Skidoo Reviews

Jackie Gleason plays a retired gangster sent to prison to assassinate a stool pigeon; gentle, freaky flower children help him get out of the mess he's gotten himself into in this notorious all-star train-wreck made by squares for the benefit of the counterculture. Watch it to see Carol Channing doing the frug in yellow pantyhose, Groucho Marx playing "God" and saying "groovy," and, best of all, Jackie Gleason freaking out on LSD. Not for the average moviegoer but if your looking for rare camp this is a gold mine.

In 1968 Otto Priminger decided to take acid and shoot a film, Skidoo is the result. Gleason's a hippie hating ex-mobster and his boss is a Kingpin called GOD played by Groucho Marx. The cast is amazing with music by Harry Nillson. The film is very strange and campy, it's not very good but worth a watch just to see Groucho smoke dope.

It's like Otto Preminger just wanted to see who the most ridiculous people were that he could put into a hippie drug movie. So why not Groucho Mark, Jackie Gleason, The Riddler, and the guy from the beach movies? There seems to be some loose plot about mobsters or hitmen, or something, but the reason to watch this is to see Ralph Kramden Go On An Acid Trip. Period. Ok, also worthwhile are a dance troupe of garbage cans and a mutiny by a group of hippie pirates, led by a badly lip synching and go go dancing Carol Channing. And Groucho Marx (as "God") sailing off into the sunset in Hari Krishna garb while smoking a joint. I've heard this was the last role of his film career, what a fantastic exit.

Oh, my. You need to see this one to believe it. It starts off as just a really mediocre gangster comedy in which Jackie Gleason gets into prison to bump off a snitch, but things go completely bonkers when he accidentally takes LSD. His hallucinations include Mickey Rooney dancing and Groucho Marx's head on a rotating screw. The rest of the people in the prison - including Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin ('I'm seeing an angel! I am an angel!'), Slim Pickens, Jaws from the James Bond movies, and Peter Lawford - follow Gleason's example and wind up inadvertently tripping balls themselves; dancing garbage cans, naked football players, and general mayhem ensue. Throw in a bunch of hippies, Carol Channing (in an old-timey general's uniform and a platinum-blond wig) singing the title song, and Groucho (in his final role, donning that greasepaint mustache once again) as the mob boss who ultimately sails off into bliss (the sails on the boat read 'Peace' and 'Love') smoking pot with Austin Pendleton while they wear hippie robes, and you've got this astonishingly odd mess of a movie. Harry Nilsson sings the end credits (and I mean that quite literally). I don't know how the hell Otto Preminger made this movie; I guess it had something to do with him dropping acid during production. (Groucho took LSD as well.) It's really something else to watch all these well-known figures trying to be hip and groovy. Wow. Those were the days.

This is not a movie! This is real!

Just watched this today on Sho Hd . Kinda kazy mite be ripe for the remake. Classic actors tho..

Groucho Marx dropped LSD in order to research his role in this film. His experience was covered by High Times. True story.