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 dem... Read allInfamous 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.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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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOtto Preminger originally wanted Bob Dylan to score the movie. He invited Dylan and his wife to a screening of a rough cut of the movie in Preminger's Hollywood mansion. After the screening Dylan surprised everybody from his entourage, who thought the film was a disaster, by requesting a second screening but at one condition: he wanted to be left alone with his wife in the house during it. Preminger happily obliged, convinced that Dylan would accept the job. However, Dylan showed no further interest in the movie. He acknowledged later that he and his wife weren't interested at all by the film but they loved the mansion's style so much that they requested this second screening to freely explore it, write down what they liked and take inspiration for their own house.
- Quotes
Stash: Violence is the sign language of the inarticulate.
Tony Banks: What is he talkin' about? Do you know what he's talkin' about?
- Crazy creditsAt the end of the film, Harry Nilsson sings all the credits that appear onscreen, with occasional side notes (e.g. "a good friend", or "thanks").
- ConnectionsFeatured in Inside the Marx Brothers (2003)
"Skidoo" is a moment captured from the most turbulent period in American history, the Sixties. The generation gap, drugs, and the re-evaluation of social behaviors had finally reached the old guard in Hollywood, who didn't have a clue how to keep seats filled with younger audiences. Director Otto Preminger takes the "Laugh-In" route here, filling the screen with familiar faces getting a crash course in hipness via LSD. The plot here is fairly easy to follow, but the images can be difficult to process. Jackie Gleason tripping his brains out. Carol Channing doing her best Captain Crunch impersonation at the movie's climax belting out the theme song. Three villains from TV's "Batman" being directed by a fourth. Nude football players. Dancing garbage cans. Groucho Marx's head twirling around on top of a giant wood screw. Body painting. Groovy everything being thrown at you while acid- induced dialog prattles along, set to a soundtrack by Harry Nilsson (who really does sing all the credits at the film's end).
It's really up to the viewer to decide if this is a very sly comment on the emergence of the drug culture, or just a gimmick to trot out older fading "stars" and paint them in the glamor of counter- culture. Many taboos are skewered here: Stash the Hippie greets his friend Geronimo by kissing him on the mouth (real life brothers, John Phillip Law and Thomas Law), prison romances are hinted at in the freakout scenes, racially mixed romance is seen, geriatric sex, free love, and some very strange metaphysical speeches about hipness and nothingness. Also, smoking pumpkins.
"Skidoo" undoubtedly plays better now, nearly fifty years after a stunned public got a dose of it. Now, it looks like a harmless experiment in psychedelic foolishness. It's mindbending, but for all the wrong reasons. Seek it out and find yourself.
- Kingkitsch
- Dec 31, 2014
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Skidoo - Ein Happening in Love
- Filming locations
- Alcatraz Prison, Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, California, USA(aerial shots of prison)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 38 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1