Film Review
One of the all-time comedy classics of American cinema,
The Apartment was among Billy
Wilder's biggest commercial and critical successes, showing him at his
best as a director and screenwriter. The film was nominated for
no fewer than 10 Oscars, of which it won five - in the categories of
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Screenplay and Best
B&W Art Direction. It was later
adapted into the Broadway musical comedy
Promises,
Promises, which was a great success and ran from 1968 to 1972. Wilder claimed that the idea for the film
came to him whilst he was watching David Lean's
Brief Encounter
(1945) - the trigger being the scene where the two illicit lovers
attempt to meet at a friend's apartment.
The film features the legendary Jack Lemmon in the second of his six
collaborations with Billy Wilder - coming immediately after
Some Like It Hot (1959). In
what is arguably the best performance of his career, Lemmon shows his
flair for self-deprecating comedy in a memorable turn that brings
moments of sublime hilarity and genuine pathos. His co-stars are
Fred MacMurray, who is perhaps best known as the lead actor in
Double Indemnity (1944), also
directed by Wilder, and Shirley MacLaine, early in her film
career. Whilst MacLaine lacks the confidence and allure that is
apparent in later films, her sparky rapport with Jack Lemmon is one of
the main reasons why the film is so enjoyable.
The Apartment combines a
brilliantly constructed romantic comedy with an effective satire on
marital infidelity and the world of commerce. The conflict in
Baxter's life - between professional ambition and the need for personal
love - is emphasised by the contrast between his home - a cramped den
in which he strains spaghetti with a tennis racket - and his workplace,
an immense, characterless office. The latter is a powerful visual
metaphor for the dehumanising influence of corporate growth and
technological progress - people end up as mere cogs in one vast corporate
machine. As the film's romantic individualistic hero, Jack
Lemmon's character bears a striking similarity with that played by Charlie
Chaplin in
Modern Times.
© James Travers 2008
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Billy Wilder film:
One, Two, Three (1961)
Film Synopsis
C.C. Baxter is a lowly clerk in one of New York's leading insurance
companies, but he has great ambitions. To help his promotion
prospects, he lends his apartment to his superiors who use it to
entertain their various mistresses. When Baxter's scheme is
rumbled by his boss, Mr Sheldrake, he expects to be
sanctioned. Instead, Sheldrake offers him a more senior job
in exchange for the key to his apartment. Baxter agrees
willingly, not knowing that Sheldrake intends using the apartment to
carry on his extra-marital affair with Fran, a lift girl whom Baxter
secretly loves....
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.