‘THE APARTMENT’: A 1960s DRAMA THAT IS SURPRISING AND DIFFERENT
Featuring “it” stars of its era (and one we still know now), The Apartment is entertaining but also doesn’t play out in the way I would envision.
The Apartment (1960) Film Review
Working a low-level entry job at an insurance company, C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is at his office for hours, and it’s not even because of dedication. It’s because, well, executives demand use of his small apartment for their flings. This goes on for a long time and Baxter puts up with it despite trying to end this routine. Working in his office is also Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine). An elevator operator, Baxter decides to ask her out when use of his apartment earns him tickets to the movie.
Things from here get complicated and Baxter has to choose between right and wrong in pursuit of someone he comes to love…
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‘THE APARTMENT’: A 1960s DRAMA THAT IS DIFFERENT. Review of the 1960 film with Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon star. #OnthisDay Share on X
This is a film that I had never seen until now. It’s oddly unique and different but also really sad in ways I never would anticipate. The cast is good though and the silliness of the set up helps to keep some things more upbeat. The film also gives us a really likeable hero in Lemmon’s Baxter. He’s quite interesting and likable and I admire how he ultimately goes about living his life. He’s really the person or “thing” that I like best about the film. I don’t really warm to anyone else all that much although I do enjoy seeing Fred McMurray in this which doesn’t extend to his character.
If you love romantic dramas then The Apartment is likely something you’ll enjoy. It gets a little dramatic for me (based on what I anticipated) but it still has lots of good points. I like the conversation which is kind of the “middle” of the film that the office scenes bookend. The story feels as if it could have been a partial inspiration for modern films like Set It Up. The film is sweet in odd ways and places, and while it has the “grand gesture” end, it’s also not an end I’m totally “into.” Not because I don’t think it’s sweet (it is), but because I didn’t feel fully convinced by the conclusion. Still, I do respect and appreciate that it ends how it does because it feels more like a beginning (which is appropriate and needed) vs a conclusive end that can be wrapped definitively in the “they all lived…” metaphor.
While a first impression watch may not endear this as a rewatch all-the-time favorite, I would rewatch this and if other films are any indication, now knowing what this film is, I suspect a second watch will endear it more.
Photos: Alamy
Stream The Apartment, at publication, free with Pluto TV or Tubi
Content: nothing much to note as far as visuals. The theme of the film is all about affairs and so we do see men bringing their “dates” to the apartment with their intentions clear. His neighbors assume that Baxter is a womanizer and make comments about the sounds they hear from his apartment. The film doesn’t have a rating but it would be a PG-13 (barely) just because of the themes. Mostly it could pass as PG.
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