Dissecting “The Apartment”
Judy posted an interesting take and set of questions about The Apartment in this thread here. I promised a follow-up — here’s a by-the-gut response.
Re whether this is the “first ‘substantial’ romantic comedy,” I guess it depends upon what we mean by substantial. A few rom-coms where the sexual dynamic is rather pronounced come to mind including It Happened One Night (1934) and His Girl Friday (1940), but in both of those movies, I think it can be argued that the female leads are more like ‘foils’ to bump up against the main character, the male lead.
There’s another movie that came out in 1940 where the female lead is the central character and that’s the wonderful The Philadelphia Story, where Tracy Lord (Katherine Hepburn) is the object of attention for two suitors, George Kittredge (John Howard) and C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), and you can make that three if you include Macaulay Connor (James Stewart) in the mix. Perhaps simply the fact that Tracy’s character is the focus of the story, it’s her decision that hangs in the balance and tilts the plot toward its conclusion, maybe I’d argue that The Philadelphia Story is the first “substantial” rom-com.
However, there is no doubting that The Apartment has a much rougher edge. And even though Shirley MacLaine’s role as Fran Kubelik is more along the lines of a secondary role ala It Happened One Night or His Girl Friday — secondary in that it is the Attractor (Romance) character, not the Protagonist — the ‘sex and the single girl’ dynamic combined with the overt chauvinism of the cast of male characters where Baxter (Jack Lemmon) works creates a darker tone.
To put The Apartment in some cultural context, I found the New York Times review of the movie, dated June 16, 1960. If you’ve signed up with the Times, it’s available as a PDF in their Select area here, but if not, I’ve chosen a few quotes:
“You might not think a movie about a fellow who lends his rooms to the married executives of his office as a place for their secret love affairs would make a particularly funny or morally presentable show, especially when the young fellow uses the means to get advanced in his job. But under the clever supervision of Billy Wilder, who helped to write the script, then produced an directed “The Apartment”… the idea is run into a gleeful, tender and even sentimental film. And it is kept on the side of taste and humor by the grand performance of Jack Lemmon in the principal role.”
Very nice review. And then there’s this:
“In addition to Mr. Lemmon’s, there’s a splendid performance by Shirley MacLaine, as the daffy girl who gets into a lot of trouble.”
And elsewhere, there are references to “elevator girls,” “office girls,” and “pill-poisoned girl.” That’s very much in keeping with the attitude of the male characters in the movie, these “girls” nothing more than opportunities for sexual conquest and enjoyment. I think that one of the strengths of the movie is that Wilder & Diamond are holding up a mirror to American society at that time, and what better way to expose the imbalance in power between men and women than with sex in the workplace. Compare The Apartment with the 1967 movie How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying which is much more of a romp, suggesting how cultural attitudes had changed even in that short period of time.
But in my view, the centerpiece of The Apartment is Baxter’s struggle with his conscience, bringing to mind the Biblical verse, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose his very self?” That’s precisely the experience Baxter has when he’s finally made it to the top (“business-wise”) and yet at what sacrifice to his “very self.” And so the Protagonist is ‘redeemed’ when he turns his back on all the trappings of success — and like all classic Hollywood movies, he ends up getting the ‘girl.’
Your questions, Judy, are thought-provoking. In fact, after I read your post, it occurred to me, what if The Apartment was told from Fran Kubelik’s POV? What if she was the story’s Protagonist?
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