Film

Skidoo

Name: Skidoo
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Released: 1968
Cast: Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, Frankie Avalon, Fred Clark, Michael Constantine

Gangster

Otto Preminger's 1968 crime comedy about an ex-gangster dragged back into the mob underworld. It's a lurching, psychedelic farce where plot mechanics matter less than sheer bewildering audacity—Jackie Gleason delivers his driest deadpan while the film dissolves into absurdism around him. For adventurous viewers who want to feel like they're watching something that shouldn't exist.

TMDb rating

2.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy films that are broken on purpose, where a 1960s crime caper lurches into hallucinatory psychedelia and nobody seems to mind the wreckage.

Skip it if you want a tight, witty mob comedy with a clear plot, since this one drifts, shouts and abandons its own story whenever the mood strikes.

What it asks of you: Ninety-eight minutes, but expect a loose, scattered shape that rewards letting go of narrative logic, with bright, jittery tone shifts you have to ride rather than follow.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Killers1964

Donald Siegel's tight, clever update of the Hemingway story. Two assassins hunt their target with meticulous efficiency; plot twists accumulate like a perfect Martini. Gleason plays it straight, making the crime procedural sing.

But It's fundamentally a straight thriller without Skidoo's anarchic energy. If you want that specific '60s chaos, you won't find it here.

The Italian Job1969

A heist comedy that actually works, with Michael Caine leading a charming ensemble through an ingenious gold robbery. Sharp dialogue, genuine laughs, impeccable pacing. The Mini Cooper chase alone is worth the price.

But It's almost too competent and likeable. There's no weirdness, no threat of complete collapse. It's the rational cousin of what Preminger was attempting.

Ocean's Eleven1960

The original Rat Pack romp, breezy and improvised-feeling, where the heist is almost secondary to watching charismatic men throw money at a vanity project. Sinatra and the gang steal (literally and figuratively) every frame.

But The plot is gossamer-thin and the filmmaking is sometimes lazy. It works on charm; if that doesn't move you, there's very little underneath.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Skidoo

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Performance.1970

Both films reject the conventions of their genre and trust in disorientation and visual experiment over clarity. Both were studio films that studios quickly regretted financing. Both suggest the gangster story can be something stranger.

Nic Roeg and Donald Cammell's hallucinogenic thriller about a gangster hiding in the house of a retired rock star. Mick Jagger is magnetic; the film is genuinely disturbing and formally inventive. A corruption of the genre itself, much like Skidoo, but in a radically different register.

But It's genuinely difficult to follow and demands patience. The psychedelic aesthetic can feel pretentious; the violence and sexuality won't sit comfortably with everyone.

The Grifters1990

Stephen Frears' adaptation of Jim Thompson is a taut, nasty crime story about con artists betraying each other. Annette Bening is ferocious; the whole film has teeth. A masterclass in how to make genre material urgent.

But It's cynical and mean-spirited in ways that won't feel fun. Skidoo's chaos at least offers playfulness; this offers none.

Get Carter1971

Michael Caine as a cold, violent enforcer returning to Newcastle. British, brutal, unglamorous—everything the mob story could be when stripped of Hollywood sentimentality. Genuinely unsettling in its chilly efficiency.

But It's bleak and joyless by design. If you're drawn to Skidoo's anarchic zaniness, this austere approach will feel punishing.

The Outfit1973

Robert Duvall as a career criminal taking on the mob. Spare, intelligent script; Duvall's minimalist performance is a study in controlled fury. A thinking person's crime thriller that respects the audience's intelligence.

But It's procedural and deliberate. There's no whimsy, no visual experimentation—just cold professionalism, which may feel like a comedown.

Johnny Dangerously1984

A parody of '30s gangster films played with genuine warmth by Joe Piscopo and featuring scene-stealing supporting turns. It's silly and occasionally inspired, with real affection for the material it's ribbing.

But The humor lands unevenly and the pacing drags. It tries to be screwball but sometimes just feels scattered and lazy.

Prizzi's Honor1985

John Huston's audacious black comedy about a hitman falling for a rival hitman. Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner spark perfectly; the film finds genuine romance and absurdity in the same frame without betraying either.

But The tone is deliberately unstable—comic one moment, genuinely dark the next. If you want consistency, you won't find it, and that instability can feel miscalibrated.

GoodFellas1990

Scorsese's rush of a film about the mob lifestyle from the inside. Energy, style, performance, music—everything is firing. Ray Liotta's narration pulls you into a world that's seductive and horrifying in equal measure.

But It's violent and bleak beneath the style and swagger. The exhilaration cloaks a story about emptiness and betrayal. Not what you want if you're seeking lightness.

The Point1971

Both are 1970s studio productions that feel like fever dreams—glossy, expensive, utterly unclassifiable. Both predate home video; both felt like one-offs from a system that quickly forgot them. Both assume the audience will tolerate genuine weirdness.

Harry Nilsson's animated musical fable about an outcast boy in a pointless world. Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, gorgeously strange and genuinely moving. A completely sui generis work that somehow exists and shouldn't—like Skidoo, an artifact of Hollywood's brief moment of bewilderment.

But It's a children's film for adults that occasionally feels like it's talking down to both. The philosophizing can feel forced; it's patient in a way that tests viewer investment.

A Serious Man2009

Both feature aging men pulled into situations they can't control, presided over by forces (Preminger's nonsensical mob, the Coens' indifferent universe) that operate by incomprehensible rules. Both find comedy in the absurdity of a world where rationality is useless.

The Coens' mystery about a Midwestern physics teacher whose life gradually disintegrates. Funny, anxious, and theologically ambitious—a genre film (the noir) wearing the costume of suburban realism. Roger Deakins' cinematography is quietly magnificent.

But It refuses closure and doesn't reward emotional investment in the conventional way. The humor is alienating; you may leave the theater unsettled rather than satisfied.