Skidoo (1968) starring Jackie Gleason, Groucho Marx, Carol Channing
Skidoo is supposedly a movie about a former hitman, breaking into prison to commit one last job. It’s actually an ode to LSD by Otto Preminger.
Review of Skidoo
Skidoo is a train wreck of a movie. It’s literally one of those that has you ask, “How did so many talented clowns, comedians, and actors make a movie this bad?”
I’m not joking. I wish I were. It probably sounds like I don’t like Skidoo. I don’t, and neither did audiences at the time. It was a box office failure.
The basic story has a retired hitman, Tough Tony Banks (Jackie Gleason) called out of retirement. The head of organized crime (Groucho Marx) is afraid of the possible testimony of “Blue Chips” (Mickey Rooney). Since Tough Tony is Blue Chips’ best friend, he’s the only person able to get close enough to murder him. At the same time, Tony’s daughter is falling in with a group of hippies. Tony infiltrates the prison, is accidentally given LSD, which solves all of his problems.
Seriously, that’s the plot. It’s poorly executed. It has a few moments of humor scattered throughout, but not nearly enough of them. I’m only including the review for completeness, since it includes both Jackie Gleason and Groucho Marx.
Cast of characters
- Jackie Gleason (The Honeymooners, The Hustler) … “Tough” Tony Banks. The protagonist, a retired hit man. He’s called out of retirement, for one last job. To murder his best friend. ‘God’ has his best friend murdered, to make it clear that he’s serious. So, Tony goes undercover in the prison where his friend “Blue Chips” is. And accidentally ingests LSD.
- Carol Channing (Alice in Wonderland 1985) … Flo. Tony’s wife. Before their marriage, she was very promiscuous. So, Tony’s not sure if their daughter is actually his daughter.
- Frankie Avalon (Panic in the Year Zero) … Angie. Hedonist playboy mobtser. Hechy’s son.
- Fred Clark (Living It Up, Visit to a Small Planet) … A Tower Guard
- Michael Constantine (Don’t Drink the Water) … Leech. The rapist inmate, who thinks LSD might help him stop raping women. Seriously.
- Frank Gorshin (Batman the movie) … The Man. ‘God’s’ inside man at the prison. He tries to arrange Tony to see “Blue Chips”, but fails.
- John Phillip Law (The Golden Voyage of Sinbad) … Stash. The hippie, who doesn’t have a job, income, or way of supporting himself. But he wants to sleep with Tony’s daughter and indoctrinate her in the “joy” of being a hippie.
- Cesar Romero (Two on a Guillotine) … Hechy. ‘God’s’ messenger. He delivers the “message” to Tony about killing Blue Chips. And murders Tony’s friend to drive the point home.
- Mickey Rooney (Babes in Arms, It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World) … ‘Blue Chips’ Packard. Criminal in prison, Tony’s his only friend. ‘God’ is afraid that he’s going to talk to the federal authorities, so he wants him dead.
- Groucho Marx (Copacabana) … ‘God’. The head of organized crime in America. He’s forced to live on a luxury lot in international waters. Between his paranoia, small living space, and being a germophobe, he’s in a worse prison that anyone else could put him in.
Secondary characters
- Peter Lawford (The Picture of Dorian Gray) … The Senator. Politically ambitious, until he accidentally ingests LSD.
- Burgess Meredith (Clash of the Titans) … The Warden. Who also mellows out with accidental LSD.
- George Raft (Some Like It Hot) … The Skipper. Who keeps ‘God’s’ yacht in international waters, so they can’t be arrested. So, of course, blissed out hippies find their way there. Seriously. As does Tony, in a hot air balloon he made to escape prison.
- Arnold Stang (The Man with the Golden Arm) … Harry. Tony’s friend and accomplice. Who may, or may not, be the biological father of Tony’s daughter.
- Slim Pickens (Dr. Strangelove) … The Switchboard Operator
- Robert Donner (El Dorado) … Another Switchboard Operator
- Richard Kiel (Eegah) … Beany. “God’s” muscle inside the prison.
- Austin Pendleton (The Muppet Movie) … Fred (The Professor). The hi-tech genius, who cares about nothing other than getting high.
- Alexandra Hay … Darlene
- Donyale Luna … ‘God’s’ Mistress. Serially unfaithful. At the end, she marries Angie, then proceeds to make out with Hechy — Angie’s father. Seriously.
Trivia for Skidoo
- Even though Groucho Marx was 78 years old, Otto Preminger browbeat Groucho into wearing his old greasepaint-mustache get-up for the movie. And, dying his hair jet-black. He also berated Groucho on the set, causing his co-star Jackie Gleason to physically threaten Preminger to never try the same bullying behavior with him.
- Final credited feature film for Groucho Marx. He would have a small, uncredited cameo in The Candidate.
- Otto Preminger experimented with LSD to prepare for this film, as did Groucho Marx.
- Several writers were brought in to “fix” this while Otto Preminger was shooting Doran William Cannon’s original script. These “rescue writers” included Elliott Baker and Stanley Ralph Ross. By the time Ross was called in, the picture was nearly half done and the scenes that Ross suggested be cut had already been shot and roughly edited. Preminger never cheated on wages and paid Ross, Baker and several other writers in a vain attempt to add jokes. However, Preminger steadfastly refused to alter the structure of the story.