By Stephen ChupaskaSenior Staff Writer

Director Billy Wilder, who passed away two weeks ago, made filmsthat explored the darker impulses in human nature, which werefiltered through his own uniquely acerbic wit. While he made filmsthat can be assigned to various genres — film noir, biography, drama– he was acutely aware of the possibilities of the romantic comedy.It is no surprise that his greatest turn in the form is hisOscar-winning picture The Apartment (1960).

The most famous shot in the film, of a seemingly endless sea ofoffice workers, is where we meet C.C. Baxter, played tenderly andskillfully by the late Jack Lemmon. He is merely a moving part in theintricate corporate machine of a large insurance firm. He wouldprobably remain anonymous if it were not for the fact that thecompany executives use his Central Park West apartment as a safehousewhere they meet in order to carry on extramarital peccadilloes withyounger women. Baxter finds that his own upward mobility is hastenedwhen the head of the firm, the dastardly Mr. Sheldrake, a sleazy FredMcMurray, starts to use the place for his encounters with elevatoroperator, Fran Kubelick (Shirley McLaine). However, Baxter is also inlove with her and is caught in a pickle between his career and hiscoeur.

The Apartment, which was co-written by his long-time collaboratorI.A.L. Diamond, is perhaps Wilder’s most well-rounded picture,synthesizing the macabre Double Indemnity (also about an insurancecompany employee), the solitude of Sunset Boulevard, and the hijinksof Some Like it Hot.

One point that has been oft-repeated in the fortnight followinghis death is how remarkably well his movie has held up. In hittingall of the honest emotional chords, The Apartment is as relevant nowas it was forty years ago.

For an entertaining and in-depth look at the life and films ofBilly Wilder, read Cameron Crowe’s book-length interviewConversations with Wilder.