Skidoo
Considered to be mostly a lost and buried relic of the 60s (though its profile has been raised somewhat by a couple of showings on TCM in the past year), Otto Premingerâs tripped-out masterpiece and ode to the counterculture is aided by an incredible cast and some truly stupefying visuals, anchored by a rock-solid performance by Jackie Gleason as Tony Banks, a retired hitman called back to service to bump off an informant (played by Mickey Rooney), on behalf of the national crime syndicate known as âThe Treeâ. Indeed, the Great One takes us on his characterâs journey as he enters the prison Rooney is being kept at, only to accidentally drop LSD and go on his first trip, at the end of which he âloses his egoâ and reforms himself. He is aided greatly by then-newcomer Austin Pendleton as Fred The Professor, in a role that inspired many other eccentric geniuses in films afterward. The Professor is indeed one cool cat, and gets some of the filmâs best moments. Itâs interesting to note the number of top names playing âEstablishmentâ figures here, including Frankie Avalon (hilarious), George Raft, Cesar Romero, and Arnold Stang, all leading up to the head of the organization, who calls himself âGodâ and is played by Groucho Marx. Groucho should be commended here for bringing real depth to his bad guy part, since it turns out âGodâ is mostly a frightened, paranoid old man too scared to even come out of the luxury cabin on his houseboat, aided by his assistant played by Donyale Luna (the first black model to make the cover of Vogue). As for the hippies, led by John Phillip Law and Alexandra Hay as Gleasonâs daughter, their scenes come off as actually pretty authentic and even funny. The big drawback cast-wise though is Carol Channing, woefully miscast as Tonyâs wife Flo; her attempts at being cool and sexy and even at one point performing a striptease are downright revolting, a more appealing actress should have been in order for this part. The filmâs comic highlight though has to be when Tony and The Professor contaminate the prisonâs food supply with acid, which means even more great actors get to do their own âtripping outâ scenes, including Frank Gorshin, Peter Lawford, Burgess Meredith (yes, Burgess Meredith), Slim Pickens, Richard âJawsâ Kiel, and Harry Nilsson, though arguably the filmâs best line comes from Eddie Constantine as Tonyâs cellmate and a convicted rapist (âHey, maybe if I took some of that stuff… I wouldn’t have to rape anybody no more!â). The film is at times eerily prophetic (amazing how even in 1968 having a large framed picture of Ronald Reagan on the wall represented having rock-solid conservative values), and the final shots of the film, showing âGodâ being liberated, is actually rather touching and profound. In conclusion, if you ever get the chance to see this movie in any way, shape, or form, grab it, and be prepared for a wild rideâŚ
9/10