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Show jurtiiY&mnMmme USk Feature SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS TUESDAY JANUARY 26, 1993 11 Robinson and Oscar on first name basis By Dixie Brunner There are four statuesque men living at Glen Robinsons house. Theyre not your typical males, however. These guys are gold and represent the movie industrys highest honor. I got one Oscar for the miniatures I made on Earthquake, one for design on Logans Run, one for the Hindenburg on the movie Hindenburg and one for special effects on King Kong." To say that Glen Robinson has had an exciting life, would be an understatement. His four Oscars stand testament to the working genius of the man. His specialized motion picture work spanned over forty years, took him all over the world, and made him tops on every directors list. Major movie stars such as John Wayne and Clark Gable, called him a friend. Glen Robinson had movie set t i- i h Studios' such as MGM, Fox man-h- e figure'1 out how to acand Paramount competed for his complish things producers time. Veteran stage workers wanted to happen in their films. were passed by in order to seOne time one director wanted cure Glen Robinson for their Lucille Ball to float around a movie. Whenever a young per- room, so I had to fly her around son comes in and does well, the on piano wires. older workers get envious," adHe was flown in to shoot How mits Robinson with a grin. I The West Was Won because of was made foreman quite early. his expertise with dangerous Young Robinson was up for situations. Director John Ford the challenge. He began work- tapped him to do Hurricane, (he ing on important movies such later did the Hurricane remake.) as, Mutiny on the Bounty. Clark In John Fords, Wings of the Gable was from Norway and Eagle, starring John Wayne and quite young at the time. There Red Skelton, Robinson was were many Swedes in the movie, tapped to devise a way to land a recalls Robinson. I got along fighterplane in a swimmingpool. with them real well-the- y even They told me to do whatever I called me Captain." liked, recalls Robinson of the Robinson was called upon on dangerous stunt. numerous occasions to make up One particular picture stands once miniatures, building 200 out in Glen Robinsons mind, miniature submarines for a war both its importance, and the fact film. At Fox Studios, he was it impacted the rest of his life. hired to make sponge rubber fig- - Ben Hur art director Eddie Carfano had asked Robinson to ' i make the chariot machines that 4t r figured so profoundly in the movie. I was coming back from aproductionmeetingwhen an Here are four more of Robinson s friends from Hollywood. They all have the same name, Oscar. He won them for the movies Earthquake, Logans Run, Hindenburg and King Kong. so I asked my chauffeur who it the swimming pool-the- y was. The driver replied, Eliza- put their tops on, all had but they werent wearing any bottoms! swung down and hit me in beth Taylor. Robinsons years with the film Beautiful women were old hat the head. I was in Rome at the time and was rushed to the hospital there. Robinson said the studio chiefs made sure he was well taken care of, but he was left practically blind in one eye. to Robinson. While filming the movie Bora, Bora, the beautiful island women brought in to do the film had a penchance for going topless in the Hollywood The injury didnt stop swimming pools. The director Robinson. In his career he fussed at the ladies and told worked on such impressive films them that in America, women as, Dr. Zhivago, Many Rivers covered their breasts. They Across, Best Little Whorehouse seemed to understand, although in Texas, King Kong, Soldiers they barely spoke any English, Three and Cat On a Hot Tin said Robinson. But the next Roof. time the director looked out to Robin son formed many friendships with the movie stars, and had plenty of time to form opinions on some. He said that some stars could be pretty emotional and that he had seen Gene Kelly go nearly mad with anger once, firing everyone on the set of his movie. Judy Garlands husband was a good director, but shed come drunk to work and have affairs with people on the set. During one film he was called in to figure out how to hit Clark Gable with a machine gun in a certain way. Spencer Tracy be- industry will never be forgotten. His miniatures and Hindenberg gondola have been preserved for future generations at the Smithsonian Institution. He has many wonderful memories and memorabilia, not least of which are his four Oscars. The four statues serve as evidence of how incredibly-tal-ente- d Glen Robinson is, and the g impact he has made on history. film-makin- Cinnamon Bears i Glen Robinson shares some tales of his days working in Hollywood. Some of his best friends from the movies are very familiar names: Clark Gable, Charleton Heston, Elizabeth Taybr. making in his blood. His father was an architectengineer who spent a portion of his life, building stages for Fox. Robinson began workingin the studios as a teenager. He said that it was the Depression, and kids would hang around movie lots to try to pick up extra work. A man would come to the gate and say, Ill take you, you and you, if he pointed at you, you were in. His first job was wallpapering a movie set and subsequently, he worked in the studios paint shop. After getting schooling in air condition and refrigeration, Robinson became skilled in the electrical and mechanical aspects of film-makin- g. Directors knew right away that Glen Robinson was thing special. some- ures of Popeye. Robinson didnt leave his mechanical brilliance at the studio. As an avid pilot who enjoyed different types of planes, Robinson built two sailplanes and a helicopter with an outboard motor. He also started a muffler business, developing mufflers for Ford, as well as for British motorcycles. Robinson eventually became too busy at the studio, and gave his muffler business to a friend who was having problems making ends meet. The muffler business later became one of the largest in the country. But Robinson was doing just fine himself. He was amassing impressive film credits. Producers would fly him to locations at a moments notice. He was the nuts and bolts far-reachi- January Clearance Sale gan complaining about the amount of time Robinson was taking to accomplish his task. Clark turned to me and asked, you ever seen as big a bum as this guy Spencer Tracy? Glen Robinson recalls working with Marilyn Monroe, Debbie Reynolds, and Loretta Young among others. After my accident, I had just landed in London. I was at the airport when this woman came up to me, put her arms around me, kisses me and said, Glen, how are you? We must get together soon. Ill take you to dinner. After she left, I noticed that there were a lot of people gathered around me and Books 30 off Wood - 50 off Paints 1.10 each. DMC Floss - 5 for $1 Christmas Supplies - 50 off Classes have started again Come and have some fun! -- U 406 E 300 South 644-556- 2 |