One of a number of drug/counterculture/sub-hippie titles Hollywood made in the late 1960's,SKIDOO maybe the most infamous of this short-lived genre.That this style of movie soon departed was mainly because it involved mostly various middle-aged filmmakers and actors who simply didn't know how to handle such matters.I LOVE YOU,ALICE B.TOKLAS,made in the same year as SKIDOO (1968),and which starred Peter Sellers,was possibly the most watchable of these efforts,but even this film was by no means perfect and rather faded away after a promising opening few reels.SKIDOO,however, starts off as a rather mundane gangster melodrama,but gradually mutates into increasingly outlandish and bizarre expansions,which exude a certain spell,but mostly for completely opposite motives intended.
Retired gangster Tony Banks (Jackie Gleason),seemingly now living in settled suburbia with his family (Carol Channing,Alexandra Hay) is coerced by his former superior,"God" (Groucho Marx), into bumping off an informer (Mickey Rooney).Sneaked into prison,Banks accidentally takes LSD and after experiencing a trip,refuses to go ahead with the killing.Along with his cellmate (Austin Pendleton),he manages an escape by improvised balloon after lacing soup with the drug which affects everybody within,including the guards.With the help of his daughter's hippie boyfriend (John Phillip Law) and his similarly inclined associates,God is overpowered on his luxury yacht and love and peace conquer all.
Intended as a comedy with satirical asides ,SKIDOO fails totally in this purpose because of dreary and ponderous direction by Otto Preminger and a script lacking in the most modest of humour.I am of the opinion that Preminger was a somewhat better director than various detractors have made him out to be,but there is no doubt he could partake in some crashing aberrations,of which this is possibly the nadir.To be fair,some of the material abound could have been funny had the writing been much sharper and astute,and the direction slicker and better paced,but Preminger's handling is so heavy-handed and leaden as to resemble an elephant wading through glue.Comic timing then,is definitely not in the Preminger forte (he often handled drama with far more assurance).It is however,more the forte of such performers as Groucho Marx,Jackie Gleason,Mickey Rooney,Frank Gorshin and Fred Clark.However,the prison setting seems a very apposite metaphor as all the above and other members of the cast (which also include other eclectic names as Burgess Meredith,Peter Lawford,Slim Pickens and unbelievably, even George Raft!) are incarcerated by the unfunny,witless script.Gleason's familiar bombastic,blustering comic style could be funny when channelled correctly,but he comes across here as decidedly charmless and unappealing,and it's so very sad to see a legend such as an elderly,floundering Groucho Marx (in his last,and certainly worst film),with his dyed hair and moustache,trying desperately to bring his customary quicksilver wit to a role that simply doesn't provide him with such an opportunity.Groucho seems to be reading his lines via cue cards,and this reaches it's lowest point when he attempts to seduce Gleason's teenage daughter (Miss Hay),though even this is surpassed in sheer creepiness when the obviously middle-aged Miss Channing semi-strips in front of an unimpressed Frankie Avalon,and her skimpy costume worn in the final scene.
Preminger seems to be reversing the principle of his earlier drug-related THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955).That certainly condemned the use of narcotics(namely heroin);SKIDOO more or less endorses the ingestion of LSD (seemingly the equivalent of being pleasantly drunk,according to Preminger) as all characters here metamorphize into amiable,happy-go-lucky types,including the criminals;one convict,played by Michael Constantine,says taking more acid will probably stop his urge to "rape" anymore,perhaps the most foolishly misguided line uttered (among many).
There are a few scenes though,which carry a certain amount of camp,way-out value.They don't amuse,but Gleason's experiences during his trip,with a miniaturised Pendleton,bulging eye-sockets,and Groucho's face imposed on a screw top are fascinatingly idiotic,as is the unforgettable trash can dance accompanied by a Harry Nilsson soundtrack.Nilsson's musical interjections are just about the only aspects of the slightest merit present during this film,but he composed better works before and after.Nilsson,along with Fred Clark,feature as stoned-out tower guards in this sequence,and this is the nearest we get to actual laughs in the film.It dosen't quite happen,though,and Nilsson's singing of the entire end credits is quirky but not at all subtle;even less subtle is Preminger's use of his war film IN HARM'S WAY (1965) in the opening scene,indicating his dislike of the editing of films on TV for the purpose of commercial breaks;this sadly sets the tone for the film to come.
SKIDOO has never been released on VHS or DVD,and is rarely even shown on TV (though TCM recently broadcasted it,though only early in the morning and not peak time).The Preminger estate have apparently refused proper availability because of it's perceived poor quality.This is understandable;SKIDOO misfires spectacularly in what was intended,with only brief moments that suggest what could have been.
RATING:2 and a half out of 10.
Retired gangster Tony Banks (Jackie Gleason),seemingly now living in settled suburbia with his family (Carol Channing,Alexandra Hay) is coerced by his former superior,"God" (Groucho Marx), into bumping off an informer (Mickey Rooney).Sneaked into prison,Banks accidentally takes LSD and after experiencing a trip,refuses to go ahead with the killing.Along with his cellmate (Austin Pendleton),he manages an escape by improvised balloon after lacing soup with the drug which affects everybody within,including the guards.With the help of his daughter's hippie boyfriend (John Phillip Law) and his similarly inclined associates,God is overpowered on his luxury yacht and love and peace conquer all.
Intended as a comedy with satirical asides ,SKIDOO fails totally in this purpose because of dreary and ponderous direction by Otto Preminger and a script lacking in the most modest of humour.I am of the opinion that Preminger was a somewhat better director than various detractors have made him out to be,but there is no doubt he could partake in some crashing aberrations,of which this is possibly the nadir.To be fair,some of the material abound could have been funny had the writing been much sharper and astute,and the direction slicker and better paced,but Preminger's handling is so heavy-handed and leaden as to resemble an elephant wading through glue.Comic timing then,is definitely not in the Preminger forte (he often handled drama with far more assurance).It is however,more the forte of such performers as Groucho Marx,Jackie Gleason,Mickey Rooney,Frank Gorshin and Fred Clark.However,the prison setting seems a very apposite metaphor as all the above and other members of the cast (which also include other eclectic names as Burgess Meredith,Peter Lawford,Slim Pickens and unbelievably, even George Raft!) are incarcerated by the unfunny,witless script.Gleason's familiar bombastic,blustering comic style could be funny when channelled correctly,but he comes across here as decidedly charmless and unappealing,and it's so very sad to see a legend such as an elderly,floundering Groucho Marx (in his last,and certainly worst film),with his dyed hair and moustache,trying desperately to bring his customary quicksilver wit to a role that simply doesn't provide him with such an opportunity.Groucho seems to be reading his lines via cue cards,and this reaches it's lowest point when he attempts to seduce Gleason's teenage daughter (Miss Hay),though even this is surpassed in sheer creepiness when the obviously middle-aged Miss Channing semi-strips in front of an unimpressed Frankie Avalon,and her skimpy costume worn in the final scene.
Preminger seems to be reversing the principle of his earlier drug-related THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955).That certainly condemned the use of narcotics(namely heroin);SKIDOO more or less endorses the ingestion of LSD (seemingly the equivalent of being pleasantly drunk,according to Preminger) as all characters here metamorphize into amiable,happy-go-lucky types,including the criminals;one convict,played by Michael Constantine,says taking more acid will probably stop his urge to "rape" anymore,perhaps the most foolishly misguided line uttered (among many).
There are a few scenes though,which carry a certain amount of camp,way-out value.They don't amuse,but Gleason's experiences during his trip,with a miniaturised Pendleton,bulging eye-sockets,and Groucho's face imposed on a screw top are fascinatingly idiotic,as is the unforgettable trash can dance accompanied by a Harry Nilsson soundtrack.Nilsson's musical interjections are just about the only aspects of the slightest merit present during this film,but he composed better works before and after.Nilsson,along with Fred Clark,feature as stoned-out tower guards in this sequence,and this is the nearest we get to actual laughs in the film.It dosen't quite happen,though,and Nilsson's singing of the entire end credits is quirky but not at all subtle;even less subtle is Preminger's use of his war film IN HARM'S WAY (1965) in the opening scene,indicating his dislike of the editing of films on TV for the purpose of commercial breaks;this sadly sets the tone for the film to come.
SKIDOO has never been released on VHS or DVD,and is rarely even shown on TV (though TCM recently broadcasted it,though only early in the morning and not peak time).The Preminger estate have apparently refused proper availability because of it's perceived poor quality.This is understandable;SKIDOO misfires spectacularly in what was intended,with only brief moments that suggest what could have been.
RATING:2 and a half out of 10.