Magicote Paint Ad – 1971

A nice surprise this week! A Robin fan let me know about this ad he’d found in a compilation video of Henry Bentinck commercials for J Walter Thompson. I edited the others out and uploaded just this one to YouTube. Such a treat to see another glimpse of Robin from this early 70s era, even though his segments are brief. Love the flip of his hair as he turns around to look while he’s painting (with his left hand? Is he left handed or was this the most convenient position?) and how enthusiastic he is as he happily shows the owners how well his paint job turned out. He really does bring that happy enthusiasm to everything he does, doesn’t he? I am told that the older lady who appears is Noel Dyson, who played Nanny in Father, Dear, Father and also appeared with him in The Last Bus!

New Robin interview! - 2011

I found a brand new photo along with an interview about the play Robin will be starring in - the one I mentioned last week. Cool! Check it out here!

Robin Askwith confesses at The Mill at Sonning
By Phil Creighton
November 24, 2011

Isn't he just adorable in the photo? :)

Funny Money Play - Dec 2011 thru Jan 2012!

All those of you lucky to live close enough, Robin will be appearing in a play in December and January! More info can be obtained here! http://www.millatsonning.com/wp/
If you do go see it, how about letting me know how it was? :)

Horror Hospital – 1973: NEW 2010 DVD release!

Isn’t this where I came in? Yep, HH was the first movie I reviewed here, and it just may be the last. :( Although I’ll keep looking, I may have come to the end of finding the Robin movies/appearances that are available.

I was very excited to hear that HH was re-released in June of 2010, in HD transfer from the original 35mm camra negative. Wow! And it definitely was noticeably crisper and brighter. You can see everything in the previously too-dark rock club at the beginning of the film. But now you also see that the “blood” on Robin’s nose in that scene is WAY too bright to look like blood and looks laughingly like paint. Someone online mentioned that this release has 2 extra minutes but I couldn’t tell if and where this was true. There’s no extra scenes that I’d not seen before, so perhaps it’s just a few seconds here and there interspersed throughout the whole thing.

There’s a very interesting commentary by producer Richard Gordon.(RIP 2011- see here for info) Why Robin never does DVD commentaries, I have no idea! He apparently thought quite a lot of Robin and talked highly of his work ethic. I loved hearing how Horror Hospital came to be and some of the behind-the-scenes goings-on. Also talked about are some scenes that were in the original screenplay but never got filmed due to one reason or another. You also find out about Director Antony Balch’s uncredited surprise cameo in HH, rare because he did not like to appear on film! It is even a talking part. I’ll keep that a secret just so you’ll have to buy this! Richard Gordon seemed like a fun, smart, likeable guy and I’m glad he did this insightful commentary!

Not a lot of “extras” though. Oooh, what I would’ve given for some “deleted scenes” or “bloopers” but alas, no. There is a slideshow of publicity photos and posters, but not a lot have Robin in them. Weird how you rarely see him in photos from HH, even though he’s the main star!

What more can I say that hundreds of movie reviewers haven’t already said about this extraordinary film, so I won’t rehash the storyline yet again. I must say I did notice a “continuity” issue I hadn’t in the past. Robin’s shirt gets pretty torn up in the fight scene with the bike boys…yet in later scenes the shirt will sometimes be torn, but sometimes not. Hehe.

I’m proud to say this was a DVD I was able to easily and legally purchase, brand new. I can only hope Robin receives big royalties from this new release!

Well, that’s it. I have no more appearances lined up to review. I’ve exhausted almost all possibilities. There’s some stuff I will probably never get to see. But I’m amazed at how much I WAS able to get my hands on! Wow! There’s a couple of things out there I’m still waiting for the price to come down on, so perhaps half a year to a year from now I’ll finally have something else to comment on. From now on I’m just going to write about things that I’m still searching for, things indirectly related to Robin, or any current news about him that I hear of. Please feel free to let me know ANY news or stories you may have! And if you know Robin, casually mention that there’s a whole blog dedicated to his body of work, will you? :)

Confessions of Robin Askwith – 1999

I’ve made mention of Robin’s autobiography so I may as well include it in my reviews of his work!

Maybe it’s just because I’m a huge fan, but I found this highly engaging and could barely put it down! Upon starting it, I was a little confused, though. He jumps right in at the beginning with how he got the part in “Confessions of a Window Cleaner”. At this time, I had not even seen all the Confessions movies and was a little confused by the people he mentions. Was he not going to talk about his family and childhood? I flipped through the chapters and right around the middle of the book he does a jump back in time and fills us in on his birth, genealogy, getting polio at age 4, schoolday shenanigans, etc. So that’s where I started reading. He continues on with his early acting jobs, and so on. At the end of all that I started back at the beginning and the “Confessions” stuff was then a lot more comprehendable! Maybe if all you liked about Robin was those movies that’s what you care about finding out first. Who knows.

Anyway, I love his style of writing. Not sure if he did it all himself or had help, but it sounds like it’s just all him, telling his story. He definitely has a very cute, wry, “British” sense of humor. And yes, you can tell he’s writing it for a British audience, making references that he takes for granted people will understand. At least I have the internet to look up stuff like the actors who may be famous over there but unknown in the U.S., sporting teams, areas of London or towns in England (thoroughly confused about what he meant getting "Ruislip Lido" in his lungs, ha ha).

The book ends with you wanting to know MORE!!! He published it in 1999 and at the end just gives us a brief overview of the years 1981-1998, promising a few things that he’ll be covering next, implying that there WILL be a next one? Yet here it is, 2011 and still nothing, humphs.

Any fans who are in communication with him, please urge him to write a part two! Or, if he thinks anything that doesn’t have to do with the “Confessions” years wouldn’t sell well, perhaps Republish this one, with a part two added on!

Mystery: Is it Robin…..or not? Madhouse – 1974

OK, a mystery to solve!

Truly by chance I stumbled across this film. I enjoy early 70s British horror films so I found this one I hadn’t seen before while browsing through Netflix’s latest “instant play” offerings. A little while into it, I saw that there were TWO Robin connections: his girlfriend at the time, plus his co-star in “Confessions of a Window Cleaner” Linda Hayden, plays one girl who gets killed. And then Natasha Pyne, who played one of the daughters in “Father, Dear Father” and a friend to Robin’s character in one episode, plays another girl. I kept thinking, wow, this would be a great movie for Robin to have been in! But then again, didn’t really see a part for him after all as I watched further.

BUT…here’s where the mystery comes in! There IS a character named Nigel who does not have a speaking part who strangely looks like Robin and has a similar way of moving. You don’t see him for more than a few seconds, so it’s hard to tell. The credits do not list who this “Nigel” is at all. Could it be an uncredited spur-of-the-moment appearance by our hero? Perhaps he was on the set that day hanging out with his girlfriends and was asked to step in for a scene? Hmmmm!

Here’s the summary of the plot: Vincent Price plays Paul Tombes, an actor who was famous for playing the role of a “Dr. Death” in many horror movies. Soon each person who has annoyed him starts getting violently murdered. Is he the one who is doing it? Linda Hayden plays Elizabeth, a young actress who pesters him to give her a break in one of his movies. “Nigel” is some kind of gofer on the set of the latest Dr. Death movie whom one of the main characters asks to go fetch something. He nods and leaves, and then we don’t see him again.

I can’t find any info about who this “Nigel” was. He looks so much like Robin, but you only see him from the side and back. His hair is darker than Robin’s usually is. I don’t know. Hard to say. Would be very funny if I really stumbled across a secret appearance, though, wouldn’t it!!!!

The Festival of Fantastic Films, Oct 21-21, 2011

Got word from a couple people that Robin appeared at The Festival of Fantastic Films in Manchester, England, to speak and sign autographs.

A guy who writes the "The Geek Shall Inherit The Earth" blog went and took some fantastic photos that really capture Robin's personality well. Love the ones where he's flashing a huge happy smile. Great to see current photos of him as a 61 year old! Some people change so much as they grow older...Robin is still VERY much Robin Askwith, isn't he?

Soooo jealous I cannot be in England to go to these events! You know, I keep hearing of events happening or movies or shows being filmed in or taking place in, or bands being from Manchester lately. Is Manchester the new London these days?

Public Eye – “How About A Cup of Tea?” 13 January 1975

“Public Eye is a British television series that ran from 1965 to 1975 (7 series in total). It was produced by ABC Television for three series, and Thames Television for a further four series. The series depicted the investigations and cases handled by the unglamorous enquiry agent (i.e., a Private Eye - hence the twist in the title) Frank Marker, an unmarried loner who is in his early forties when the series begins.” – Wikipedia

I ordered this from Amazon UK at the same time I ordered “Boon”. I knew Robin appeared in an episode from 1975 so I ordered the “complete 1975 final cases” and crossed my fingers! And yes, whew, his episode was on it.

The episode starts out with Marker recovering from having been beaten up in the previous episode. He is bitter and tired of the dangerous aspects of his line of work. So, once released from the hospital he goes to an employment agency and inquires about what is available. Robin plays the employment clerk! Odd role for someone with his groovy longhaired look, being behind a desk, asking official questions better suited for a more clean-cut type of guy. Remember, back in “Fenn Street Gang” he played the out-of worker on the OTHER side of the employment desk! But anyway. He looks awesome in his big-collared ‘70s blouse and is hilarious as he gripes about people who say they want to work, but don’t have any skills to offer. That’s the extent of his role in this one, but it’s worth seeing. I also watched all the other episodes. Good series, good stories. I enjoyed the title character (played by Alfred Burke) with his quiet, sneaky way of getting things accomplished. I see that he just died recently, in Feb 2011, age of 92. He had also been acting as recently as 2002, when he played Professor Armando Dippet in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Hehe, if you go to their wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Eye_(TV_series)You’ll notice that Robin’s name is inserted in the place where they talk about this episode. I put that in! First time I ever made an “edit” to a Wikipedia page!

Happy 61st birthday, Robin Askwith!

It doesn't seem like a whole year's gone by since I wished him a happy 60th birthday on this blog! Yikes, does time go by fast. Have a super fun one, Robin!

Care Care Magazine advert 1985

Wow! Found another old tv ad on YouTube that Robin was in! Even though his hairstyle is super-80s and the picture quality is rather bad, it was still fun to see him in this. He enthuses about Care Care Magazine, and how helpful it can be in instructing you how to take care of your car, whether you are a beginner, or more advanced in your knowledge. Where do I sign up to subscribe??? :)