MovieChat Forums > The Apartment (1960) Discussion > Why is this considered a "Comedy"?

Why is this considered a "Comedy"?

posted 9 years ago by JohnQ1127
5 replies | jump to latest

The Apartment is a very good movie with some fine acting performances but why is this considered a comedy? I don't even see it as a dark comedy.

This some light hearted moments in the beginning but overall it's kind of a sad movie with a redemptive happy ending.

Maybe it's just the sexism of the time period that hasn't aged well. Maybe infidelity, sexual harassment, and treating women like crap was seen as comedy back then.

Here's some random observations:

*The whole storyline about Shirley Maclaine's character attempting suicide was very sad.

*Fred McMurray's character was a complete scumbag.

*All the office managers are horrible people. They're mostly drunks who just commit adultery all the time and don't have any scruples.

*Jack Lemmon is sad lonely guy who uses his apartment as a bordello for career advancement.

[–] JJdaPK 9 years ago

The first third of the movie felt very much like a comedy, but once it got to the point where Shirley McClaine's character tried to kill herself the movie took a very serious turn and never really lightened up much till the ending.

[–] JohnQ1127 9 years ago

I guess the first 1/3 was considered a comedy back then but it feels so dated now because of all the sexual harassment and misogyny. And then the office managers just look like a big bunch of jerks now.

[–] movieghoul 9 years ago

Yeah, isn't it great we now live in an age where no one would ever dream of making a comedy film about men behaving badly?

[–] ghtx 9 years ago

Most everyone refers to it as a "comedy-drama" (including wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apartment and imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053604/, which calls it a "comedy-drama-romance". I have never heard anyone call this a straight-up comedy.

[–] ecarle (14979) 2 years ago

The comedy is mainly up front in the movie and rather broad in the 1960 way:

Lemmon trying to watch the TV premiere of "Grand Hotel" -- with the entire cast reeled off by the host -- but they cut to a commercial every time the host finishes, and the movie is never shown. This is VERY broad -- too EASY a joke -- but in 1960, probably everybody laughed. This was the time of Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and Red Skelton on TV...comedy was more "basic."

Lemmon trying to "move all the cheating men around" on his desk calendar as to which man can have the apartment on which night to fornicate with his mistress. It turns into somewhat of a "who's on first" comedy roundelay. (And when one of the men offers his mistress Thursday night she snaps "Thursday night? But that's Bob Stack on The Untouchables!!" and the guy says "we'll watch it at the apartment, then.")

Many of the "stage Jewish" comedy lines from the other people in the apartment building -- the landlady, the doctor and his wife. I like the doc talking about how it sounds like Lemmon must be schtupping two women a night -- "Sometimes it sounds like you got a twinite double header goin' on in dere!"

Wilder had, just one film before, done the VERY big comedy of Some Like It Hot, he was EXPECTED to bring some laughs. But this time, he brought the pain, too.