June 15, 1960: "The Apartment" Premieres

Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine

June 15, 1960: The Apartment premieres, directed by Billy Wilder. It is a dark comedy. A very dark one.

Jack Lemmon plays C.C. Baxter -- the initials stand for Calvin Clifford, "but everybody calls me Bud," which isn't true, because, throughout the film, he gets called "Buddy Boy" more than anything else -- an accountant for a New York insurance company, and narrates the film, stating that the action begins on November 1, 1959.

He says he makes $94.70 a week. With inflation factored in, that $94.70 comes to $952.39 in today's money. Multiply that by 4 weeks, and you've got $3,809.56. His eponymous apartment is at 51 West 67th Street, "just half a block from Central Park," and he says his rent is $85 a week, or $854 in today's money. I guarantee you, you're not going to get a room, much less an apartment, at that monthly rent in Manhattan in 2022; and even $3,809.56 might not cover a month's rent on an apartment at that particular location today.

In nearly 4 years on the job, he had gotten nowhere in the company, until, through his own social clumsiness, he began letting the higher-ups at his company use his apartment for flings with their mistresses. Those higher-ups are led by Fred MacMurray, in a rare bad-guy role for him that upset many of his fans. In the case of MacMurray's J.D. Sheldrake, the mistresses include elevator operator Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), the woman Baxter can't bring himself to tell that he loves.

While it has some funny moments, this film is quite dark, including a suicide attempt by Fran, once she realizes that Sheldrake isn't going to leave his wife for her. The tactics of Sheldrake and the other executives -- making this film something of a precursor to the 2007-15 AMC TV series Mad Men, which took place from 1960 to 1971 -- would not be put up with in the #MeToo era. Indeed, just 20 years later, in the film 9 to 5, feminism had already made this film an anachronism.

Fortunately, as he did in Mister Roberts in 1955, Lemmon plays a man who, emboldened by a horrible event, stands up to his horrible boss. Unlike in Mister Roberts, where he was serving in the Navy and on board a ship, so it wasn't possible, in The Apartment, Lemmon gets the girl.

The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning 5, including Best Picture, and Best Director for Wilder. Lemmon and MacLaine were both nominated, but lost.

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June 15, 1960 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees and the Kansas City Athletics were tied 7-7 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium, when it was called due to curfew after 12 innings. It was never resumed. Yogi Berra and Clete Boyer hit home runs. Roger Maris went 4-for-5 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Mickey Mantle did not play.

* A doubleheader was split at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Cleveland Indians won the opener, 10-2. The Baltimore Orioles won the nightcap, 13-5. Over the 2 games, Brooks Robinson went 3-for-7 with a walk.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Ray Sadecki pitched a 3-hit shutout. Stan Musial did not play. Frank Robinson went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. (The ballpark was renamed Tiger Stadium the next year.) Frank Malzone singled Pete Runnels home with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. Ted Williams went 1-for-4 with a walk. Al Kaline went 0-for-5.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators, 6-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* A doubleheader was split at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Milwaukee Braves won the 1st game, 5-4. The Chicago Cubs won the 2nd game, 8-5, despite 2 home runs from Eddie Mathews. Over the 2 games, Hank Aaron went 2-for-7 with 2 walks, and Ernie Banks went 2-for-9 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 14-2 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.  Sandy Koufax went the distance for the win.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants, 14-6 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda hit home runs.