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Movie Summary  Short: Why Study Industrial Arts?  The short (another one out of Kansas!) tries to convince young people to take shop classes. To tell you the truth, it sounds pretty reasonable.  Movie: The Skydivers:  When we first saw The Skydivers, we believed it to be one of the worst movies we'd ever done. As it turns out, it's the best of the Coleman Francis trio of films. The plot turns on a parachute jumping school operated by Beth and Harry, who have marital difficulties. The main marital difficulty is Harry's affair with sultry Suzy, who's also involved with pinheaded drunkard Frankie, who was fired by Harry, who then hires old army buddy Joe, who has an affair with Beth, and then Harry dies after Frankie and Suzy put acid on his chute before a night jump. Frankie and Suzy get shot by a posse. That outline doesn't begin to describe the continuity jumps, awkward dialogue, and goofy supporting cast that make this such a rich experience. There's never been a better movie for our treatment. — Paul Chaplin Host Segments  Prologue:  Servo is "Tom StarShow! a one-'Bot planetarium; Crow keeps asking about Uranus.  Segment 1:  Forrester challenges Mike to a competition: "Your Swing Choir against mine, mano a mano!” It's quite a spectacle, with the Mads ending with a tearful “Send in the Clowns.” Frank declares himself and Dr. F the winners, sending Dr. F into one of the oddest little victory dances.  Segment 2:  Mike teaches shop, and Crow saws himself in half while making a napkin holder. The two halves argue about whose fault it was.  Segment 3:  Crow puts himself into a double jock lock, out of curiosity. (It involves a jockstrap.) He can't get out of it, but refuses any help. "This is gonna come up again, Mike."  Segment 4:  Crow gets a car, but Servo strafes it from his plane. "Vehicle not responding, mandatory termination procedure begun..."  Segment 5:  Crow and Servo hang upside down, tangled in their parachutes. Crow acknowledges he's had a bad day, but again refuses help; he must persevere. Forrester throws large rubber balls at Frank, because Frank's a puss.  Stinger:  Weird carp-faced chutist: "I feel real free up there, in the high blue sky." Reflections I don't want to criticize this movie. I'm too fond of the final result for our show. I could ask questions. I could ask: Coleman, why Tony Cardoza—not just in this movie, but in all your movies? Why the buxom giantess at the party, the one who swings the skinny guy so effortlessly while dancing? Why the Scotsman? Why the queer old lady in the straw hat; and where in your vision do you place Jim, the lanky photographer with the mental impairment? The fellow with the guitar, the man who looks like Le Duc Tho, the lady on roller skates—friends of yours, right? Or investors? I'm not complaining, it's fine, I'm just wondering. We identify the big blonde at the dance as "Tom Boerwinkle." Tom Boerwinkle was a hulking white guy who played for the Chicago Bulls in the early Seventies. When Frankie is listing things Suzy's rich dad has given her, we throw in the line "a string o' paloppanies." It's a mispronunciation of "polo ponies," and it's an old Jackie Gleason line. The guy in the plane gunning down Frankie and Suzy at the end is Mr. Coleman Francis himself. — Paul Chaplin