MovieChat Forums > The Apartment (1960) Discussion > Do you think she fell for him? *Spoilers...

Do you think she fell for him? Spoilers

posted 13 years ago by InsecureNeuroticControlFreak
30 replies | jump to latest

I took a film class my freshman year of college last year, and we watched this film. There was a long discussion after the end in which the professor asked if we thought Shirley MacLaine really loved Jack Lemmon by the end. Most of them said no. I personally thought it was a very sweet ending and I thought yes. One woman (who had said she wanted to do her class project on Disney movies) said she thought so and thought it was a very happy ending, and some people scoffed. Our teacher even made a sarcastic "Well you're a Disney fan" comment.

(This is why I hate film students lol.)

I personally think she realized that she could be truly happy with him. I don't know if she was IN LOVE with him or not, but that smile at the very end before she runs off to see him shows it. She realized she could be so much happier with him than she could ever be with the boss. I thought it was an incredibly sweet ending to a pretty serious film.

Omgosh! I open my mouth and a little purse falls out!

[–] rasheed_node 13 years ago

Forget the word LOVE for a while and you will notice that both Lemon and Shirley were, in fact, in search of self respect. They find it in the end, LOVE might follow if it was not there already and it might not. Film ends there so the rest of the exercise is apparently futile.

[–] jrs-8 13 years ago

It is my opinion that the ending is hopeful because love is possible in the scenario. Baxter was used to being alone and here comes Fran and he tells her how much he adores her. Fran, having tried suicide in the very apartment, gets up enough nerve to leave her relationship and she goes back to Baxter's apartment with any possibility still ahead. I think that's why she tells him to "Shut up and deal" at the end. She's there. She knows where it may go but at that moment she doesn't want to hear it but wants to just be there with him.

[–] InsecureNeuroticControlFreak 12 years ago

Thanks for your responses! I especially like yours, jrs-8. It describes what I meant to say with mine. (But let's just say it. You articulated your points a lot better than I ever could have lol.)

Omgosh! I open my mouth and a little purse falls out!

[–] mdonln 10 years ago

To the original post, my answer is NO! Fran is neither in love with Baxter nor does she love him. This is the reason she does not say she is at the end of the movie when he professes his love for her.

Even if somewhere in the recesses of her mind Fran thinks she loves Baxter, as she thought she loved Sheldrake, I'd say she's wrong. Fran doesn't yet love herself. I don't think it's possible to love another without first loving oneself.

What Fran suddenly realizes on New Year's Eve is not that she has a desire to be with Baxter. No, what she finally realizes is her relationship with Sheldrake has not and will not change. Though he's no longer with his wife, and that old excuse has evaporated, he's not making plans to marry her. In fact, he's still up to his old tricks; wanting to continue carrying on their affair, still in hiding.

Fran talks about her knack for falling for the 'wrong guy, wrong place, wrong time'. She knows this but she's the type to need a guy in her life; any guy. Baxter is her ticket out of that situation. As we know, until people resolve their own issues they keep going from one bad relationship to the next. Fran knows Baxter can't say no (his own words) and is a 'giver' with his own place. That'll do.

Some may see theirs as a happy or hopeful ending. Maybe they're right in an odd way. Baxter and Fran are a perfect match. He's a lonely sap who's accustomed to being used and is comfortable in that role. Fran's a desperate woman with few prospects. The only job she can get is a non-job pushing elevator buttons. She needs someone to take care of her.

She's naturally attracted to men with an edge; that's definitely not Baxter but when she hears Sheldrake ask what he has against her, she seems interested. In a perverse sense they do fit. She'll walk all over him and he'll take it; not what I consider a match made in heaven. I'm pretty sure she'll toss him as soon as she finds someone who is more her type and better off financially.

[–] yoweetobin 12 years ago

I agree with you 100%. I think that she did realize she could be happy with him. I think that Fran had already started to fall for Baxter by the time her brother in law picked her up from the apartment. The way she leaves Baxter, after he has been punched, is unexpectedly tender and affectionate. I think at that point she was still wrestliing with her feelings for the boss, so full-out romance wouldn't have made sense.

However, at the end, Fran has realized that the boss is a creep and a total user, and the way her face lights up shows that she is finally recognizing her developing feelings for Baxter.

I think that the ending showed that she was ready to begin pursuing a relationship with Baxter, and her flirty smile and the way she tells him to deal the cards implies her attraction to him. They share a knowing look in the last film shot, showing that there will most definitely be a future for the two of them, and that they know that this is the start of something long and wonderful.

But I think their relationship still has plenty of time to develop and grow; especially on Fran's end. I mean, she just got out of the relationship with the boss, so she is going to need some time!

I'm suprised the people in your class interpreted the ending as not being happy. I never even considered the idea that the ending was anything other than romantic, happy, and hopeful until I read your class.

It appears you were taking a class with a bunch of miserable cynics. Too bad they can't believe in the possibilitiy of happy beginnings. (Oh well, their loss!)

[–] TigerlilyBramble_of_WillowBottom 12 years ago

I think at the very minimum, she realized Baxter was a better choice and would make a good boyfriend/husband/whatever, so she decided to go try it out. Also, if nothing else, they were two lonely people who found friendship with each other even if they don't end up together.

I pronounce you man and wife. Proceed with the execution.

[–] ecarle 12 years ago

Billy Wilder himself wasn't sure if CC and the elevator operator would find true happiness together...but I am.

It is encapsulated in that long and wonderful shot of Shirley MacLaine sitting there thinking about everything the evil Sheldrake has just told her and everything the wonderful CC Baxter has done for her. And then her incredibly uplifting run to CC...our reward for a movie that has been dark and continually crushing of Kubelik's and CC's spirit til now.

Look, Miss Kubelik tried to COMMIT SUICIDE. She's been at the very bottom and had the nerve to try to check out permanently. And CC nursed her back to health, and took the unfair punch from her brother-in-law and finally(Kubliek learns) gave up a high position in the company and got fired...all for her. I think if we accept MacLaine's character as the decent one we saw with Sheldrake...she's gonna be there for CC.

She's no "gusher," though. The movie wonderfully ends without the couple kissing, they just play cards ("Shut up and deal.") But Miss Kubelik is sexually experienced(we know), we can figure that CC(a younger and somewhat more handsome man than Sheldrake) will be getting experienced, soon, too.

I think they'll make it. CC is a bright clerk-accountant type, Fran is willing to work, it is the early 60's and jobs will be plentiful and the couple can move to another city if need be. There will be children. And there will be the memory for both of that horrific year of 1960 and how they saved each other's lives.

[–] servo-spiked-the-punch 9 years ago

I know this is old, but I really liked this post. Bravo, same here. :)

"all the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much."
— George Harrison

[–] roncerabona 9 years ago

Agreed - it's a very hopeful ending, at the very least. Fran has had the guy who talked and talked and said (and did) nothing worthwhile (Sheldrake) - with Bud, she had a guy who showed through his actions what he was really like: he saved her life and was willing to walk away from his promotion and his career for principle, and he really cared about her, too. No, she isn't a gusher, unlike him, so she says "shut up and deal" - she's had her fill of the smooth talkers with the empty romantic cliches, she wants actions that speak louder than words. As you say, Baxter's the one who did that. and it looks like she will be the one who will be there for him, too. Wilder tended to be pinned as a cynic, but he wasn't a complete cynic: there was always something to hold onto. Even a movie like "Ace in the Hole" has its redeeming figures and hopeful elements.

[–] Manton29 12 years ago

Interesting thread.

My tuppence worth: They're at the beginning of a romance like any other: who knows whether it'll go the distance, but there'll be highs before any possible lows.

I don't think we need to know whether it leads to happy ever after or not... but knowing Wilder's world as we do from his films, that doesn't exist so there'll be cynical humour and sweetness clashing hilariously for the duration.

Time for a new signature, perhaps. Hmmmm...

[–] AliciaHuberman59 12 years ago

Something I noticed when watching this past Saturday (probably at least the tenth time I've seen it) that had not previously struck me and might prove she had fallen for him. It's Christmas Day and they're playing gin and she starts telling him the sad details of her love life and Baxter asks her how many men there'd been and she answers "three" and puts up four fingers. Earlier, at the office party, he was pretty buzzed and when she asked him how many drinks he'd had and he answered "three". Sort of an unconscious, affectionate "mirroring" on her part which usually bodes well.

[–] sunnyu666 11 years ago

The way she puts up four fingers and then answers "three" is the only reason I'm fully agreeing with the OP and the opinion that it's a hopeful ending.

Fran talks about two earlier men in her life: the guy she first kissed and the guy that would wait for her while in jail, and then she talks about Sheldrake. So the romantic side of me imagines Baxter is (unconsciously) the fourth significant man in her life.

I think the way you regard the ending is an interesting way to regard your view on romance. That's what makes this such a great movie.

[–] Stratego 12 years ago

To be honest, your teacher sounds like a jerk who wants to enforce his opinion onto others.

There used to be a huge thread discussing if Miss Kubelik loved Baxter. One poster responded with an interview with someone who worked on the movie (I'm not sure if it was Wilder, probably not). He said that it was supposed to be a happy ending, but they didn't want it to be sappy with them kissing. He also talked extensively about the scene with Miss Kubelik running to Baxter's apartment and what she was feeling. I wish I could find that interview for you.

Ofcourse she isn't in love with him...yet. She only just realized his feelings and she just came out of a very serious relationship in which she thought she loved the guy and he loved her back, which wasn't true. She got burned and she wants to take it slowly now, that's why her answer is "Shut up and deal!" when Baxter says he loves her. Do you really think she would be there and lead the guy on if she didn't feel something too? She didn't only leave Sheldrake, she ran straight to Baxter with a big smile on her face. I think that says enough.

They are at the start of a romance, who knows where it will end up, that's not important. The most important thing is that she got out of an unhealthy relationship.

[–] Piperson 11 years ago

I agree with you, OP and I think others have pretty well expressed how the ending was hopeful and yet cautious and realistic.

I hate that kind of stuff in classrooms where people are too smart for their own good and like to make fun of anyone who dares to express an unpopular opinion. A lot of bullying starts there IMO.

[–] InsecureNeuroticControlFreak 11 years ago

Yeah, I still agree with my original post. This has become my favorite movie, and I still think my professor and the other students were wrongfully rude to the two of us who saw it as a hopeful ending. I still find it to be one of the most romantic endings ever filmed.

Hail to the king, baby.

[–] bjelkier 10 years ago

You all are right. I just watched it. When the creep tells her that it is Baxter's fault they are going to Atlantic City for he won't let him use his apartment, she finally see him for who he is. She basically runs as fast as she can to Baxter's and is in a panic when she hears what she thinks is a gun shot. And when he tells her he loves her, you can see that big grin on her face. She knows -- he really does love her.

Insecure, that professor and those students you had to deal with were not only rude by can't see beyond their myopic views, cynical as they are, that there are happy endings. I don't feel sorry for them. I feel pity. They will never really enjoy life like we hopeful individuals do!

[–] Noir-It-All 10 years ago

Mr. Baxter and Miss Kubelik had the healthier relationship. First, both of them had to grow up and stop pleasing others before they could be a couple. I agree with the above posters in that there was a lot of "mirroring" between the two.

"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

[–] Stratego (30506) 3 years ago

Apparently it WAS Billy Wilder who said it (being interviewed by Cameron Crowe):

"BW: He could be standing in the window and wave at her, or he opens the door and she kisses him. We didn’t want to have that ending, that kiss ending. We had that good idea of, she’s running, and now she hears a shot. And now, we don’t know yet, but she thinks, “My God, he wanted to commit suicide on account of another girl, but maybe this time he’s not gonna hit his knee!” So she hurries up much more, and she’s faster and faster, and she gets to the door, and she knocks. He opens it and he’s got the bottle of champagne foaming over [grinning], which it always does when you shake it. So, “Oh, God, thank God,” but still no kiss. But he wants to ask her, “What’s the matter?” “Nothing, let’s finish the gin game.” They’ve got the cards there, still down on the table. And he asks her something amorous.

CC: He says, ‘I love you, Miss Kubelik.”

BW: “I love you.” Then she says, “Shut up and deal.” And he deals the whole deck, you know, not just ten cards.

CC: The kiss would have been too romantic, too sweet.

BW: Yeah. It’s not an ending like “Nobody’s perfect.” but then again, at least it was not too schmaltzy."

[–] Forlorn_Rage 10 years ago

Everyone's forgetting one very important clue:

CC: What about Mr. Sheldrake?
Fran: We'll send him a fruit cake every Christmas.

That shows Fran has a serious, long-term relationship in mind.

And just as CC's former love sends him (the pitiful odd one out) a fruit cake every Christmas, they'll send their ousted former boss (now the pitiful odd one out) a yearly memento to show how much and how little Sheldrake means in their lives now that they've outgrown him and found each other.

[–] truther 10 years ago

I'm genuinely surprised this is a debatable point. To me, it's obvious she fell for him. Clearly he loves her and by the end of the film she -- while coming from a completely different emotional perspective -- has come to see that he's the best thing for her. The kiss after her BIL slugged CC; her sadness at New Year's Eve; her going back to his apartment. I agree with the other poster about the "we'll send him a fruitcake" line. They're now the couple. She's left her boss and she and CC are together. The end.

[–] Interlepos (1807) a year ago

I agree.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

Do you think she fell for him? *Spoilers*

Do you think she fell for him? Spoilers