5 Things You Didn’t Know About Billy Wilder’s ‘The Apartment’
The Apartment, directed by the legendary Billy Wilder, is one of those rare films that’s both heartbreakingly honest and wickedly funny. The film, which premiered June 15, 1960, cleverly uses the backdrop of corporate ambition in 1959 New York City to explore themes of loneliness, moral compromise and the search for genuine connection.
Set at Christmas time, it stars the always-charismatic Jack Lemmon as C.C. “Bud” Baxter, a low-level, mild-mannered insurance clerk who attempts to climb the corporate ladder by allowing his superiors to use his apartment for their extramarital affairs.
Everett Collection
It’s awkward, a little sad and kind of genius — until things take a turn. Bud ends up falling for Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), the sweet but troubled elevator operator, who just so happens to be involved with his own slick and selfish boss Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray). What follows is a funny, touching and surprisingly deep story about isolation, compromise, and the messy business of falling in love.
Here are five things you may not have known about The Apartment:
1 Sheldrake? Is there a Sheldrake in the house?
Billy Wilder used the name Sheldrake more than once in his films. In addition to Jeff Sheldrake in The Apartment, there was Mr. Sheldrake (Fred Clark) in Sunset Boulevard and Dr. Sheldrake (Mel Blanc) in Kiss Me, Stupid.
2 Billy Wilder made Oscar history
Jack Lemmon (left) with director Billy Wilder on set. Everett Collection
Wilder became the first nominee in the history of the Academy Awards to win for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. The Apartment won a total of five Oscars. It also won in Art Direction and Editing
3 The film played into the Cold War rhetoric of the era
The Apartment received commendation from the Soviet bloc, which interpreted it as an indictment of the American system and a narrative singularly attributable to capitalism. During a dinner honoring Wilder in East Berlin, he declared that the story’s events were not confined to a single location. He added that the one place it could not have happened was Moscow. This caused the Communists in attendance to break into applause and cheers. After the applause had died down, Wilder continued: “The reason this picture could not have taken place in Moscow is that in Moscow, nobody has his own apartment.” The remark was met with silence.
4 Jack Lemmon learned a lot from Wilder
Everett Collection
Lemmon said he learned a great deal about filmmaking from Wilder, especially something referred to as hooks, parts of a film that stay with audiences. One hook that stayed with Lemmon was the knack of people coming up to him and saying, “Hey Jack, can I have the key?” This referenced an important line of dialog in the film.
5 Last of its kind (for a while)
The Weinstein Company/courtesy Everett Collection
It was the last completely black-and-white film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture for 51 years, until The Artist in 2011. The Artist also, coincidentally, took home five Oscars.
Remind 
1961
January 2021
We set our time machine to 1961 and get a whiff of America’s shiny new-car smell.
Buy This Issue