This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Bad Apples & Crumbling Cookies
Plot Overview
In 1959 Consolidated Life Insurance Company employs some 32K
people in their New York City department. They are integrated and
we see Negroes having made their way up from bending over a shoe
shine rig to pushing a broom across the floor to running paper
around the room—in a time before electronic
communications. The women are part of the regular work
force, and Miss Olsen (Edie Adams) got her choice secretary
position from sleeping with married director Jeff Sheldrake
(Fred MacMurray.) Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) is as dexterous
on a typewriter as she is with a deck of cards, but she can't
spell worth beans, so she got slated for elevator operator, first
the local car, then the business one, and her eyes are set on being
an elevator starter. Her summer fling with Jeff the boss resulted
in heartbreak more than anything.
Come
Christmas and C.C. “Buddy Boy” Baxter is working away
on an open floor in Ordinary Premium Accounting. With but three
years, ten months seniority, it's a long wait for an executive
promotion except he's got an in with four key employees. He lets
them borrow his apartment to bring girls to without their wives
getting wise. He's about to get further advancement as the
canny boss Mr. Sheldrake wants part of the action, but he
is stringing Fran along just when Buddy Boy is on the cusp of
dating her. Complications arise from all three quarters.
Ideology
The recurring issue here
is how open Fran is to the boys' advances. It's a matter of, (Song 8:8-9) “We have a little
sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in
the day when she shall be spoken for? If she be a wall, we will
build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will
inclose her with boards of cedar.” The note in my Criswell
Study Bible reads:
“8:8–9 The phrase ‘she hath no breasts’ describes the sister in her youth before entering puberty (v. 8). The plan of her brothers depends upon the character of the Shulamite. If she is strong as a ‘wall’ in withstanding the advances of her suitors, they will encourage and praise her, but if she is a ‘door’ easily entered, they will protect her from advances (v. 9).”
In this movie her brother-in-law while
acknowledging she's over 21, responsible for her own decisions,
nevertheless comes to rescue her when she is laid out
OD'd on prescription pills.
He examines the walls of this lavatory: words that have been scribbled everywhere, some of them fresh, some crossed out, scrubbed away. A drawing catches his eye, intricate and detailed and puzzling—a woman's body seen from the bottom up, legs muscular and very long, spread apart, the head at the far end of the body small as a pea, with eyes and eyelashes nevertheless drawn in very carefully so that they look real. Someone has added to the drawing with another, blunter pencil, making the body boxlike, the space between the legs shaded into a hard black rectangle like a door. The arms have also been changed to walls and even the suggestion of brick added to them. (37–8)
Fran embodies the
door/wall concept in her elevator operator position; the doors turn
into walls and back again. The shifts are staggered to accommodate
a large work force on limited elevators, and there are romance
seasons in her life as well. She recalls her first kiss in
Pittsburgh and a few other boys. There's her resistance to
advances here in New York, her summer fling with the boss, and now
her interest from Buddy-Boy. The elevator crowd is herded by a
designated employee with a clicker (“Sorry, I'm full up;
you'll have to take another elevator.”)
The wall/door issue is eminently reflected by Buddy-Boy as well. There's his apartment door and his juggled key. The fridge, gas stove, and razor all have doors that open and close, and the idiot box was programmed by remote. The walls are thin, and he slaps a sheet of paper over the top record on his turntable reminding his guests to keep it down. The offices have doors he enters and exits.
The denouement occurs after a New
Year's party, with a sealed note opened up.
Production Values
“” (1960) was directed by Billy Wilder. It was written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond. It stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray. They were all charming and the support filled in well.
The certificate was approved per the standards back then. The humor
consisted of pervasive, mild cynicism. The film came off well in
black and white. Runtime is 2 hours 5 minutes.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
The action takes place from Halloween
till New Year's with mention of Groundhog Day—they didn't
have an MLK anything back then—so there's plenty of occasion
to party, and they did well in that department. A girl, we see, can
get herself into trouble if she's not careful, but if she's
blessed she can find a mensch.
Movie Ratings
Action Factor: Weak action scenes. Suitability for children: Not rated, includes innuendo. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Good Date Movie. Suspense: A few suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Four and a half stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
The Criswell Study Bible. Authorized King James Version. Nashville | Camden: Thomas Nelson Pub., 1979. Print.
Oates, Joyce Carol. Wonderland. Copyright © 1971, by Joyce Carol Oates. New York: The Vanguard Press Inc. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org