Very Dark, Sad Ending

Write a happy ending in a happy screenplay for a happy sequel.

But I agree, this movie had a lot of dark undertones for a comedy.

Very well done, though. And unique. There's a truth about love and lust in here.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good (wo)men to do nothing.E. Burke

Then, after a long day, returning home to her spinster existence with her sister, who will she see out on the sidewalk, broken and dragging all his earthly possessions about in a shopping cart, begging for spare change? Yes, that's right, Baxter.

How long does she / can she persevere with the incalculable pain of this lifestyle before she fulfills Dr Dreyfuss' prophecy about trying to end it all again?

Dark stuff...

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Dark indeed, and as good a possible "epilogue" as we will have...because we have no epilogue. Thankfully, an "Apartment 2" was never made.

But I'll offer a brighter epilogue and a happier probable ending.

The Apartment, like all great, meaningful epics(and a lot of Best Picture winners) is about life's journey and the overcoming of obstacles from within and without.

To get to the ending of The Apartment, Fran needs to have both attempted and survived suicide, and Baxter needs to have rejected a high-paying , top level(27th floor?) corporate job. But both crises were created by the "evil villain" of The Apartment: Sheldrake. Ironically(I think), Sheldrake likely would have treated Baxter(as a fellow "power guy")better than he would have treated Fran(as a tossed away amour.)

In any event, the final sequences have Baxter rejecting Sheldrake's job(when he turns in the washroom key), and Fran rejecting SHELDRAKE(at the New Year's Eve party.)

Major life changes lie ahead.

Its 1960, jobs are going to be far more plentiful in America than today. Baxter indicates he will go to "another job, another town" -- he ain't going back to the insurance company and I doubt he'll need references if he just becomes a small town, small business accountant. (Hey, maybe Sheldrake will give him a reference out of blackmail reasons; Baxter knows too much about Fran and the suicide, not good for Sheldrake with HIS bosses.)

Fran is not going back to her job as an elevator operator. At least not for very long. I figure if Baxter goes to another town, she'll go with him, and probably "do something," work-wise Or not. Its 1960, life is affordable, babies are desired.

Certainly "The Apartment" offers one of those "happy endings" without a safe sense of life's reality. Quit your job? Really? Is it that easy?

Yes. People do it all the time. Life is for the finding of happiness, not for enslaving oneself to jobs, bosses and cultures that crush you.

There ARE ways out.

In this regard, The Apartment of 1960 presaged the coming counterculture OF the sixties...which remains, in a different form, today.

Even as corporations are bigger than ever.

Plausible view by the OP, but I don't think their prospects are so bleak. He is a qualified accountant, jobs were not so scarce as now (the postwar boom had not yet run its course and Vietnam was still over the horizon) he is planning to go to a different town, Sheldrake might give a reference just to get rid of him but I don't think it is vital, especially for a job outside NYC. I can see him getting work as an accountant in New Jersey, Buffalo or perhaps Philadelphia.

"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."

I don't consider it dark at all. Baxter keeps his dignity and gets the girl. While it is a mystery as to Fran's expectations, for her to turn her back to Sheldrake and choose Baxter means she too understands money won't buy you happiness. The mensch can live anywhere. The snakes of corporate live in some misguided ambition devoid of morals.

Totally disagree - it was a lovely ending.

The smile on her face said it all. Sometimes happiness isn't all about money. It's who you share your journey with - through thick and thin.

I don't think your evaluation is accurate.

First, I don't think Miss Kubelik is a gold-digger. I think she got infatuated with Sheldrake because he looks impressive at a glance and because he sold her a pack of goods. She tried to keep away from him, her emotions kept her in the vicious cycle. But given her circumstances, she obviously wasn't in it for the gifts.

Baxter might not be able to get a reference from Sheldrake, but then again, he just might. In the Chinese restaurant, Sheldrake seems amused, "He threw that big, fat job right in my face!" and might give him a reference because that would have been the accepted thing to do.

Either way, though, Baxter rose so high, so fast in that company that his CV would look darn impressive.

Even without the reference or the resume, I'm sure Baxter could get work somewhere. Maybe not New York, but somewhere.

As for the relationship, it's obvious that those two kids are crazy about each other, falling in love, and are prepared to go through hard times together (after the ordeal in the apartment).

Baxter and Kubelik will get married, get work someplace else, and while they might not ever get the "prestige" of being a Sheldrake, they'll both be mensches living happy.

The movie is about these two letting go of their bad habits to become better people. Kubelik breaks free of her whirlpool romance with Sheldrake sucking her down all the time and Baxter stops trying to claw his way up the corporate ladder at the expense of his soul. While escaping their meaningless goals held at the beginning of the picture, they happen to meet each other, give each other the motivation and pushing needed to break free, and that bonds them together.

The ending is very bright, particularly because the happiness of the two leads isn't dependent on materialism or sour "romance" anymore.

It isn't a sad ending. I thought the ending credit was going to appear after he picked a magazine at the stand. Now THAT would have been a bleak ending.