Skidoo 1968 - Otto Preminger, Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, Frankie Avalon, Fred Clark (Blu-ray - 12/23/2014)

One of the most legendary of all Hollywood fiascos, Skidoo witnessed Otto Preminger and most of his cast delving headfirst into psychedelic absurdity. The film predated Easy Rider and Bob & Carol by a year, rising like a festering wound out of the period when Tinseltown studios were making desperate and embarrassing attempts to connect - in any way possible - with the throes of the then-burgeoning counterculture. Unfortunately - unlike the same year's wonderful I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (yet another picture about squares who decide to drop out) - this loony and misguided, acid-fueled gangster farce never finds its footing. That said, it doesn't begin as a complete disaster, but forks off into left field about halfway through. The curtain rises on a conventional and surprisingly genial note - in the first act, Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing and Frankie Avalon seem to be delivering the kind of characterizations and dialogue more at home in a Disney farce - but once Gleason gets imprisoned and accidentally ingests LSD, beware; the film makes a beeline toward supreme audience irritation and never lets up. Preminger seems to be equating nonsensical mishmash and illogic with "hipness"; this may be the only picture in memory to feature a "Dance of the Garbage Cans" musical number, a deus ex machina in which three prisoners escape by building a hot air balloon with materials found inside of a penitentiary, and a finale in which two romantically (and physically) involved couples swap partners and marry at the drop of a hat, just, apparently, for the sake of confounding the logical fabric of the script and being weird. Much has been made of the bizarre fact that Harry Nilsson sings the final credits (yes, right down to the "Copyright MCMLXVIII,") but that represents the very least of the film's problems. Frankly, the picture isn't funny, or for that matter, entertaining either - not even for aficionados of terrible cinema. The most depressing sidelight is that the studios' attempts to connect with the youth movement continued for several years after Skidoo, and quickly sank even lower. Hollywood didn't really figure out a way to squeeze psychedelic extremities like the ones seen here into a mainstream picture until the brilliant psychodrama End of the Road hit cinemas in 1970. But by that time, the counterculture was already at death's door.

Condition:NEW. Brand New Factory Sealed

Product Details

Actors: Mickey Rooney, Jackie Gleason, John Phillip Law
Directors: Otto Preminger
Format: Blu-ray, Widescreen
Language: English
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: Olive Films
DVD Release Date: December 23, 2014
Run Time: 98 minutes

Cast & Crew
Jackie Gleason Tony Banks
Carol Channing Flo Banks
Frankie Avalon Angie
Fred Clark Guard
Michael Constantine Leech
Frank Gorshin The Man
John Phillip Law Stash
Peter Lawford Senator
Burgess Meredith Warden
Cesar Romero Hechy
Mickey Rooney Packard
Groucho Marx "God"
Alexandra Hay Darlene Banks
Luna "God's" Mistress
Doro Merande Mayor
Phil Arnold Mayor's Husband
Slim Pickens Switchboard Operator
Robert Donner Switchboard Operator
Richard Kiel Beany
Tom Law Geronimo
Jaik Rosenstein "Eggs" Benedict
Stacy King The
Renny Roker
Roman Gabriel Prison Guard
Stone Country Themselves
William Cannon Convict
Austin Pendleton The Prof. (Fred)
Arnold Stang Harry
Harry Nilsson Tower Guard
George Raft Capt. Garbaldo

Technical Credits
Otto Preminger Director, Producer
Glenn Anderson Sound/Sound Designer
Elliott Baker Screenwriter
Doran William Cannon Screenwriter
Rudi Gernreich Costumes/Costume Designer
Tom Hansen Choreography
Franklin E. Milton Sound/Sound Designer
Harry Nilsson Score Composer, Songwriter
Webb Overlander Makeup
Fred R. Price Set Decoration/Design
George Rohrs Editor
Stanley Ralph Ross Screenwriter
Leon Shamroy Cinematographer
Robert Emmet Smith Art Director
Charles Spurgeon Special Effects
Erich Von Stroheim Jr. Asst. Director
George Aliceson Tipton Musical Direction/Supervision