "Glengarry Glen Ross".

There are more important things in life than who gets the key to the executive washroom

[JamesHitchcock · 7/10 · 9 August 2006]

C.C. Baxter is a junior clerk with a giant New York insurance corporation who has found an unusual way to get on. He is the tenant of a small apartment which he allows senior executives of the firm to use for sexual assignments with their mistresses. He does this not in exchange for money but on the understanding that the managers involved will use their influence to advance his career. As a result Baxter quickly finds himself promoted from his lowly position to that of a junior executive with his own office and a key to the executive washroom. Complications arise, however, when Baxter falls in love with Fran Kubelik, the elevator girl who just happens to be the mistress of Jeff Sheldrake, the head of the company's personnel department, who has often taken Fran and his other mistresses back to Baxter's apartment.

This film is in the tradition of the "sophisticated" comedies centred upon adultery and divorce which were considered very daring and risqué in the forties and fifties. Director Billy Wilder had made another film of this type, "The Seven Year Itch", several years earlier. The difference between that film and "The Apartment" perhaps reflects the growth in permissiveness which took place between the mid-fifties and the early sixties, "The Apartment" being considerably bolder in its treatment of sexual themes. In "The Seven Year Itch", Marilyn Monroe's character is the object of the fantasies of the married man who lives below her, but nothing ever takes place between them. In "The Apartment", however, although there are no bedroom scenes, we are given to understand that adulterous sex takes place in Baxter's apartment on a regular basis (to the horror of his neighbour, a Jewish doctor, who mistakenly believes that Baxter himself is the lover of all these different women). Moreover, the film is a romantic comedy which has as its heroine a woman who is conducting an affair with a married man, something that would have been unthinkable a few years previously.

In this respect "The Apartment" can be seen as looking forward to the fully-fledged sex comedies of the late sixties and seventies and to modern rom-coms in which it is no longer necessary that the characters be chaste and virginal. It was also one of the first films to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace, something that has become a staple theme of modern office-based films.

In other respects, however, it is rather old-fashioned. In a seventies sex comedy Baxter would probably have been presented as an attractive jack-the-lad whose pursuit of self-interest is wholly admirable, Fran as a go-getter happy to sleep with her boss all the time she thinks she is in with a chance of becoming the second Mrs Sheldrake but equally happy to throw him over when she realises he is not serious about her, and Sheldrake himself as a groovy swinger. "The Apartment" takes a more moralistic line. Baxter may not be the drunken womaniser that Dr Dreyfuss imagines him to be, but the film condemns his conniving at the sexual immorality of others for the sake of his own self-advancement. Fran is hopelessly in love with Sheldrake, even after she discovers how insincere and selfish he is. At times the comedy becomes much blacker than the average romantic comedy; Fran's suicide attempt shows how dangerous and destructive the casual philandering of a man like Sheldrake can be.

Another difference between this film and the more traditional romantic comedy is that the humour is often very satirical in nature. Most of the satire is at the expense of American big business- the impersonality of big corporations (Baxter proudly announces that his firm employs more people than the total population of Natchez, Mississippi), the culture of corporate philandering, the bullying of junior staff by senior management, the snobbery of the top brass. Combined with the satire is a more serious study in character development, of how Fran overcomes her hopeless infatuation with Sheldrake and how Baxter becomes (in Dreyfuss's words) a "Mensch" by learning that his love for Fran is of more import than his selfish pursuit of success by dubious means and that there are more important things in life than who gets the key to the executive washroom. (The word "Mensch" is German for "human being"; its use in this film, and the character of Dreyfuss himself, possibly reflect Billy Wilder's own German-Jewish roots).

The script is often witty and Jack Lemmon as Baxter shows just why he was regarded as being among the best comedy actors of the period. (At times, as in "Days of Wine and Roses", he got the chance to show that he could be a very good actor in serious dramas as well). Nevertheless, I am surprised that the film won the "best picture" Oscar ahead of not only "Elmer Gantry" but also "Spartacus" and "Psycho", neither of which were even nominated. It is overlong, and the character of Fran seems problematic for a modern audience. Shirley MacLaine does her best to portray her as a feisty, independent woman, but this portrayal sometimes seems at odds with the way the character is written. The fact that she remains hopelessly devoted to Sheldrake even after it becomes clear to her what a scoundrel he is can make her seem weak and passive. Perhaps the audiences of the early sixties would only accept as a romantic heroine a woman involved in an adulterous affair if it was made clear that she was truly in love with him. This is an entertaining film, which has dated better than "The Seven Year Itch", but I would not rate it as highly as Wilder's other great comedy from this period, "Some Like It Hot". 7/10

Woww just wow

[MhmdSAbdlh · 10/10 · 30 October 2019]

Are you kidding me? I love every part of it,I felt a mixture of conflicting feelings. This movie is one of my best movie i ever saw, from the beginner to the end, that what called "Perfection", and i think i will watch it 3 or 4 times again. If you did not watch it yet, leave everything and watch that Masterpiece.

This is a comedy?

[hall895 · 6/10 · 28 April 2011]

When it comes to movies people love to make lists of the best this and best that. You've probably seen The Apartment on plenty of best comedies lists. Which begs the question who ever decided this was a comedy? The Apartment isn't a bad movie but it's not a funny one. To even call it a comedy-drama would be a stretch as the comedy to drama ratio skews far, far away from the comedic side of things. There are no big laughs here. There are barely even any mild chuckles. Which again is not to say this is a bad movie. It's just that if all you know about The Apartment is that you've seen it on best comedies lists you are in for quite a surprise when you actually watch it. If you're in the mood for some lighthearted comedic amusement you have definitely come to the wrong film.

Our story follows office drone C.C. Baxter whose means of getting ahead in life is to loan out his apartment to higher-ups at his company for their extramarital trysts. The big boss, Mr. Sheldrake, gets wind of the arrangement and he wants in on the deal. Baxter gets a big promotion, Sheldrake gets a place to carry on with his latest in a string of office mistresses. Only this mistress, probably like all before her, is convinced that Sheldrake is going to divorce his wife to be with her. Fat chance. When she discovers the truth this supposed comedy, which really hasn't been funny at all to this point, takes a darker turn. At this point any hopes a viewer might have had for fun and laughs from one of the "best comedies ever" disappear.

And what of C.C. Baxter? He has his own connection with Sheldrake's mistress. Well, at least he'd like to. He's got a kind of hopeless schoolboy crush on her and when he discovers she's Sheldrake's girl his illusions are shattered. What's worse is that he knows Sheldrake's just using the girl but he dare not say anything. A guy's got to look out for his career you know? Eventually when, in a rather dire way, circumstances change Baxter may have to take a stand. Here at least the film picks up a bit of drama. Still looking for the comedy though.

Your enjoyment of The Apartment will likely be related to your expectations. If what you're expecting is a great comedy you're going to be disappointed. But if you know going in what it is you're getting yourself into there is much to appreciate. The best thing the film has to offer is the performance of Jack Lemmon as Baxter. It's a great portrayal of a hapless office schnook constantly being taken advantage of. People walk all over Baxter and you can't help but feel for the guy. Lemmon gives the character great heart. And whatever little moments of comedy there are come from him. He's a performer who knows how to draw out a smile from the viewer. Fred MacMurray as Sheldrake and Shirley MacLaine as the girl in the middle of it all are also quite good. Not as memorable as Lemmon perhaps but no quibbles with their performances. The quibbles come with the story itself and with the film's billing as a comedy. Initially the film looks like it's setting itself up for some funny, if tawdry, bed-hopping shenanigans. But the laughs never really come. And the story ultimately veers down some surprisingly dark paths. How this is considered a great comedy I'll never quite understand. Not a bad movie though for what it is.

Top 5 Things Wrong with "The Apartment"

[Irie212 · 3/10 · 15 October 2009]

5. Corporate executives have never needed to borrow shabby apartments for an office affair. That's what hotels and cash are for.

4. Nor do executives openly expose themselves as cads and philanderers to their underlings.

3. Far from being a hero, the tenant (Jack Lemmon) is a blindly ambitious and contemptible toady for vacating his apartment whenever his bedroom is needed by his boss-- correction, bosses, plural, because five(!) executives use his apartment. If he charged them for it, he'd still be contemptible, but at least he wouldn't be a schnook.

2. The girl (Shirley MacLaine) is simultaneously tough-talking and so vulnerable that she becomes suicidal when her obviously predatory boss (Fred Macmurray) treats her like a whore. She's no victim. She has an affair with a married man. He doesn't respect her. Big surprise.

1. All these things add up to Billy Wilder and screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond trying to have it both ways-- comic and tragic. They convinced most of the audience (and the Academy) that Lemmon and Maclaine's characters are basically good and decent in an amoral world, but I'm not buying it. However much Wilder/Diamond try to manipulate the plot, the actions of those two characters are as amoral and selfish as any people in the film. The happy ending is appropriate, of course, because two perfectly matched chumps have found each other.