Otto Preminger's 'Skidoo'
I recently read and reviewed Otto Preminger: The Man Who Would Be King.
In 1968, Preminger decided to make a film based on the counter-culture that was sweeping the country at the time--namely San Fransisco. Preminger assembled an all-star cast: Jackie Gleason (Tony Banks), Carol Channing (Flo Banks), Frankie Avalon (Angie), Fred Clark (Tower Guard), Michael Constantine (Leech), Frank Gorshin (The Man), John Phillip Law (Stash), Peter Lawford (The Senator), Burgess Meredith (The Warden), George Raft (Captain Garbaldo), Cesar Romero (Hechy), Mickey Rooney (Blue Chips Packard), Groucho Marx (God), Arnold Stang (Harry Doro Merande), The Mayor (Phil Arnold), Slim Pickens (Switchboard Operator), Harry Nilsson (Tower Guard) (as Nilsson), Orange County Ramblers (Green Bay Packers), Austin Pendleton (Fred the Professor) and it's Otto Preminger himself introducing the credits. Skidoo, definitely proves that having a cast full of stars doesn't guarantee a success.
Preminger and his estate were so embarrassed by the failure of Skidoo, that it has never been released on proper VHS or DVD. I have heard rumours that Turner Classic Movies will air the film sometime in 2008. The only copies currently available are the grainy bootlegs, uploaded by a youtube user, as shown below.
Jackie Gleason on LSD? It's a laugher. Though somehow I don't think that's what Preminger intended.
Part I:
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part VIII
Part VIIII
Part X
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