“You know, I used to live like Robinson Crusoe.”
Why it's great
One familiar desert-island name says lonely better than any direct confession could.
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Neutral
Use it yourself
I used to live like a stranger in my own town.
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00:00 / 04:04
Baxter's Dinner for Two Is Interrupted, Explained
The Apartment · 1960
Chapter 14 of 15 · 4'04"
Baxter lights candles and cooks Fran dinner, telling her he used to feel like Robinson Crusoe — shipwrecked among eight million people until he saw her footprint. Then Karl, her brother-in-law, walks in, and the evening collapses: "If there wasn't a lady present, I'd clobber you."
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:45–0:59
❝ Monologue · 5 lines The Robinson Crusoe line
The desert-island image turns loneliness into a story and Fran into the footprint that ends it.
14s - 3:31–4:02
Dreyfuss Says Baxter Had It Coming
31s
Baxter's Dinner for Two Is Interrupted, explained
What happens
Baxter cooks a candlelit dinner for two and buys napkins to go with it. Over the meal he tells Fran he used to live like Robinson Crusoe, shipwrecked among eight million people, until he saw her footprint in the sand. The mood breaks when Karl, Fran's brother-in-law, arrives to take her home — and discovers the truth about her overdose.
What's really going on
For one evening the apartment works as Baxter always hoped it would. He isn't lending it to a boss; he's cooking in it, lighting candles, and making a speech about loneliness that is really a courtship. "You know, I used to live like Robinson Crusoe," he says — a man alone in a city of eight million — "and then one day I saw a footprint in the sand." Fran answers the feeling without naming it. Then Karl arrives, and the private world collapses into exactly the scandal Baxter has been managing for months. Karl's line "If there wasn't a lady present, I'd clobber you" lands on the wrong man: Baxter didn't seduce Fran, he kept her alive. Dreyfuss's parting joke — "you had it coming to you" — is the comedy's quiet cruelty, since the man who gets punched is the one who did the least harm.
Key lines & what they mean
- “You know, I used to live like Robinson Crusoe.”
- Baxter's way of describing his old loneliness: a castaway in a city of eight million people. The fairy-tale reference makes the confession easier to say.
- “It's a wonderful thing, dinner for two.”
- Baxter's simple summary of the evening he has arranged. After years of lending the apartment out, he finally gets to use it for a meal he actually wants.
- “If there wasn't a lady present, I'd clobber you.”
- Karl's threat to Baxter once he learns what happened. He restrains himself only because Fran is in the room, then still throws the punch.
- “Well, I don't wanna gloat, but just between us, you had it coming to you.”
- Dreyfuss's dry verdict after Baxter is punched. It sounds sympathetic but isn't: he thinks Baxter earned the beating by living this way.
Theme
- Loneliness — Baxter's Robinson Crusoe speech turns the borrowed apartment into a place of real loneliness.
- Romance — The candlelit dinner is a courtship, deflated the moment Karl walks in.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
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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“It's a wonderful thing, dinner for two.”
Why it's great
It makes an ordinary meal sound like a gift, which is exactly the point after years alone.
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Neutral
Use it yourself
It's a wonderful thing, having someone to talk to.
“If there wasn't a lady present, I'd clobber you.”
Why it's great
The threat is real, but the manners in front of it say exactly who this man is.
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Informal
Use it yourself
If there wasn't a child present, I'd say something.
“Well, I don't wanna gloat, but just between us, you had it coming to you.”
Why it's great
Denying the gloat while delivering it is the exact tone of a smug friend.
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Informal
Use it yourself
Not to gloat, but you had it coming.
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ The Robinson Crusoe line
You know, I used to live like Robinson Crusoe. Shipwrecked, among eight million people. And then one day I saw a footprint in the sand... ...and there you were. It's a wonderful thing, dinner for two.
The desert-island image turns loneliness into a story and Fran into the footprint that ends it.
Up next · 15take someone off your handsThe scene: Sheldrake Takes Fran off Baxter's HandsTakeaways
What you walk away with- The Crusoe metaphor says loneliness without saying the word.
- Karl's entrance turns a quiet dinner into a scene.
- Have it coming is the doctor's dry verdict on the punch.
- Dinner for two marks how much company means to Baxter.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy is Karl so angry with Baxter?
He thinks Baxter is the man who ruined Fran. Karl arrives to collect her, sees the candlelit dinner, hears about the sleeping pills, and assumes Baxter is the seducer — not knowing the affair was with Sheldrake.
Why does Baxter say he doesn't want to take advantage of Fran?
She has just survived an overdose and is still fragile. He's drawing a line: he'll play gin rummy and keep her company, but he won't let the night slide toward sex the way it did before.
What does the Robinson Crusoe speech mean?
Baxter compares himself to a castaway — alone among eight million people — and says Fran is the footprint that proved he wasn't the only one on the island. It's his indirect way of saying he loves her.
Why does Dreyfuss say Baxter "had it coming"?
It's his blunt, ironic judgment. Baxter lends his apartment to his bosses and accepts the perks that come with it, so Dreyfuss sees the punch as a bill finally arriving — even though Baxter is the least guilty man in the room.
What happens to Baxter after the punch?
Karl hits him once, leaving him with a black eye. Dreyfuss predicts "you're gonna have a shiner tomorrow," offers to treat it, and Baxter shrugs it off with "It doesn't hurt a bit."