Trivia / Skidoo

• All-Star Cast: As shown on the poster, the film features many famous actors playing the gangsters.
• Creator Backlash: Otto Preminger was so ashamed of this movie that as soon as its theatrical run was completed, he had it taken out of circulation. It was reported that Jackie Gleason walked out during the premiere and Carol Channing said she never even saw it. Groucho Marx described the film and his performances as "god-awful". Most of the other actors, when asked about it, have admitted they don't particularly care for it.
• Hostility on the Set: Even though Groucho Marx was 78 years old and well past his prime, Otto Preminger browbeat him into wearing his old greasepaint-mustache get-up for the movie. He also berated Groucho on the set, causing Jackie Gleason to physically threaten Preminger to never try the same bullying behavior with him.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: For a long time, those who actually wanted to see this movie had to wait for it to turn up on Turner Classic Movies. It's since been released on DVD and Blu-ray, though.
• Uncredited Role: Rob Reiner did uncredited work on the script. According to Reiner, Otto Preminger fired him and rehired him every day.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Otto Preminger originally wanted Bob Dylan to score the movie. He invited Dylan and his wife to a screening of a rough cut of the movie in Preminger's Hollywood mansion. After the screening Dylan surprised everybody from his entourage, who thought the film was a disaster, by requesting a second screening but at one condition: he wanted to be left alone with his wife in the house during it. Preminger happily obliged, convinced that Dylan would accept the job. However, Dylan showed no further interest in the movie. He acknowledged later that he and his wife weren't interested at all by the film but they loved the mansion's style so much that they requested this second screening to freely explore it, write down what they liked and take inspiration for their own house.
  • Faye Dunaway, under contract to Preminger at the time, refused to appear in the film after her unexpected success in Bonnie and Clyde and was promptly sued by Preminger. The matter was settled out of court.

---