THE APARTMENT

We can all agree that this is a great film (one of four masterpieces directed by Billy Wilder) but if it was made today how on earth would it be marketed?

Is it for example a romcom? 

For sure, the plot does have a feel good romantic ending, and features two protagonists having to overcome obstacles before they can be together. 

In this case the main obstacle is Fran’s relationship with the married Mr Sheldrake. 

For some reason I’ve never bought the idea that Fran (an early role for Shirley MacLaine) would be so gullible as to believe his lies about leaving his wife, she seems too savvy for that.

That being said, Fred MacMurray gives a memorable performance as a manipulative and emotionally detached senior manager.

That feel good ending is a long time coming, but when it does, when Fran abandons Sheldrake at the restaurant on New Year's Eve, it's mightily cathartic and worth waiting for, given that up to that point the film is a pretty bleak depiction of loneliness and alienation in the big city.  

I love the short scene of her running to Baxter's apartment, it's so uplifting.

On the other hand, the moment when CC Baxter looks at a broken image of himself in Fran’s compact mirror, and realises she is Sheldrake’s mistress, is devastating.

It's a brilliant visual means of conveying his feelings.

CC Baxter is on paper an unattractive character given that he is trying to advance his career by letting his bosses use his apartment to have sex with their mistresses.

The fact that we still root for him is largely down to Jack Lemmon’s inherent likability (incidentally, surely Wilder’s 'Kiss Me, Stupid' would have got a better reception if Lemmon had played the part taken by Ray Walston?).

But is Lemmon himself the reason why this film doesn’t convince as a romcom? He was a great comic actor certainly but no Cary Grant in terms of looks or charm. 

Given the lack of sexual chemistry between Fran and Baxter, I’m not convinced that they will live happily ever after when we get to the closing credits. 

They are both out of a job, and her response to his declaration of love at the very end of the film is ambivalent.  

The fact that they don’t kiss, and that it is very hard to imagine them doing so, is I think quite telling.

Ultimately this film is more than one thing; it's an intelligent, beautifully plotted, adult, somewhat satiric, somewhat comedic, somewhat romantic exploration of modern life which one has to doubt would get made today or find an audience.

So let’s appreciate it for what it is. And if you are a fan of Wilder’s body of work (and why wouldn’t you be?) I can heartily recommend Jonathan Coe’s ‘Mr Wilder & Me’, a joy from start to finish.

RATING: ✓✓✓ Absolutely Fabulous