Welcome to the groovy 1960s! And just as we catapult ourselves into a fresh, new decade, we get a film about capitalism, sexism, and infidelity. Wonderful.

Not all the films from the 60s will be like The Apartment (1960, The Mirisch Company, Inc.; United Artists). We’ll get a monster epic drama in Lawrence of Arabia, as well as the period drama A Man for All Seasons and the racially charged drama In the Heat of the Night. We’ll also throw in a comedy of sorts with Tom Jones and the only rated-X movie (later downgraded to R-rated) to win Best Picture, Midnight Cowboy (looking forward to that one, sarcasm intended). For me, though, film in the 60s is more defined by blockbuster musicals (BP winners West Side Story, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, and Oliver!, to name a few). My parents, who spent the 1960s as pre-teens/young teens, flooded our childhood with the music and melodies of these films. To sum up the decade that lies before us, then, I’m looking forward to the nostalgia of some of the best-loved films of all time, while dreading a couple of the decade’s other winners—but hey, these films are definitely indicative of the somewhat wholesome/somewhat rowdy/oftentimes chaotic 1960s.

Fran and Baxter chat on the way up to the 19th floor.

The Apartment took home Oscar’s biggest prize in one of those years that was pretty intense for film as 1960 saw the release of all of the following “classics”: Spartacus (the big epic), Inherit the Wind (the Scopes Trial, Hollywood-style), The Alamo (directed by and starring John Wayne), Pollyanna (a childhood favorite), and Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (gives me the heebie-jeebies just mentioning it)—not to mention a pretty successful remake of 1931’s BP winner Cimarron. Altogether, The Apartment received 10 Academy Award nominations, including: Cinematography (Black-and-White), Sound, Actor for Jack Lemmon as C. C. Baxter, Actor in a Supporting Role for Jack Kruschen as Dr. Dreyfuss (I loved him!), and Actress for Shirley MacLaine as Fran Kubelik. The film won five Oscars: Art Direction (Black-and-White), Writing (Story and Screenplay—written directly for the screen), Film Editing, Directing for Billy Wilder, and Best Motion Picture. Wilder personally took home three Oscars for The Apartment as he wrote, directed, and produced the film (he added these Oscars to the two he won for writing and directing 1945’s BP The Lost Weekend). Perhaps The Apartment was destined to win Best Picture since it makes reference to at least two other BPs: Baxter tries to watch Grand Hotel on TV while eating dinner (but he only sees ads), and someone refers to Baxter and Fran’s time together in his apartment as their “lost weekend.” A third BP allusion is possible with Baxter’s neighbor, Dr. Dreyfuss—his name brings to mind The Life of Emile Zola and Zola’s defense of the innocent Alfred Dreyfus.

I totally don’t remember this pose of Baxter’s from watching the film, but I couldn’t resist including it!

I find it a bit funny when the change from one decade to the next, in effect just a new number, is so in sync with the actual transformation of the times; but 1960 seems to usher in a whole new world, in a sense (pardon my Aladdin pun). That year featured the first televised presidential debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon—the funny thing about that being the people who watched the debates on TV believed Kennedy had “won” and those listening on the radio said Nixon was victorious! Kennedy, of course, was elected President in November 1960. Just a few months before Kennedy’s win, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960, and Harper Lee published the wonderful To Kill a Mockingbird, both of these incidents flowing into the history-altering Civil Rights Movement that would rock the U.S. in the 1960s. This start of a new decade brought us the American flag as we now know it—with 50 stars since Alaska and Hawaii had joined the Union the previous year–launched the decade that would see an American man walk on the moon, and witnessed the U.S. fall prey to the Beatles’ invasion.

The Apartment is the child of these changing times. While presenting a more liberated feminine sexuality, it still shows women as objects. As it demonstrates the personal benefits of capitalism, it also emphasizes the negativity of a rat race that dehumanizes us toward our fellow human beings. And, while advocating romantic relationships based on love, it also expects (but not necessarily encourages) men especially to seek only their own well-being and to relegate their familial responsibilities to the sidelines. I think this film is an indication of murkier waters to come. Just more food for thought and fuel for discussion!

For more thoughts on The Apartment and its significance, please check out the full post this weekend!