Wednesday, January 16, 2008

23 skidoo, 24 skidoo... whatever it takes

In 1968, Otto Preminger directed Skidoo, which featured big-name actors and comedians from the previous generation attempting to "get hip" with those long-haired, sandal-wearin', peace-marchin', free-lovin', acid-droppin', gerund-destroyin' kids of 1968.

How bizarre was this movie? Imagine Jackie Gleason tripping on acid, and Groucho Marx as a drug-dealing syndicate boss who smokes joints instead of cigars, for starters. Another dozen or so fading legends drive their careers into the ground on this one as well. Check out the jaw-dropping trailer below. (thanks to Chris "Vo-dee-oh-doh" H. for the idea)


As Sammy Davis, Jr. says, "This is the gassiest, grooviest, swingin'-est trippiest movie you've ever seen".

Having just typed this, I had the brainstorm to check YouTube and lo and behold, someone has thoughtfully posted Skidoo in its glorious entirety (cut into 10 parts due to YouTube restrictions on the maximum length a video can be). Part 1 of Skidoo to follow:


Parties that are still interested, or just too stoned to know what else to do to pass the time can catch Skidoo, parts 2-10 below.

Skidoo (Part 2 of 10)
Skidoo (Part 3 of 10)
Skidoo (Part 4 of 10)
Skidoo (Part 5 of 10)
Skidoo (Part 6 of 10)
Skidoo (Part 7 of 10)
Skidoo (Part 8 of 10)
Skidoo (Part 9 of 10)
Skidoo (Part 10 of 10)



Speaking of "skidoo", the phrase "23 skidoo" came into popularity in the 1910's-1920's and generally refers to leaving quickly, "getting out while the getting's good".

But why 23? Why "skidoo"? No one seems to have any definite answers, but that hasn't stopped people from coming up with a lot of theories, covering most of the plausibility spectrum from the plausible to the ridiculous. Before you 23 skidoo, read some of the history behind the mystery of this strange phrase.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Oh ... my ... freaking ... gosh...

I can't believe I've never heard of this ... so I've probably just blocked it out ...