Discussion Questions for Women in Film Gathering, June 19, 2012
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1 Discussion Questions for Women in Film Gathering, June 19, 2012: Focal Film: The Apartment (1960; U.S.; Co‐written and Directed by Billy Wilder) Billy Wilder (1906‐2002) was one of the 20th century’s most respected writer/directors working in film. Born in Austria‐Hungary, he first wrote films for the German “national” studio, UFA. He was strongly influenced by a director who had earlier emigrated from Germany to the U.S.—Ernst Lubitsch. Both of these men were noted for their sophisticated comedies and elegantly constructed dramas, and in The Apartment, we may get both. Both men produced films of great distinction, handily earning the title of “auteur” of their works. And both frequently visited notions of gender roles, and relationships between the sexes. Some of Lubitsch’s films you might recognize are Ninotchka (with Greta Garbo and Melvin Douglas), Shop Around the Corner (with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan; remade twice, lastly as You’ve Got Mail), and To Be or Not To Be (with Jack Benny and Carole Lombard). Important Billy Wilder films include Ninotchka (which he co‐wrote for Lubitsch), and the many films he both wrote or co‐wrote and directed, such as Double Indemnity (with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray), The Lost Weekend (with Ray Milland), Sunset Boulevard (with Gloria Swanson and William Holden), Stalag 17 (with William Holden), Sabrina (with Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and William Holden), The Seven Year Itch (with Marilyn Monroe), Some Like It Hot (with Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon), Irma la Douce (with Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon), and The Fortune Cookie (the first pairing of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau; set and partially shot in Cleveland, BTW). In The Apartment, the main characters are: * C. C. “Bud” Baxter, a young man “on his way up” the corporate ladder (played by Jack Lemmon) * Fran Kubelik, a young elevator operator (played by Shirley MacLaine) who is having an affair with the married Mr. Sheldrake * Mr. Sheldrake, a personnel executive for the corporation (played by Fred MacMurray) The rest of the cast is filled out with a number of married businessmen, all of whom seem to be having affairs with unmarried female (subordinate) office workers, plus neighbors Dr. and Mrs. Dreyfuss (who are very much not part of the corporate world). The Apartment marked the apex of Billy Wilder’s illustrious career, both critically and commercially. It was later adapted into a Broadway musical, Promises, Promises. 1. Do you identify with the character of Miss Kubelik? In what ways, and at what points in the story? 2. Consider the other films directed by Billy Wilder. A wide variety of male/female relationships are apparent, in such films as Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, and Some Like it Hot. How do the gender roles in The Apartment compare? 2 3. Shirley MacLaine has noted that Billy Wilder’s foreign origins, and his life of tribulations (he lost his mother and other close family members in the Holocaust), gave him a particularly perceptive view of his adopted land: “He became an America‐phile, and told us what our culture was like.” According to this film, then, what was our culture like? 4. It has been noted that the Miss Kubelik character (Shirley MacLaine) is a depressed, conflicted, and lonely individual. After Baxter realizes that the broken compact mirror belongs to her, she says, “It makes me look the way I feel.” Later, she asks, “Why do people have to love people, anyway? . I just have this talent for falling in love with the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time.” And, another great Miss Kubelik quote: “When you’re in love with a married man, you shouldn’t wear mascara.” Comments? 5. One of The Apartment’s main motifs is that of the impact of the lure of corporate power on society and on the individual. What aspects of that impact can you see, especially with regard to gender roles, and the relationship between the two sexes? That is, how does this film portray corporate America’s impact on men and women? (And does this differ from other film images of the corporate world at this point in history (1960)?) 6. Another motif is that of gossip and scrutiny. As Ian Brookes wrote in the Journal of Popular Film and Television, characters such as Mr. Sheldrake’s secretary (and former mistress) Miss Olsen (Edie Adams) play a role in the “office culture of surveillance.” What do you think this says about corporate culture? About women? 7. And another motif is that of “becoming a mensch.” Baxter’s neighbor Dr. Dreyfuss tells him he needs to become a mensch, or as Billy Wilder would amend, a human being. Who is this film ultimately becomes and mensch, and how? 8. Another related motif is that of “identity confusion,” something that, like Lubitsch, Billy Wilder had incorporated into numerous films (e.g., Some Like It Hot, Irma La Douce, One, Two, Three, Ace in the Hole). How are the main characters’ identities redefined as the story unfolds? 9. Billy Wilder was stung by a review by Hollis Alpert, who in the Saturday Review called the film “a dirty fairy tale.” Wilder responded, “In my opinion The Apartment is a highly moral picture. If I wanted to show two people emancipating themselves, I had to dramatize first the mess they wanted to emancipate themselves from.” From what, exactly, are they ultimately emancipated? 10. The film has been called the first American “adultery comedy,” and “a bellwether of the changing times” (according to writer Molly Haskell). Billy Wilder himself described the movie as demonstrating “the misuse of the American dream,” where infidelity is a way of life. It has been noted that the film could not have been made in any earlier era, due to the U.S. film industry’s Hayes Production Code that established de‐facto censorship prohibiting such topics. The (Catholic) Legion of Decency approved the movie as suitable for mature audiences, finding that in the movie “middle‐aged lechery is shown for the pathetic and grotesque thing it is.” On balance, does this film seem to be a product of the 1950s, or rather the beginning of the sexual freedom of the 1960s? 3 11. According to critic Bruce Block, the women in The Apartment are “put down. [we] don’t trust the women, and the women are portrayed as bimbo, floozy, gold‐digger types—cartoony, almost. there to lessen the idea that everyone is committing adultery.” Try to think of all the minor female roles. Do you agree or disagree with Block’s statement? 12. Billy Wilder said that he enjoyed finishing a movie with a very memorable line. For Some Like it Hot, it was “Nobody’s perfect” (cited by TotalFilm.com as the #1 best movie closing line of all time). For his next film, The Apartment, he chose “Shut up and deal.” What does this line mean, and why is it memorable? And does it denote a “happy ending”? 13. According to critics, The Apartment was the film that “made [Shirley MacLaine] a leading lady.” Co‐ writer I.A.L. Diamond said that the character of Ms. Kubelik had to be “sexy, funny, and sad,” which MacLaine seemed to pull off. What are some noteworthy points about her performance? What did she bring to the role that was unique? (Think also of other roles Ms. MacLaine played during this time.) 14. The Apartment won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing, Best Art Direction, and Best Editing. The film received five additional nominations, including Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon for Best Leading Actress and Actor. What are some noteworthy aspects of the film that resulted in so many awards? 15. This film has been analyzed often for its mixing of genres and visual styles. Is it a romantic comedy? A melodrama? Does it look like film noir, or some other film genre? 16. Production design was by Alexander Traner, and cinematography was by Joseph LaShelle. This team, with Wilder of course, is said to have used the extreme widescreen format and black and white photography to great advantage. Can you think of particular sequences that utilize these techniques effectively? 17. Are there any particular messages and meanings in this film that have personal importance to you? Are you able to connect with this film on a personal level? Discussion questions by Kim Neuendorf, Ph.D. [email protected] For an archive of Women in Film discussion questions: http://academic.csuohio.edu/kneuendorf/womeninfilm .