Writer/Director Billy Wilder’s 1960 comedy The Apartment tells the story of insurance man C. C. “Bud” Baxter (Jack Lemmon), a small cog within a larger world of a Manhattan life insurance company. Baxter, however, is well known among the executives of the company: he allows them to use his apartment to…entertain…women who are probably not the executive’s wife.
We first meet Baxter in a voice-over narration providing what seems to be every single detail of his work and life. Baxter is very thorough in his voice over. He explains how the population of New York City (8,042,783 souls), if laid out end-to-end (assuming the people are an average height of five feet, six inches) would stretch from Times Square to Pakistan. So the man is a bit obsessed with facts and figures.
(Spoilers below)
Wilder’s introduction of Baxter reveals a man who seems to be very good at what he does. His life outside of work is not so easily managed; he’s a bit spineless and has a hard time saying no. Baxter explains in a voice-over that he has a nice apartment for a bachelor – but, as he says, “The only problem is, I can’t always get in when I want to.”
Despite his complaints, Baxter (he’s described in the film as a “schnook,” which is Yiddish for “a stupid or easily victimized person,” a description that fits Baxter well) is willing to stand outside in the rain as he waits for one of his “house guests” to finish up.
In a scene early in the film, Baxter has finally gotten into his apartment and is ready to call it a night. The man who had used the apartment returns to pick up an article of clothing left by the man’s “friend.” Baxter tries to plead his case that he needed his apartment vacant by 8:00. The man, Mr. Kirkeby, says he’d lost track of time: “…those things don’t always run on schedule – like a Greyhound bus.”
Article comments
1 - Rodney Welch
One of the greatest, most emotionally satisfying endings in history.