Review of Skidoo (1968) by Dave A — 04 Mar 2009
What do you get when a respectable director (Otto Preminger, responsible for the classic Man With The Golden Arm) and a lot a straight middle aged actors try and make a desperately hip and "groovy" psychedelic comedy full of acid trips?...
Well you get one the greatest "so bad its brilliant" films ever made. Anyone who complains it is a pile of shite is missing the point: it's a pile of shite in such a wonderful way. Whatever possessed Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, Frankie Avalon, Mickey Rooney and Groucho "Spliffsmoker" Marx to appear in this abomination, God only knows? But thank the Lord that they did! Jackie Gleason hallucinating Groucho Marx's disembodied head attached to a giant flying rotating screw while tripping is probably my favourite drug scene ever; and as for the dustbins dancing, well... groovy, baby!
All I can say is any fan of 60s kitch has got to see this film; much of it is surprisingly amatuerish, but the shear absurdity makes up for the shoddiness. (See how many actors from the Batman TV series you can spot...).
(How did I forget to mention that Groucho plays "God", the head of the mafia!).
This review of Skidoo (1968) was written by Dave A on 04 Mar 2009.
Skidoo has generally received mixed reviews.
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