“Might as well go to mine. Everybody else does.”
Why it's great
The self-mocking line admits both his loneliness and his reputation in one breath.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
Might as well take the earlier train. Everybody does.
00:00 / 02:39
00:00 / 02:39
Baxter Picks Up Mrs. MacDougall, Explained
The Apartment · 1960
Chapter 8 of 15 · 2'39"
At closing time, Baxter is the last customer in the bar and jokes his way into taking Mrs. MacDougall home. The small talk is all performance: "She may be a girl but she is no friend of mine," he says of the woman he cannot get over. What looks like a pickup is really two lonely people playing at sophistication.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:02–0:44
Baxter Picks Up Margie at Closing Time
42s
Baxter Picks Up Mrs. MacDougall, explained
What happens
At closing time in a bar, Charlie the bartender tries to clear the room, but Baxter lingers. He leaves with Mrs. MacDougall, a woman he has just met, and takes her to his apartment. There he warns her that she is alone with a notorious sexpot and claims he has promised his body to a medical center.
What's really going on
The scene is the film's idea of a pickup, and it plays like a comedy routine because neither person is really available. Baxter is still heartbroken over a woman, which he admits sideways: "She may be a girl but she is no friend of mine." Mrs. MacDougall is married to a man in a Havana jail and carries his photograph like a talisman. So the flirtation is mostly talk — two people performing desire they do not feel for each other. Baxter's patter is all self-mockery: he calls himself a notorious sexpot and jokes that he has promised his body to the Columbia Medical Center. The joke is that a man this lonely has learned to make loneliness sound like charm, and the woman across from him is willing to play along because the alternative is going home alone.
Key lines & what they mean
- “Might as well go to mine. Everybody else does.”
- Baxter's invitation doubles as a joke at his own expense: his apartment is so widely borrowed that he can present it as a public convenience.
- “She may be a girl but she is no friend of mine.”
- His answer about his love life: the woman he is stuck on is female, but the relationship is over and not friendly.
- “They haven't got me yet, baby. Dig up some ice from the kitchen.”
- A joke about his own mortality turns into a request: he is not dead yet, so let's have a drink, and he sends her to get ice.
- “I have promised my body to the Columbia Medical Center.”
- A comic boast dressed as a dark fact: he will donate his body to science, and he offers it as proof of how fascinating he is.
Theme
- Loneliness — Two lonely people perform a pickup, each using the other to avoid going home alone.
- Romance — The flirtation is all talk: Baxter's self-mockery and Margie's jokes keep real feeling safely off the table.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level3/6
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“She may be a girl but she is no friend of mine.”
Why it's great
It splits the word girlfriend to say she is female but certainly not a friend.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
He may be a neighbor but he is no friend of mine.
“They haven't got me yet, baby. Dig up some ice from the kitchen.”
Why it's great
The morbid joke lands as charm, and the small errand keeps the night moving.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
They haven't got me yet, so let's go.
“I have promised my body to the Columbia Medical Center.”
Why it's great
A flirt wrapped up as a medical donation, delivered with total deadpan.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
Sorry, my body is already promised to science.
Up next · 09out of the woodsThe scene: Dreyfuss Saves Fran and Scolds BaxterTakeaways
What you walk away with- Baxter's joke about his apartment hides real loneliness.
- Margie plays along because she is lonely too.
- The body-donation gag keeps the scene from turning sad.
- Closing time frames the whole encounter as a last resort.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy is Baxter at the bar so late?
He is lonely and avoiding going home. When the bartender warns him it is closing time, Baxter stays anyway and ends up leaving with a woman he has just met.
What does the pickup actually amount to?
Almost nothing. Both of them are unavailable: Baxter is still stuck on someone, and Mrs. MacDougall is married to a man in a Havana jail, whose picture she carries.
Why does Baxter call himself a notorious sexpot?
It is a joke at his own expense. He is anything but a ladies' man, and the boast is a way of flirting without meaning it seriously.
Why does Baxter mention donating his body to science?
It is his strangest conversation piece. He uses it to be memorable and to keep a dark subject funny, then turns it into a joke by asking Mrs. MacDougall for ice.
What does "might as well" mean here?
It means there is no better option, so you may as well do it. Baxter says they might as well go to his place because everyone else already has.