Hide and Seek – 1972

In a previous entry I’d written a bit about the “Children’s Film Foundation” movies Robin was in, although I hadn’t seen any of them at the time. But now, thanks to the guy that sent me so many Robin appearances, I’ve been able to watch 2 out of the 3!

Hide and Seek was a fun film. And, one I could watch with my 8 year old son! The story: A boy (Peter Newby, who had a very interesting look, like a young Keith Richardsy type…wonder where he is now?) runs away from some kind of reform school to look for his dad in a section of London named Deptford. Really beautiful old brick buildings there! But it looked like a lot of them were abandoned and getting knocked down, so I wonder how much of the area is left today. I loved the scenes of the kids running through what seemed like interesting brick-walled passageways with mysterious doors – what fun!!!! I love old architecture. Anyway, the boy squats in an empty basement apartment and goes out to steal food. A couple of neighborhood kids find out about him and help him find out where his dad is. Now, the dad is at a nearby demolition site, and has dug a tunnel into a bank in order to steal millions of pounds. He has a gang of helpers, one of whom is Robin, dressed up as a policeman. When one of the kids come nosing around, Robin and another fake cop grab him and lock him up. My son’s favorite part was when the kid gets helped out of the hole in the roof by the other kids and they all start running away from the bad guys…very suspenseful! Hehe

This was 1972, so I had been expecting Robin to have his “Dimensions of Greta/Tower of Evil/Flesh and Blood Show” length hair but no, it appeared pretty short in this. Even my son commented: “I thought Robin Askwith has long hair! This guy doesn’t even look like someone you’d like!” Ahhhh! I assured him I like Robin no matter what he looks like.

I love these CFF films, I wish they still made these type of movies for kids! I have a few non-Robin ones I’d shown my son as well, and he always enjoys them. I try to make sure he’s not too exposed to modern-day movies so he doesn’t get too jaded to enjoy the simpler, more innocent stuff. How wonderful it’d be if the whole CFF collection were to come out on a big boxed-set collection!!!

I have just found out that “Hide and Seek” at least is available for purchase here in the U.S.! Check it out! http://www.tower.com/hide-seek-peter-newby-dvd/wapi/117246105