Forever-crush Shirley MacLaine
THE APARTMENT is one of the all-time great Hollywood films, and I like to watch it each December partially because it takes place around the holidays—beginning on November 1st, 1959 and ending on January 1st, 1960—but also because it’s such a joyful ride that it helps me get into whatever spirit people are supposed to be in this time of year.
Jack Lemmon is in prime form as C.C. Baxter, a lonely insurance adjuster that gets mixed up in his supervisors’ sexcapades in an effort to climb the corporate ladder. Lemmon always had an everyman quality about him: goofy and charming with a touch of desperation. Here his talents are on full display as he brings life and physicality to every moment, whether it’s moving his desk to a new office or making spaghetti with a tennis racket.
But while Baxter is the film’s protagonist, the emotional centerpiece of the story is elevator operator Fran Kubelik, played by the delightful Shirley MacLaine in her breakout role. Kubelik is representative of the modern women that were emerging at the tail end of the 50s: bold and savvy, she’s the best operator in the building but works as a subordinate to men that she mostly resents.
For an ostensibly light comedy, the relationships between the characters are quite complex: Kubelik inadvertently breaks Baxter’s heart after failing to mend her own, and by accepting her flaws Baxter shows that he cares for Kubelik beyond mere infatuation. It’s a fascinating film that’s perpetually re-watchable thanks to sharp dialogue, a fantastic cast (including Fred MacMurray as the smarmy Personnel director, Mr. Sheldrake) and a story that covers a wide spectrum of emotions.
In a season full of celebrations, this one is my favorite, tradition-wise.
