Skidoo (film)

Skidoo
Theatrical release poster
Directed byOtto Preminger
Written byDoran William Cannon
Rob Reiner (uncredited)
Produced byOtto Preminger
StarringJackie Gleason
Carol Channing
Frankie Avalon
Fred Clark
Michael Constantine
Frank Gorshin
John Phillip Law
Peter Lawford
Burgess Meredith
George Raft
Cesar Romero
Mickey Rooney
Groucho Marx
Austin Pendleton
Alexandra Hay
Luna
CinematographyLeon Shamroy
Edited byGeorge Rohrs
Music byNilsson
Production
company
Sigma Productions
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • December 19, 1968 (1968-12-19) (US)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Skidoo is a 1968 American comedy film directed by Otto Preminger,[1] starring Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, Frankie Avalon, Fred Clark (who died on December 5, two weeks before the film's release), Michael Constantine, Frank Gorshin, John Phillip Law, Peter Lawford, Burgess Meredith, George Raft, Cesar Romero, Mickey Rooney and Groucho Marx playing a top mobster named "God". It was written by Doran William Cannon and released by Paramount Pictures on December 19, 1968. The screenplay satirizes late-1960s counterculture lifestyle and its creature comforts, technology, anti-technology, hippies, free love and then-topical use of the drug LSD.[2]

Singer-songwriter Nilsson, who wrote the score and receives credit as a member of the cast, appears in a few brief scenes with Fred Clark, as both portray prison tower guards swaying to Nilsson's music while under the influence of LSD.[3]

  1. ^ Ebert, Roger. "On the". rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  2. ^ UPI. "Preminger, Gleason Join Explosive Egos in 'Skidoo'" (Schenectady Gazette, April 30, 1968, p.10)
  3. ^ Ebert, Roger. "On the Skidoo set with Otto Preminger: 'Mr. von Stroheim, do you hear noise?'" (Chicago Sun-Times, June 16, 1968)