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Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 movie starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams, and Mike Henry. It inspired several other trucking films, including two sequels, Smokey and the Bandit II (originally known as Smokey and the Bandit Ride Again in the U.K.), and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3. There were also a series of 1994 television movies (Bandit Goes Country, Bandit Bandit, Beauty and the Bandit and Bandit's Silver Angel) from original director/writer Hal Needham loosely based on the earlier version, with Emmy-winning actor Brian Bloom now playing Bandit.
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Quotations
Let me have a diablo sandwich, a Dr. Pepper, and make it fast, I'm in a god-damn hurry!
This is sheriff Buford T. Justice. I'm in pursuit of a black Trans Am. He's all mine so stay outta the way.
You sumbitch! (Frequently directed at the Bandit)
You sumbitch! You did that on purpose! You're going away 'till you're gray! I got the evidence!
after kicking one of the car thieves in the rear That's an attention-getter.
I'm gonna barbecue yo' ass in molasses!
Encyclopedia
Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 movie starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams, and Mike Henry. It inspired several other trucking films, including two sequels, Smokey and the Bandit II (originally known as Smokey and the Bandit Ride Again in the U.K.), and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3. There were also a series of 1994 television movies (Bandit Goes Country, Bandit Bandit, Beauty and the Bandit and Bandit's Silver Angel) from original director/writer Hal Needham loosely based on the earlier version, with Emmy-winning actor Brian Bloom now playing Bandit. The three original movies introduced two generations of the Pontiac Trans Am (while the TV-movie version drives the Dodge Stealth). The film was the second highest grossing film of 1977, beaten only by Star Wars.
The movie was filmed primarily in Georgia in the cities of McDonough and Jonesboro. The scenes in Texarkana were filmed in Jonesboro and the surrounding area, and many of the chase scenes were filmed in the surrounding areas Hwy 400, I-85, and in McDonough. The scene at the race track was filmed at Lakewood Speedway at the old Lakewood Fairgrounds on the south side of Atlanta. The roller coaster seen in the movie was the Greyhound. It had not been used for some time and was repainted for the first Smokey and the Bandit film. It was destroyed in the second film and a flash back scene used in the third.
The film made use of five modified 1977 Pontiac Trans Ams that were each built according to the required stuntwork. All were damaged during the rigors of filming the stunts. The particular car used to jump over the river towards the middle of the movie was reportedly totaled doing the stunt.
Plot
As the movie begins, rich Texan Big Enos Burdette (Pat McCormick) and his son, Little Enos (Paul Williams), are trying to find a truck driver willing to haul Coors beer to Georgia for their refreshment. Unfortunately, due to federal liquor laws and state liquor tax regulations of the time, selling and/or shipping Coors east of the Mississippi River was considered bootlegging, and the truck drivers who had taken the bet previously had been discovered and arrested by "Smokey" (truck driver and CB slang for highway patrolmen). At a local truck rodeo, the Texans locate legendary truck driver Bo "Bandit" Darville (Burt Reynolds) and offer him US$80,000 (US$270,000 in 2007 dollars), the price of a new truck, to haul 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas to the "Southern Classic" truck rodeo in Georgia - in 28 hours. Bandit accepts the bet and recruits fellow trucker Cletus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) to drive the truck (Snow brings along his dog, a Basset Hound named "Fred", for company). Bandit purchases a black Pontiac Trans Am, which he will drive himself as a "blocker" car to deflect attention away from the truck and its cargo.
The duo reach Texas ahead of schedule, load their truck with Coors, and immediately head back towards Georgia. Shortly thereafter, Bandit picks up professional dancer and apparent runaway bride Carrie (Sally Field), whom he nicknames "Frog" because Bandit would like to "jump" her. However, by picking up Carrie, Bo becomes the target of Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), whose handsome yet very simple-minded son Junior (Mike Henry) was to have been Carrie's groom.
The remainder of the film is essentially one big high-speed chase, as Bandit and Frog attract continuous attention from local and state police while Snowman barrels eastward with the Coors beer. Despite leaving his home jurisdiction, Sheriff Justice and his son continue to pursue Bandit, even as various mishaps cause their squad car to disintegrate around them. Bandit and Snowman are greatly assisted by a number of colorful characters met along the way, many of whom they contact through their CB radios; these acquaintances allow them to escape police pursuit on numerous occasions. Neither Justice nor any of the other police officers are ever aware of Snowman's illegal cargo of Coors.(1986)
Despite near-constant police pursuit and several roadblocks, Bandit, Snowman, Frog and Fred arrive at the Southern Classic with a full trailer of Coors and ten minutes to spare, underscored by "Marching Through Georgia" as their vehicles roar into the grounds. Instead of taking their payoff, they accept the Texans' new offer to drive to Boston and bring back clam chowder in 18 hours, double or nothing. As they are leaving for Boston in one of Big Enos' Cadillacs (leaving him an even dozen), they see Justice's badly damaged car on the roadside. Bandit calls Justice over the radio and describes himself as Big Enos in order to put him on a false lead, but then decides that Justice is "too good a man" and tells him, "Look over your left shoulder." As Bandit and his friends drive off, Justice shouts defiantly that he isn't finished yet and resumes his pursuit as pieces drag from his battered patrol car, while his son runs behind him, begging his father not to leave him behind.
Production
Director Hal Needham originally planned the film as a low budget B movie, with Jerry Reed as the Bandit. It wasn't until Needham's old friend Burt Reynolds read the script and said he'd do it that the movie was aimed at a more mainstream release, with Reed now playing Bandit's friend Snowman. (Reed would eventually play the Bandit in Smokey and the Bandit Part III).
"Buford T. Justice" was the name of a real Florida Highway Patrolman known to Burt Reynolds' father, who himself was once Chief of Police of Riviera Beach, Florida. His father was also the inspiration for the word "sumbitch" used in the movie, a phrase he reportedly uttered quite often, according to Reynolds.
Jackie Gleason was given quite free rein over ad-libbing dialogue and making suggestions. In particular, the scene where Sheriff Justice unknowingly encounters the Bandit in the barbecue joint was not in the original story, it was Gleason's idea.
Reportedly, director Hal Needham had great difficulty in getting any studios or producers to take his project seriously (he was better known in the film industry as a stuntman). He managed to get studio attention after his friend, Burt Reynolds, agreed to star in the film.
The movie made use of five black Trans Ams, and two Pontiac LeMans cars, all donated by Pontiac. All five cars were more or less destroyed by the end of shooting, with only one model of each car barely running by then, mostly due to cannibalizing the other three cars. Year One, an aftermarket auto parts supplier, has an original 1977 movie Trans Am autographed by Burt Reynolds. The 1977 trans am used in the movie traces back to a GM Design show car created for Bill Mitchell (VP of Design) for the 1974 GM Division Show Circuit. Bill liked the Lotus F1 race car "John Player Special" livery and used that Black and Gold paint scheme to create the car.
The film also made use of three Kenworth W900A short-frame semi trucks which Jerry Reed's character "Snowman" can be seen driving, each equipped with 38" sleepers. Two units were 1974 models, as evidenced by standard silver Kenworth emblems on the truck grille, and one unit was a 1973 model, as evidenced by the gold-painted Kenworth emblem on the truck's grille signifying Kenworth's 50 years in business. The paint code for each truck was coffee brown with gold trim, and the mural trailer used was manufactured by Hobbs Trailers in Texas with a Thermo King Refrigeration unit.
Soundtrack
The theme music "Eastbound and Down" (A.K.A. "Westbound and Down") was sung by Jerry Reed. The song was written by Jerry Reed (credited under his birth name, Jerry Hubbard) and Dick Feller. It became Reed's signature song and is found on multiple albums, including Country Legends and his live album Jerry Reed: Live Still. In 1991 it was arranged for orchestra by Crafton Beck and recorded by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra for their album Down on the Farm.
Reaction
Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film a good rating (3 stars out of a possible 4) and characterized the film this way in his Movie Guide annual: "About as subtle as The Three Stooges, but a classic compared to the sequels and countless rip-offs which followed."
Television censorship and alternate versions
- When Smokey and the Bandit first aired on American network television in the early 1980s, censors were faced with the challenge of toning down the raw language of the original film. For this purpose, they overdubbed dialogue deemed offensive, which was (and remains, to an extent) common practice. The most noted change made for network broadcast was the replacing of Buford's often-spoken phrase "Sumbitch" (a contraction of "Son of a Bitch"; usually in reference to the Bandit) with the nonsense phrase "Scum Bum". This phrase achieved a level of popularity with children, and the 2007 Hot Wheels release of the 1970 Firebird Trans Am has "Scum Bum" emblazoned on its tail. The TV prints of the first two Bandit films are still shown regularly on television, although a few TV stations aired the unedited version in recent years as some of the phraseology (i.e. "(son of a) bitch", "ass", etc.) became more acceptable on TV.
- The original actors mostly redubbed their own lines for the television version except for Jackie Gleason. Actor Henry Corden, who voiced Fred Flintstone after original performer Alan Reed died, was used to replace a considerable amount of Sheriff Justice's dialogue. This creates an interesting series of connections, as The Flintstones was very much based upon the 1950s sitcom The Honeymooners, starring Jackie Gleason, with Fred Flintstone being based upon Gleason's character, Ralph Kramden.
- In the United Kingdom, the heavily dubbed version was shown for a number of years, particularly by the BBC. However, in more recent years, the original version has been shown (on ITV, a commercial channel), sometimes with the stronger language edited out.
- The theatrical release of the movie itself had a few lines deleted, including a creative edit in which Sheriff Justice tells a sheriff's deputy to "fuck off." His expletive is obscured when a passing big rig sounds its horn (although it is quite probable that this was done for comedic effect as much as actual censorship).
- In 2005, a DVD re-release was issued of Smokey and the Bandit featuring a digitally-remastered audio track with 5.1 Dolby-compatible surround sound. It should be noted however that many of the film's original sounds were replaced. For instance, the diesel engine start and run up sequence in the opening sequence of the film was completely dubbed over with a totally new sound. A few other examples of "sound effect replacement" occur when Bandit takes off after managing to get a reluctant Cletus involved in the bet, and after he comes to a screeching halt on a roadway moments before picking up Carrie. Some of the original sound effects (such as Cletus' dog Fred's barking) and music (such as the final chase to the Southern Classic) were removed and not replaced. (Note: earlier DVD releases of the film have the original soundtrack intact.)
Cultural references
- In "Cadillac Ranch", a song on his 1980 album The River, Bruce Springsteen sang that: "James Dean in that Mercury '49 / Junior Johnson runnin' thru the woods of Caroline / Even Burt Reynolds in that black Trans-Am / All gonna meet down at the Cadillac Ranch"
- In the 1981 film, The Cannonball Run, when Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise were deciding what car to choose for their journey, one of the suggestions was a black Trans Am. This idea was then shrugged off as "nah, that's been done".
- In the 1981 film, The Cannonball Run, when the race starts one of the cars is a Black Trans Am and the driver is wearing the same jacket that the Bandit wears
- The 1995 Kevin Smith film Mallrats features a story about a couple dressed as Smokey and the Bandit fornicating on a pool table at a Halloween party.
- In Mallrats, T.S. and Brodie drive back to the Mall at such speed that Brodie comments "You know you drive like the fucking Bandit?"
- In 1996, the Belgian band Hooverphonic sampled the quote "Breaker one niner, are there any Smokeys with ears on?" in the song "Revolver" on their album A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular.
- In 1998, rock star Kid Rock loosely emulated the movie in the music video of his second single "Cowboy". He is followed by some of his band in a tractor trailer and he picks up a bride from a casino, who is married to a sheriff. His route ends on Hollywood Boulevard.
- In 2000, the rapper Nelly released an album called Country Grammar. The video of the seventh song on the album, "Ride Wit Me", features Nelly playing the part of Bandit. It features trucks filled with beautiful women and Nelly picking up a bride off the side of the road in a Pontiac Trans Am.
- In 2004, on the fake Cops-parody show Reno 911!, Deputy Jim Dangle offers to rescind the 8 hours of required traffic school to the perpetrators, if they watch Smokey and The Bandit instead.
- In 2005, on the auto TV show Automaniac aired by The History Channel, Bill Goldberg is treated to a ride in the original Trans Am by Burt Reynolds at Irwindale Speedway. Burt comments on the show that the Trans Am was the "most important lady in the film."
- In a 2006 episode of the series My Name Is Earl, Earl gives his brother a ride in the Smokey And The Bandit car to cheer him up after they were unable to attend a fair at which the car was on display. Earl star Jason Lee is a known Burt Reynolds fan and Reynolds himself later guested as local businessman Chubby in the second season.
- Punk cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes did a cover of "East Bound and Down", the movie's theme song, on their 2006 album Love Their Country.
- Popular TV series That '70s Show made many references to Smokey and the Bandit in their first and second season.
- A first season episode of Pimp My Ride made several references to Smokey and the Bandit when a 1981 Trans Am was being pimped.
- In a Family Guy episode Stewie and Brian get a ride from Bandit.
- In the Family Guy movie Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, Stewie is talking on a C.B. and speaks a long strand of trucker lingo, then East Bound and Down plays.
- In 2008, in the 50 Cent diss track "Paper Plate", GZA mention the movie in the line I don't smoke dust, I dust off Smokey and the Bandit.
- In the TV series Alice, Flo makes a reference to Smokey and the Bandit on the TV Guide.
Trivia
- The album cover photograph for Lynyrd Skynyrd's debut album (1973), (pronounced 'leh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd), was shot only a few feet down the sidewalk (right) from the Coors beer warehouse where Reynolds and Reed loaded the tractor trailer in "Texarkana" (Main Street, Jonesboro, Ga.).
- According to Google maps, a roundtrip from Atlanta, GA to Texarkana, TX would take 20 hours, 10 minutes if the speed limit is followed. This would allow nearly 8 hours for all stops including initial loading of the truck in Texarkana. Although, the speed limit in 1977 was , not the higher speeds allowed today. At a continuous speed of , it would take 24.18 hours to complete the journey.
- Conversely, the route recommended by Google maps for the trip takes one on Interstate 20 which was not completed in 1977. There was no other direct interstate-only link between Texarkana and Atlanta so much of the trip would have been on two-lane roads.
Today, the accomplishment of making such a trip in 28 hours is unremarkable. In 1977, this would have been considered good time, given the nature of the roads that would have to be traveled, lower speed limits, towns to pass through, and all other conditions that are generally avoided by interstates.
See also
The Bandit Run
External links
- of Smokey And The Bandit's shooting locations.
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