Daily Dialogue — July 2, 2018

The Blonde: Where are we going? My place or yours?
Baxter: [checks watch] Might as well go to my place. Everybody else does.

— The Apartment (1960), written by Billy Wilder, I.A.L. “Izzy” Diamond

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Billy Wilder.

Trivia: Jack Lemmon said he learned much about filmmaking from Billy Wilder, particularly the director’s use of “hooks,” bits of business the audience remembers long after they’ve forgotten other aspects of the movie. One such hook was the passing of the key to Baxter’s apartment. Lemmon said for years after the picture’s release, people would come up to him and say, “Hey, Jack, can I have the key?”

Dialogue On Dialogue: After he discovers Fran is Sheldrake’s mistress… and they’ve been carrying on their affair in Baxter’s apartment… Baxter heads to a bar and downs 13 martinis. The line he utters — “Might as well go to my place. Everybody else does.” — is one of several sides of dialogue which to my ear are pitch perfect.