and Hardy,” he mused. “A miniature Laurel and Hardy, one on each shoulder. Your little Oliver Hardy bawls you out--he says, ‘Well, this is a fine mess you've gotten us into.’ And your little Stan Laurel gets all weepy---Oh, Ollie, | couldn't help it. I'm sorry, | did the best | could.’ ” Later, when Groucho started chuckling to himself, | hesitated to interrupt his reverie, but | had to ask, “What struck you funny?” “| was thinking about this movie, Skidoo," he said. “Il mean some of it is just plain ridiculous. This hippie inmate puts a letter he got, which is soaked in LSD, into the water supply of the prison, and suddenly everybody gets completely reformed. There's a prisoner who says, ‘Oh, gosh, now | don't have to be a rapist any more!’ But it's also sophisticated in its own way. | like how Jackie Gleason, the character he plays, accepts the fact that he's not the biological father of his daughter.” “Oh, really? That sounds like the ultimate ego loss.” “But I'm really getting a big kick out of playing somebody named God like a dirty old man. You wanna know why?” “Typecasting?” “No, no--it's because--do you realize that irreverence and reverence are the same thing?’ “Always?” HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015375