At its beginning, Billy Wilder’s 1960 film The Apartment seems to have a cheerful sort of concept. C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) has a life he enjoys, and for the moment his one complaint is that his own apartment is too often borrowed by others (stemming from a simple favor, Baxter now lets his work superiors borrow his apartment as a setting for their own romantic affairs). However, he’s pleased with his consequent promotions and is interested in one of the elevator girls, Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine). However, this pleasantness is brief. Kubelik has been involved in a disastrous affair with Baxter’s boss, Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), in that very apartment. This all comes to a head when Baxter comes home to find the nearly dead Kubelik has attempted suicide in his home

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