Customer Reviews

Skidoo

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've read many reviews of Skidoo but finally having seen it, all I can say is--

It's so insane, it makes YOU insane.

It makes no sense. Sometimes it seems like an adult comedy about the middle aged establishment vs the counterculture. Sometimes it seems like home movies of a Friar's Club meeting. Sometimes it's a live-action cartoon. Absolutely nothing funny ever happens. It features Groucho, Ceaser Romero, Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin, Arnold Stang, John Philip Law, Slim Pickens, and naked hippie chicks in body paint. And a sweaty-faced Jackie Gleason taking an "acid trip."

Watching a middle-aged Carol Channing in her underwear and thinking, "Hey, she's not half bad!"?????

THAT's what SKIDOO will DO to YOU.

Otto Preminger was roughly 63 when he made 1968's "Skidoo," a youth-bent comedy written by Doran William Cannon, the guy responsible for the script of Robert Altman's "Brewster McCloud" (1972). Otto even experimented taking acid along with Groucho Marx, whom he had cast as "God" (the head of "The Tree," the protection racket or the Mob). The film also starred Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, John Phillip Law, Frankie Avalon, George Raft, Cesar Romero, Mickey Rooney, Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin, Peter Lawford. At the premiere in 1968, Gleason walked out fuming it was reported. It was considered an abysmal flop by the critics. Even though it was definitely a traditional Preminger picture, the whole choice of it was the result of his desire to understand the youth revolution at the time. As with his next picture, "Tell Me that You Love Me, Junie Moon" Preminger wanted to understand what the culture was saying about love as he was always a great humanist. The film has beforeto been shown on television rarely from the vault at the Preminger estate mostly in embarassment and a great notoriety sprung up about it. It has been available for quite some time at a high quality DVD-R outlet called thevideobeat.com which specializes in great copies of a youth-based catalog. They have come to my rescue in finding obscure oddities years before and sometimes as the only miraculous provider of access to these films. I watch "Skidoo" and think the mechanics behind it are entertaining. I mean so many staples of Preminger's career are skewered, the casting of Burgess Meredith (he turns up in many Preminger films (even in a nude scene in "Such Good Friends" (1972)), Doro Merande, Arnold Stang (from "The Man with the Golden Arm"), clips from "In Harm's Way" in a witty segment skewering the lawsuit Preminger won against television cutting his films for commercials. Harry Nilsson did the music. Olive Films, whose product in the recent past have been excellent, high quality transfers, has added "Skidoo" for a new era in film. In May, they took on "Hurry Sundown" and "Such Good Friends." I thank them sincerely for their efforts and wish them continued success. It is terribly important that these films are available to get seen and to treat them respectfully deserves due credit.

As far as I'm concerned, "Skidoo" is the funniest movie of all time. Where else can you see Jackie Gleason, Peter Lawford, Fred Clark, Slim Pickens, Richard Kiel, Burgess Meredith, and Frank Gorshin tripping on acid? Where else can Frankie Avalon with an awesome caterpillar 'stache? Where else can you see Groucho Marx as a mob boss named God? Where else can you see Carol Channing in her underpants? Nowhere, that's where.

Besides all these insane goings on, there is an amazing soundtrack by the great Harry Nilsson, who also plays the tower guard and sings the ENTIRE end credits. Yes, this film is that awesome.

"Skidoo" may not be the greatest film of all time, as evidenced by the critics reviews, but it is thoroughly entertaining, colorful, and downright hilarious.

Sadly, the long awaited DVD doesn't have any special features (or good cover art, for that matter) but the transfer is BEAUTIFUL and flawless.

As someone who believes every film should be released on DVD, no matter how "bad" they are claimed to be, this is a huge step in the right direction by the film studios. I hope that Olive Films is able to release more of the almost-forgotten classic 60s Paramount comedies on DVD in the near future.

In the tradition of Grand Hotel, Tales of Manhattan, Around The World In 80 Days, The Story of mankind, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Myra Breckingridge [two years later], etc., we have a chance to watch an "all Star Cast" do it's individual and collective thing. We have Groucho Marx in his first big part in 16 years, and............. just like Mae West in the 1970 movie mentioned above, we have a singular reason to watch something which cries out for multitudinous reasons - it works hard to present a light-hearted clash of cultures, even if one is organized crime and the other is hippiedom. Actually, this Reviewer found the screenplay occasionally brilliant. But with all these Hollywood Legends, something was definitely missing, throughout.

Jackie Gleason is JG, and despite his obvious lack of enthusiasm, manages some cool Gleasonisms, as the semi-retired hood. (Honeymooners fans will enjoy alot of familiar mugging and off-kilter utterances. George Raft has some pleasing moments as The Skipper of the schooner owned by "God", Groucho Marx [he's the head of the "organization"]).

Carol Channing gets the most out of the largely humourless script - she sings and dances and gets the benefit of voyeuristic direction, particularly in a wild seduction scene with Frankie Avalon, another actor who seems to find a way through the confused proceedings. Don't know why this famous singer did not get a chance to warble, especially when the rock-era Harry Nillson did the music.

Tasteless story aside, what really could have sold this venture would be a funny script...imagine a comedy with Groucho Marx and no memorable (or unmemorable) one-liners?

The Gleason - Marx connection is there for the researchers: About one year before this movie mess, the two great ones got together on The Jackie Gleason Show. Both sang and danced together...one of those true time-capsule moments. Perhaps the fans should first check out the long clip on the ever-dependable youtube.com. Interesting that Frankie also appeared on The Jackie Gleason Show around 1953, as a trumpeteer!

(Another Reviewer adroitly pointed out that "real" 1968 hippies were used successfully - worth 1/2 *!).

Campy. This is one very funny movie. Considering the time that it was made, it really did spoof it's era. Given that it is even funnier today than when it was filmed. Groucho Marx gave a glimpse of the comic genius he was. I fist saw this film 15 years ago and then it went into limbo. All that was available was a very bad bootleg of video to video to video. This DVD is of very good quality.

.......I was starting to doubt my own memory. If nothing else, it's worth buying because no one will believe you saw Ralph Cramden taking a bus ride to the moon.

"The only thing that matters is with who you do." This, a lyric from the title song, is exuberantly sung by Carol Channing toward the end of this cinematic milestone, which--like other fabulous failures of its ilk--may have had a VHS shelf life of about 20 minutes (and most likely a smeary pan-and-scan print at that) and is now receiving its DVD due in glorious letterbox. Evidently a professional mastering job, too, not one of these "archive" print-per-order on DVD-R deals you'd save money copying off Turner Classics yourself.

When Carol Channing lost the film role of Dolly to Barbra Streisand, her "Thoroughly Modern Millie" co-star Julie Andrews--who certainly knew how she felt after her own experience with "My Fair Lady"--is said to have consoled her with "Don't worry. You'll get your 'Mary Poppins'." What Ms. Channing got, of course, was SKIDOO.

The enjoyment of this kind of movie, of course, is to watch the glorious ineptitude and wonder WHAT anyone involved in the making of this mess could possibly have been thinking. Otto Preminger is certainly not the name one might think of to direct a wacky counterculture comedy. Jackie Gleason on an acid trip? (Actually, he's quite credible; other actors--such as Fred Clark in a later scene--pretending to be stoned merely act drunk.) Carol's feathery yellow Rudi Gernrich which makes her look like Big Bird in drag? Mickey Rooney with a ticker tape machine in his jail cell? Frankie Avalon's push-button apartment? (Architects of increasingly smaller living spaces could take notes.) Arnold Stang and Groucho Marx (his last movie, as "God") with pale, withered faces and shoe-blacking hair? The plot? (You'll need to watch this more than once to figure out what's going on, but you'll enjoy the hippie putting a flower in the teeth of a portrait of Ronald Reagan.) The sung end credits? This was clearly a high-ticket production, too.

It's very encouraging when so-bad-they're-still-not-good-but-they're-fun films are rescued from obscurity and re-released as proudly as they should be. Next up, I hope, will be Rosalind Russell in OH DAD POOR DAD, MAMMA'S HUNG YOU IN THE CLOSET AND I'M FEELIN' SO SAD--another one that has to be seen to be believed.

At this writing, I have not seen the DVD, but have seen Skidoo on VHS. Not the worst film ever made (not with Hieronymus Merkin lurking about), but perhaps it can be in the "so bad, it's good" genre. People who know Frank Gorshin and Burgess Meredith from "Batman", will enjoy their performances in this film, where generational cultures collide when retired mobster, Tony Banks is urged by the syndicate boss (Groucho Marx, wearing the greasepaint moustache of his youth) to do an inside job to wipe out an informant in prison, while his daughter takes up with a hippie (John Phillip Law).
Gleason recalling his youth in splitscreen; one side showing Jackie doing silent film schtick, and his accidental acid trip (from licking the wrong envelope) are among the visual highlights. The true highlight is Nilsson's music (and bit part as a tower guard, with Fred Clark). The Garbage Can Ballet, The title song, and the entire credits of the film, sung by Nilsson.
(I perform that song, and it never fails to entertain and bewilder.) There are great visual scenes; many involving Carol Channing, nostalgic performances by an all-star cast, and just seeing Groucho's last cinematic moment smoking pot on a boat, and marveling at it's pumpkin-like taste, is worth owning. I hope the Preminger estate is less embarrassed by this film, as the growing cult over Skidoo, shows that the world (USA, at least) has caught up to Preminger's vision, and are now appreciating the film on both its own level, and on a kitchy time capsule level. Now, let's get "La Prisonierre", and Anthony Newley's "Hieronymus Merkin" film on DVD, please. All three of these films show the 1968 cinematic zeitgeist at its zenith/nadir, as you perceive it.

Skidoo is an infamous Hollywood bomb that sits alongside Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Valley of the Dolls as one of the worst movies ever made that is rivaled in its awfulness only by its sheer bizarreness. However, the biggest problem with Skidoo is that it tries so hard to be bizarre that it winds up just being boring. It's really only of interest because of its decidedly unusual cast and Harry Nilsson's eccentric music. The movie never becomes more than a morbid curiosity. Yes it's odd, but it simply isn't the demented masterpiece that so many (including me) wish it was.

I only got to see half of this movie one night on TCM. I had always wanted to see it because I'm an Otto Preminger fan and it's rarely ever shown (but now is being released on DVD). It's been treated like it's the worst movie ever made by many critics, who savaged it when it came out in 1968. The meeting of hippies and Otto Preminger was far too much for the critics to take back in those days, I guess.

Actually having seen the 2nd half of the film made me realise that the film, while not perfect, is actually pretty creative and crazy. It's hard to recount the plot, as it's pretty convoluted and kind of inconsequential considering the craziness that's going on in the film. Some of the schtick in the film feels forced, but overall, I found the 2nd half of the film really funny and charming. Gleason's ride on a baloon is a wonderful highlight, and the whole cast is pretty game given the circumstances. It was also rather brave of Preminger to try something as experimental as this at this point in his career. It doesn't always work, but the film has enough positives to make it worth seeing, even for those who don't care for Preminger.

And yes, the final credits are hysterical. Yes, they are sung by Harry Nilsson, and it is one of the best credit sequences in all of cinema.

Otto Preminger's Skiddo can finally be seen, and it deserves to be.