Skidoo (1968)

Infamous psychedelic all-star comedy about ex-gangster Tony Banks, who's called out of retirement by mob kingpin God to carry out a hit on fellow mobster "Blue Chips" Packard. When Banks ... See full summary »

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writer:

Doran William Cannon

Stars:

Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, Frankie Avalon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jackie Gleason	...	Tony Banks
Carol Channing	...	Flo
Frankie Avalon	...	Angie
Fred Clark	...	A Tower Guard
Michael Constantine	...	Leech
Frank Gorshin	...	The Man
John Phillip Law	...	Stash
Peter Lawford	...	The Senator
Burgess Meredith	...	The Warden
George Raft	...	The Skipper
Cesar Romero	...	Hechy
Mickey Rooney	...	'Blue Chips' Packard
Groucho Marx	...	'God'
Arnold Stang	...	Harry
Doro Merande	...	The Mayor

Storyline

Infamous psychedelic all-star comedy about ex-gangster Tony Banks, who's called out of retirement by mob kingpin God to carry out a hit on fellow mobster "Blue Chips" Packard. When Banks demurs, God kidnaps his daughter Darlene on his luxury yacht.

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Plot Keywords:

channel surfing | motor boat | sleeping with a blindfold | car wash | hippy | 

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Taglines:

It takes two to skidoo.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some nudity and drug content

Did You Know?

Trivia

Otto Preminger experimented with LSD to prepare for this film, as did Groucho Marx. (Writer Paul Krassner accompanied Groucho, who reportedly had a pleasant, sometimes moving experience.) Score composer Harry Nilsson had never used LSD, and simply played drunk for his screen role. (His later experience with the drug inspired Nilsson to write The Point (1971).)

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Quotes

Flo: Listen, "God" sent for your father.
Darlene: [wails, horrified, thinking Tony has died] Nooooo!
Angie: [a little annoyed] Not THAT God, dope.

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Crazy Credits

The film begins with a cartoon figure in striped prison clothing dancing across the film's title and Otto Preminger's credit on the main characters' TV set. The channel is switched by Jackie Gleason before any other names are revealed.

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Connections

Featured in Geno in the Evening: Marx Madness - A Celebration of the Marx Brothers (2016)

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Soundtracks

Garbage Can Ballet

User Reviews

A TOTAL CATASTROPHE- End of Discussion

Reading the myriad raves of the users in this forum........trying to legitimize one of the most calamitous disasters in the history of mainstream American cinema......is alternately nauseating and shameful. Preminger's moronic, loud and incoherent stab at late sixties hipness may provide occasional shocks in how desperate he became, but this is squaresville squared. I guess using, and I mean USING every one of Otto's devoted ensemble cast of his "glory" years of the late fifties to about the Cardinal in '63 (Lawford, Meredith,etc.)provided some kind of buffer to what he must have known was a million to one stab at phantasmagoric swill, but he sacrificed them anyway. And, for once, the film was justifiably buried after its premiere and surfaces occasionally to remind any thinking human it needed to remain buried. This makes his racist trash (although not without camp value) Hurry Sundown in '67 and the following smarmy pseudo-liberalism of "Tell me that you love me, Junie Moon" in'70 outstanding by comparison. Take my word for it and understand why it is one of the lowest rating film on this board. I have actually seen it recently and it is worthless and even worse...damaging. I couldn't wait to see this dream cast in a film I would have guaranteed was awaiting rediscovery. Just forget about it and move on with your lives..........

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 December 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Skidoo

Filming Locations:

San Francisco Bay, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Otto Preminger Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1