HIS name was Tobor, he was a robot, and he was the star of a Hollywood-made science-fiction film, Tobor the Great. And in the course of his promotional duties he caused something of a stir in Glasgow in June 1954 when he visited the City Chambers.
Lord Provost Thomas Kerr made a point of meeting Tobor, watched by a throng of eager youngsters. “Tobor,” explained the Evening Times, “is 8ft 6in tall, and the man with the radar control unit can make him walk, wave his arms, and nod his head.”
The film, which was being screened at the city’s Green’s Playhouse and Bedford Cinemas, commands a certain affection among fans of sci-fi or robot films. It was released on Blu-ray just over two years ago. The online culture magazine, Paste, ranked Tobor as number 89 in its list of the hundred greatest movie robots of all time. Its summary of the film reads, in part: “Okay, so the title of “The Great” may be something of a hyperbole, but Tobor ... itself is reasonably cool—if you happen to be a little kid who has a psychic bond with his big robot pal.” For everybody else, though, Tobor wasn’t up to much, “being easily stolen and reprogrammed between noble U.S. scientists and evil (probably) Soviet spies. Tobor may be capable of telepathy and piloting spaceships, but hell if he isn’t the most gullible robot ever made. “
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