History Film / TheApartment

The plot concerns one C.C. "Buddy Boy" Baxter (Lemmon), a lowly office drone at a large [[BigApplesauce New York City]] insurance firm, who has just found the solution for climbing up the corporate food chain: allowing various company bigwigs to borrow his apartment as a trysting place for their extramarital affairs. His boss, J.D. Sheldrake ([=MacMurray=]), discovers this, and promotes Baxter on the condition that he lets him use the apartment for his own affair. Naturally, Baxter accepts the condition, but things soon turn complicated when he discovers that his crush, mousy elevator operator Fran Kubelik ([=MacLaine=]), is Sheldrake's other woman.

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* UrbanLegendLoveLife: Baxter's neighbors see all the girls cycling through the apartment and come to the conclusion that he's TheCasanova.

* AdvertisingByAssociation: "There's nothing like that Billy Wilder ''Film/SomeLikeItHot'' type of laughter," to quote the original trailer. The original poster also referred to the movie as "A Billy "Some Like It Hot" Wilder Production."

* CerebusSyndrome: While the film deftly mixes comedy and drama throughout, the relatively light first half is overtaken by a much darker second half (although the comedic SignatureScene--Baxter straining spaghetti through a tennis racket--happens in the latter half).

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''The Apartment'' is a 1960 American romantic {{dramedy}} film directed, produced, and co-written by Creator/BillyWilder and starring Creator/JackLemmon and Creator/ShirleyMacLaine. The supporting cast includes Creator/RayWalston, Jack Kruschen, and Edie Adams.

The plot concerns one C.C. "Buddy Boy" Baxter (Lemmon), a lowly office drone at a large [[BigApplesauce New York City]] insurance firm, who has just found the solution for climbing up the corporate food chain: allowing various company bigwigs to borrow his apartment as a trysting place for their extramarital affairs. His boss, J.D. Sheldrake (Creator/FredMacMurray), discovers this, and promotes Baxter on the condition that he lets him use the apartment for his own affair. Naturally, Baxter accepts the condition, but things soon turn complicated when he learns that his crush, mousy elevator operator Fran Kubelik ([=MacLaine=]), is Sheldrake's other woman.

* WomanScorned: Miss Olsen, one of Sheldrake's previous office conquests, reveals his serial philandering to Fran and then (after Sheldrake fires her for this) his wife.

* WomanScorned: Miss Olsen, one of Sheldrake's previous conquests, reveals his serial philandering to Fran and then (after Sheldrake fires her for this) his wife.

** Inverted with Baxter's gun. In the final scene, Baxter has lost the girl, quit his job and is dejectedly moving out of apartment when we see him take out his pistol. As Fran approaches the door, we hear a loud pop, but it turns out that he's just opened a bottle of champagne, not shot himself.

** A sidewalk SantaClaus calls in at the bar where Baxter is drowning his sorrows, but his cheerful wisecracking is no match for the glum stare that Baxter gives him. At the end of the night, we see the same Santa sitting morosely at the bar, all alone.
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The MGM logo is in color, but the film itself is in monochrome. Until ''Film/SchindlersList'', it was the last black and white film to win Best Picture; the last ''prior'' to ''The Apartment'' had been the ultra-low-budget ''Film/{{Marty}}'' five years earlier.

* DidIMentionItsChristmas: The film takes place around Christmas and New Year's, but the holidays don't have much to do with the story other than to underscore the emptiness of the characters' lives.

** A sidewalk SantaClaus calls in at the bar where Baxter is drowning his sorrows, but his cheerful wisecracking is no match for the glum stare that Baxter gives him. At the end of the night, we see Santa himself sitting morosely at the bar, all alone.

* {{Dramedy}}: While it deftly mixes comedy and drama throughout, the relatively light first half of the film is overtaken by a much darker second half (though the comedic SignatureScene, Baxter straining spaghetti through a tennis racket, happens in the latter half).

** TheDitz that Dobisch takes to the apartment is a lampoon of Creator/MarilynMonroe. Billy Wilder had earlier directed Monroe in ''Film/TheSevenYearItch'' and ''Film/SomeLikeItHot'', and didn't think much of her professionalism. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Dobisch even mentions that the girl looks like Marilyn Monroe.

** Baxter attempts to watch ''Film/GrandHotel'' on television but gives up when it keeps getting interrupted by commercials.

** When Bud watches television, he finds that almost every station is playing a violent [[TheWestern western film]], causing him to grimace and keep turning the channel.

The plot concerns one C.C. "Buddy Boy" Baxter (Lemmon), a lowly office drone at a large [[BigApplesauce New York City]] insurance firm, who has just found the solution for climbing up the corporate food chain: allowing various company bigwigs to borrow his apartment as a trysting place for their extramarital affairs. His boss, J.D. Sheldrake (Creator/FredMacMurray), discovers this, and promotes Baxter on the condition that he lets him use the apartment for his own affair. Naturally, Baxter accepts the condition, but things turn very complicated when he learns that his crush, mousy elevator operator Fran Kubelik ([=MacLaine=]), is Sheldrake's other woman.

* AntiHero: Baxter is sympathetic, but he's also an ExtremeDoormat who has decided that the possibility of a promotion justifies the negative effects that the apartment scheme has on his neighbors plus his own well-being. Casting the extremely likable Creator/JackLemmon in the role tones down the less savory side of the character.

* AntiHero: Baxter is sympathetic, but he's also an ExtremeDoormat who's decided that the possibility of a promotion justifies the negative effects that the apartment scheme has on his neighbors plus his own well-being. Casting the extremely likable Creator/JackLemmon in the role tones down the less savory side of the character.

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->'''J.D. Sheldrake''': You know, you see a girl a couple of times a week, just for laughs, and right away they think you're gonna divorce your wife. Now I ask you, is that fair?

''The Apartment'' is a 1960 American romantic {{dramedy}} film directed, produced, and co-written by Creator/BillyWilder and starring Creator/JackLemmon and Creator/ShirleyMacLaine.

The plot concerns one C.C. "Buddy Boy" Baxter (Lemmon), a lowly office drone at a big [[BigApplesauce New York City]] insurance firm, who has just found the solution for climbing up the corporate food chain: allowing various company bigwigs to use his apartment as a trysting place for their extramarital affairs. His boss, J.D. Sheldrake (Creator/FredMacMurray), discovers this, and promotes Baxter on the condition that he lets him use the apartment for his own affair. Naturally, Baxter accepts the condition, but things turn very complicated when he learns that his crush, elevator operator Fran Kubelik ([=MacLaine=]), is Sheldrake's other woman.

* RaceForYourLove: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]]. In the film's last scenes, Miss Kubelik leaves Sheldrake on New Year's Eve and runs to Baxter's apartment... but she's just hurrying to him, rather than running against any particular thing. Then, as she's almost there, she hears a noise suspiciously similar to a gunshot, and runs faster... only to see Baxter with an opened bottle of champagne. In the end it turns out he ''was'' going to leave the titular apartment for good.

One of Wilder's most acclaimed pictures, it was nominated for ten UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, winning for Best Picture, Director (Wilder), Original Screenplay (Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond), Art Direction, and Editing. The story was subsequently adapted into the 1968 stage musical ''Theatre/PromisesPromises''.

[[quoteright:348:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shirley_maclaine_jack_lemmon_the_apartment_1960.jpeg]]

''The Apartment'' is a {{dramedy}} film released in 1960. It was directed, produced, and co-written by Creator/BillyWilder and stars Creator/JackLemmon and Creator/ShirleyMacLaine.

* UnfortunateImplications: Deliberately {{Invoked|Trope}} when Sheldrake hands Miss Kubelik $100 as a Christmas present, making it appear as if he's treating her like a prostitute. Her response is to give him a DeathGlare.

* NiceHat: Baxter gets a bowler hat after his promotion.
-->"It's what they call the 'junior executive' model."

The plot concerns C.C. "Buddy Boy" Baxter (Lemmon), a lowly office drone at a big [[BigApplesauce New York City]] insurance firm, who has just found the solution for climbing up the corporate food chain: allowing various company bigwigs to use his apartment as a trysting place for their extramarital affairs. His boss, J.D. Sheldrake (Creator/FredMacMurray), discovers this, and promotes Baxter on the condition that he lets him use the apartment for his own affair. Naturally, Baxter accepts the condition, but things turn very complicated when he learns that his crush, elevator operator Fran Kubelik ([=MacLaine=]), is Sheldrake's other woman.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shirley_maclaine_jack_lemmon_the_apartment_1960.jpeg]]

The plot concerns C.C. "Buddy Boy" Baxter (Lemmon), a lowly office drone at a big [[BigApplesauce New York City]] insurance firm, who has just found the solution for climbing up the corporate food chain: letting various company bigwigs use his apartment as a trysting place for their extramarital affairs. His boss, J.D. Sheldrake (Creator/FredMacMurray), discovers this, and promotes Baxter on the condition that he lets him use the apartment for his own affair. Naturally, Baxter accepts the condition, but things turn very complicated when he finds out that his crush, elevator operator Fran Kubelik ([=MacLaine=]), is Sheldrake's other woman.

Nominated for ten Oscars in all, it won five, including Best Picture, Director (Wilder), Original Screenplay (Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond), Art Direction, and Editing. The story was subsequently adapted into the 1968 stage musical ''Theatre/PromisesPromises''.