Skidoo (1968)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Memorable, crazy movie

Fantastic!

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

This movie earns a 'two' vote only due to its utter strangeness. This is like 'The Oscar' on mescaline. Throw in five million familiar faces, forget a script, and let a young Harry Nilsson do the music score.It's hard to imagine that the same talented director who made the excellent 'Anatomy of a Murder' was behind this strange acid-trip mixture of hippies, gangsters and prisons. But this film was directed by Otto Preminger.Oddest casting: Carol Channing as Jackie Gleason's wife. A look at Ms. Channing and you may question whether there are but two sexes on this planet. We are indeed treated to the vision of Ms. Channing in see-through bra and brief panties. It is almost an acid trip in itself.But that's really only the beginning. The casting features a very lovely Alexandra Hay, who I believe was a Playboy centerfold (I could be wrong, or dreaming). Luna is gorgeous as Groucho Marx's (who plays 'God', years before George Burns) mistress. I love her in that green thing she's almost wearing.Let's throw in seasoned character actors like Slim Pickens, Fred Clark and Mickey Rooney, too. If that isn't enough, somehow Frankie Avalon appears in the mix. This movie's thorough stupidity made me nostalgic for those brain dead beach flicks!The list goes on. The world's best 'Password' player, Peter Lawford. From the 'Batman' TV show, we throw in Frank Gorshin and Cesar Romero. Thankfully, the unfunny Arnold Stang is bumped off early in the movie.And who do we have as star? None other than comic genius Jackie Gleason. This may be the saddest part of the affair. Gleason was excellent in 'Requiem for a Heavyweight'. This should have been a spring board for Jackie to do serious acting, but his filmography is filled with duds. This has to be the most embarrassing attempt at comedy by a real master. Reginald van Gleason on acid is just not funny. Most of the people behind the scenes must have been stoned while making this.Someone referred to this film as a 'psychedelic gem'. I do agree people need to sit down and watch this film. Drink it in, as they say. This was Hollywood on its last legs. Most of these personalities needed jobs, and they settled for this garbage. Surely someone had to have smelled this movie. Take the money and run.I'm a big fan of Nilsson, and it is amusing to see his take as the 'tower guard' who is tripping on acid. The best part of the movie is the final credits, which are jocularly all sung by Harry. His song 'Skidoo', however, is a real 'stinkeroo', and in yet another odd turn, the title song is sung by Carol Channing in George Washington drag. Read that sentence again.Aside from Harry's song about garbage cans, and the spectacle of neon strobe lit garbage cans with people inside them dancing, I found no other highlights in this piece of cinema.Oh, I forgot, George Raft plays 'The Skipper'.Now if anyone thinks this movie is 'good' in any way...you are deluding yourself. As strange Hollywood cinema, 'Skidoo' is worse than 'The Oscar' and possibly just as strange as Ed Wood's 'Plan 9 From Outer Space'.But there's a big difference between an artless, wannabe director with a very limited budget and a respected Hollywood director with a roster of some talented personalities and millions to spend. Frankly, I prefer the quaint ineptness of Ed Wood to the nonsensical treacle that Preminger has created here.Having said nothing much good about this film, I do agree. You sit down. You watch this movie. I dare you to make it all the way through. I did, with a couple of cigarette breaks. This may be one of the worst Hollywood productions of all time.

At long last, we can all witness the greatest cinematic WTF moment of 1968, which is "Skidoo". Now finally available on DVD, you can sit in slack- jawed amazement at this notorious slice of psychedelic weirdness from director Otto Preminger. Is this movie as bad as you've heard? Yes, it is. Is it better than you imagined? Yes, it is. Is it worth seeing? Absolutely. Probably a few viewings, to fully appreciate everything that's going on, while you're wondering how in the hell did this movie ever get made? "Skidoo" is a moment captured from the most turbulent period in American history, the Sixties. The generation gap, drugs, and the re-evaluation of social behaviors had finally reached the old guard in Hollywood, who didn't have a clue how to keep seats filled with younger audiences. Director Otto Preminger takes the "Laugh-In" route here, filling the screen with familiar faces getting a crash course in hipness via LSD. The plot here is fairly easy to follow, but the images can be difficult to process. Jackie Gleason tripping his brains out. Carol Channing doing her best Captain Crunch impersonation at the movie's climax belting out the theme song. Three villains from TV's "Batman" being directed by a fourth. Nude football players. Dancing garbage cans. Groucho Marx's head twirling around on top of a giant wood screw. Body painting. Groovy everything being thrown at you while acid- induced dialog prattles along, set to a soundtrack by Harry Nilsson (who really does sing all the credits at the film's end).It's really up to the viewer to decide if this is a very sly comment on the emergence of the drug culture, or just a gimmick to trot out older fading "stars" and paint them in the glamor of counter- culture. Many taboos are skewered here: Stash the Hippie greets his friend Geronimo by kissing him on the mouth (real life brothers, John Phillip Law and Thomas Law), prison romances are hinted at in the freakout scenes, racially mixed romance is seen, geriatric sex, free love, and some very strange metaphysical speeches about hipness and nothingness. Also, smoking pumpkins. "Skidoo" undoubtedly plays better now, nearly fifty years after a stunned public got a dose of it. Now, it looks like a harmless experiment in psychedelic foolishness. It's mindbending, but for all the wrong reasons. Seek it out and find yourself.

I am not sure what to make of the terrible (and sometimes angry) reviews of this film. This is a good, if offbeat, film. Performances are good across the board, the direction is solid, and the script, though bizarre, moves pretty well. Perhaps people have thin skin. Preminger does poke uncomfortably at social mores, especially those that were emergent in the generation-gap era - drugs, sex, freedom, and gender power. Subversive? Hell yes. Maybe that's why the reviews are so bad. I loved the film. I loved Carol Channing as Jackie Gleason's turned-on wife. I loved Groucho Marx as "God". I loved Mickey Rooney as Gleason's best friend in prison. I ESPECIALLY loved Luna, as God's assistant (and what the hell is she almost wearing there?). In addition, Jackie Gleason takes acid in prison, Frankie Avalon is a hip gangster, and Carol Channing sings a Nilsson song. What's not to like? Honestly?

The one film for which "Jackie Gleason on Acid" serves as both a literal and figurative description...Director Otto Preminger's tasteless, insulting, offensive, embarrassing, and (most significantly) humorless exercise in 1960s psychedelic, "Skidoo" is even more notable for its tireless waste of resources. Mr. Preminger's direction aside, star Jackie Gleason (as "Tough" Tony Banks) appears as if he needs a drink. Obviously, Mr. Gleason's knack for comedy ("The Honeymooners") and drama ("The Hustler") doesn't translate into satire... The film is a colossally misdirected Acid Bomb...Despite delivering a colorless performance, Gleason is in possession of the film's highlight: it's the "acid trip" he has while in jail; in isolation, it accidentally succeeds. The later Fred Clark and Harry Nilsson "acid trip" is a runner-up; and, Mr. Nilsson's musical interludes are pleasant. Stoned-looking Groucho Marx and Frank Gorshin are painful to watch. Michael Constantine matches Gleason's level of wit. Troupers Carol Channing and Mickey Rooney give it their best shot, at least...Frankie Avalon (as Angie) should be proud, as his characterization stands out amongst such disappointing mediocrity. A star for Mr. Avalon, and a star for Nilsson. Everyone should receive light to heavy paddling, with a well-worn copy of Tom Wolfe's "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test".** Skidoo (1968) Otto Preminger ~ Jackie Gleason, Frankie Avalon, Carol Channing