After the run of Helen!, Robey briefly resumed his commitments to the variety stage before signing a contract to appear at the Savoy Theatre as Bold Ben Blister in the operetta Jolly Roger, which premiered in March 1933. The production had a run of bad luck, including an actors' strike which was caused by Robey's refusal to join the actors' union Equity. The dispute was settled when he was included as a co-producer of the show, thus excluding him as a full-time actor.Wilson, p. 129. Robey made a substantial donation to the union, and the production went ahead.Wilson, pp. 129–130. Despite its troubles, the show was a success and received much praise from the press. Harold Conway of the Daily Mail called the piece "one of the outstanding triumphs of personality witnessed in a London theatre".Quoted in Wilson, p. 130. Later that year, Robey completed his final autobiography, Looking Back on Life. The literary critic Graham Sutton admired Robey for his honest and frank account, and thought that he was "at his best when most personal".Cotes, p. 199.Sutton, Graham. "The Bookman's Table": Looking Back on Life, by George Robey", The Bookman, p. 132, No. 506, Vol. 85, November 1933.
