Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

solszew I am not sure what to make of the terrible (and sometimes angry) reviews of this film. This is a good, if offbeat, film. Performances are good across the board, the direction is solid, and the script, though bizarre, moves pretty well. Perhaps people have thin skin. Preminger does poke uncomfortably at social mores, especially those that were emergent in the generation-gap era - drugs, sex, freedom, and gender power. Subversive? Hell yes. Maybe that's why the reviews are so bad. I loved the film. I loved Carol Channing as Jackie Gleason's turned-on wife. I loved Groucho Marx as "God". I loved Mickey Rooney as Gleason's best friend in prison. I ESPECIALLY loved Luna, as God's assistant (and what the hell is she almost wearing there?). In addition, Jackie Gleason takes acid in prison, Frankie Avalon is a hip gangster, and Carol Channing sings a Nilsson song. What's not to like? Honestly?

bkoganbing After watching Skidoo tonight all I can ask is what was Otto Preminger thinking when he did this film? Better yet what were all these talented people thinking when they signed on?The plot has Jackie Gleason, once the mob's number one hit-man, but now retired and living with wife Carol Channing and daughter Alexandra Hay who has taken up with the hippie lifestyle and some hippies, much to the consternation of Gleason and Channing. Those two alone as parents might make anyone want to join a commune.Cesar Romero and Frankie Avalon bring a message from God or at least that's what syndicate boss Groucho Marx. Groucho wants mob informer Mickey Rooney killed, but Mickey's in prison. Never mind the mob can do anything, bust Gleason into prison and bust him right out once the job is done. But Rooney won't let people near him, but since Gleason's an old friend he'll be vulnerable to him. Which is what Groucho is thinking.Since Gleason balks, Groucho captures Alexandra Hay and brings her on his yacht from where he runs things. At that point with Marx having him by the short hairs, Gleason agrees to the contract.The big idea is to get the entire prison tripping on LSD so no one will interfere. But of course things do go wrong as you'll see if you care to watch the film.No matter how many big names were packed into Skidoo, nothing could get this picture off the ground. Otto Preminger packed the film with a whole lot of people he had used in previous films like Peter Lawford, Burgess Meredith, Slim Pickens, but all to no avail. The jokes fell flat as a punctured soufflé, the situations were just not funny, in fact even Groucho apparently wasn't in the mood to ad-lib any of his patented humor.In fact Groucho playing a character called God WAS the funniest thing in the film. It has serious theological implications for those of us who thought George Burns or Morgan Freeman was God.In its own way Skidoo was as big a disaster, even bigger than Plan Nine From Outer Space. And Preminger had a much bigger budget to work from.

wes-connors The one film for which "Jackie Gleason on Acid" serves as both a literal and figurative description...Director Otto Preminger's tasteless, insulting, offensive, embarrassing, and (most significantly) humorless exercise in 1960s psychedelic, "Skidoo" is even more notable for its tireless waste of resources. Mr. Preminger's direction aside, star Jackie Gleason (as "Tough" Tony Banks) appears as if he needs a drink. Obviously, Mr. Gleason's knack for comedy ("The Honeymooners") and drama ("The Hustler") doesn't translate into satire... The film is a colossally misdirected Acid Bomb...Despite delivering a colorless performance, Gleason is in possession of the film's highlight: it's the "acid trip" he has while in jail; in isolation, it accidentally succeeds. The later Fred Clark and Harry Nilsson "acid trip" is a runner-up; and, Mr. Nilsson's musical interludes are pleasant. Stoned-looking Groucho Marx and Frank Gorshin are painful to watch. Michael Constantine matches Gleason's level of wit. Troupers Carol Channing and Mickey Rooney give it their best shot, at least...Frankie Avalon (as Angie) should be proud, as his characterization stands out amongst such disappointing mediocrity. A star for Mr. Avalon, and a star for Nilsson. Everyone should receive light to heavy paddling, with a well-worn copy of Tom Wolfe's "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test".** Skidoo (1968) Otto Preminger ~ Jackie Gleason, Frankie Avalon, Carol Channing

Bill Slocum Jackie Gleason goes on an acid trip, Carol Channing does a strip tease, and Groucho Marx comes on to a teenager in "Skidoo", a movie that amazes by playing even worse than that reads.It's director Otto Preminger's attempt at a subversive comedy, celebrating the hippie lifestyle as a positive contrast to middle-class American morality. While Gleason's Tough Tony Banks is sent to prison by his former mob boss "God" (Groucho) to ice a stoolie, his wife Flo (Channing) welcomes some 40 hippies to their California mansion, it being a year before the Manson Family showed why this might not be a good idea. When Gleason decides to buck "God's" plan and not do the murder, Flo and the hippies must save the day."Who's your tailor, Sitting Bull?" Tony says when meeting head hippie Stash (John Phillip Law), establishing early on this is going to be another of those grouchy character roles for The Great One. That and the culture clash will be presented in the simple "Billy Jack" style of old squares objecting to the way kids wear their hair.I'm not a fan of Jackie Gleason's film work; his largeness in manner and rough tone tended to make him hard to laugh with on the big screen. Not surprisingly, his best known cinematic turns were in dramatic or serio-comic roles. Here, he is equipped with a Norton like sidekick who gets murdered 15 minutes in, as nothing says laughter like Arnold Stang dead in a car wash. Gleason isn't as obnoxious here as he was in "Don't Drink The Water" the following year, keeping his trademark mugging to a minimum. At least until he licks the wrong envelope and takes that LSD trip.Channing on the other hand mugs up a storm, really throwing herself into her role as she grooves out to a rock song and leads the hippies to save Tony dressed as George Washington but looking more like Captain Crunch. Every line is delivered with that trademark whine and Botox grin long emulated by female impersonators everywhere."Skidoo" doesn't really work the hippie angle and the mob angle so much as plop them next to each other, suggesting that all a gang of hardened criminals needs is a few merry vibes to be won over. As a comedy, the film's idea of laughs is a prison break where all the guards are dosed with acid, making them see naked football players and flop drunkenly to the floor. Or else Groucho as "God", living on a yacht in self-imposed quarantine, like Howard Hughes in fear of germs, trying to get Stash's help in a drug-distribution deal and being flummoxed when the kid tells him business bores him.About the only thing "Skidoo" has working for it, other than an inanely cheerful mood that lends it camp appeal, are some fine musical moments from Harry Nilsson, including singing the entire end credits right up to the copyright: "MCMLXVIII". His tuneful whimsy cuts through otherwise unendurable scenes; though even his title track can't be saved when performed by Channing in her cutsey "peekaboo" manner."You are going on a trip," Tony is told after taking LSD. "If you fight it, it can be a bad trip. If you ride with the waves, it will be a good trip." Fight it or not, there's no question what kind of trip "Skidoo" is.