The Sugarland Express is a 1974 American
drama filmA drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, crime and corruption put the characters in conflict with themselves,...
starring
Goldie HawnGoldie Jean Hawn is an American actress, film director and producer, whose career has spanned nearly four decades. Hawn is perhaps best known for her roles in Private Benjamin, Wildcats, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and The Banger Sisters...
and
William AthertonWilliam Atherton is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Atherton was born William Atherton Knight II in Orange, Connecticut, the son of Myrtle and Robert Atherton Knight...
. It is the
first theatrical feature film directed by
Steven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer. In a career of over four decades, Spielberg's films have touched on many themes and genres. Spielberg's early sci-fi and adventure films, sometimes centering on children, were seen as an archetype of modern...
. It is about a husband and wife trying to outrun the law and was based on a true story. The event partially took place, the story is partially set, and the movie was partially filmed in
Sugar LandSugar Land is a city located in Fort Bend County along the Gulf Coast region in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas, having grown more than 158 percent in the last decade.. In the time period of 2000–2007,...
,
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
.
The Sugarland Express is a 1974 American
drama filmA drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, crime and corruption put the characters in conflict with themselves,...
starring
Goldie HawnGoldie Jean Hawn is an American actress, film director and producer, whose career has spanned nearly four decades. Hawn is perhaps best known for her roles in Private Benjamin, Wildcats, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and The Banger Sisters...
and
William AthertonWilliam Atherton is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Atherton was born William Atherton Knight II in Orange, Connecticut, the son of Myrtle and Robert Atherton Knight...
. It is the
first theatrical feature film directed by
Steven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer. In a career of over four decades, Spielberg's films have touched on many themes and genres. Spielberg's early sci-fi and adventure films, sometimes centering on children, were seen as an archetype of modern...
. It is about a husband and wife trying to outrun the law and was based on a true story. The event partially took place, the story is partially set, and the movie was partially filmed in
Sugar LandSugar Land is a city located in Fort Bend County along the Gulf Coast region in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas, having grown more than 158 percent in the last decade.. In the time period of 2000–2007,...
,
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
. Other scenes for the film were filmed in
Lone Oak CommunityLone Oak Community is a small Texas community located at the intersection of US 87 and Loop 1604 in eastern Bexar County, Texas.-History:Lone Oak was named for the large Live Oak Tree which once occupied the center of the town. In the early 1970s this tree died and was removed...
, Floresville,
PleasantonPleasanton is a city in Atascosa County, Texas, United States. The population was 8,266 at the 2000 census. Pleasanton's official motto is "The City of Live Oaks and Friendly Folks." It is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
,
ConverseConverse is a city in Bexar County, Texas, United States. It is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Converse is located at ....
and
Del Rio, TexasDel Rio is a border city in and the county seat of Val Verde County, Texas, United States.. Del Rio is connected with Ciudad Acuña via the Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing and Del Río-Ciudad Acuña International Bridge. Del Rio is also home to Laughlin Air Force Base, the busiest pilot...
.
Real Event
In May 1969, Ila Fae Dent assisted her husband Robert Dent escape from the Beauford H. Jester prison farm in Texas, because she feared their son will be placed in the care of her mother. During their flight, they overpowered and kidnapped
Texas Department of Public SafetyThe Texas Department of Public Safety is a department of the government of the state of Texas. The DPS is responsible for statewide law enforcement and vehicle regulation. The Public Safety Commission oversees the DPS. Its five members are appointed by the Governor of Texas and confirmed by the...
trooper Kenneth Crone, holding him
hostageA hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
in a slow-moving caravan, along with reporters in news vans and helicopters. The Dents and Crone travelled through
Port ArthurPort Arthur is a city in Jefferson County within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area of the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 57,755 at the 2000 census.-Geography and history:...
,
HoustonHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
,
NavasotaNavasota is a city in Grimes County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,789 at the 2000 census. In 2005, the Texas Legislature named the city "The Blues Capital of Texas," in honor of the late Mance Lipscomb, a Navasota native and blues musician....
, and finally
Wheelock, TexasWheelock is an unincorporated community in Robertson County, Texas, United States. It is located 15 miles northeast of Bryan and 11 miles southeast of Franklin. Wheelock is on Farm Road 391...
. In contrast to the film the events took only several hours.
The Dents brought Crone to the home of Ila Fae's mother, where they encountered numerous officers. An FBI agent and county sheriff shot and killed Robert Dent, and later arrested Ila Fae. Trooper Crone was unharmed. Ila Fae spent five months in a women's correctional facility, and later died in 1992. Crone was an advisor on the film and had a small role as a deputy sheriff.
Cast
- Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jean Hawn is an American actress, film director and producer, whose career has spanned nearly four decades. Hawn is perhaps best known for her roles in Private Benjamin, Wildcats, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and The Banger Sisters...
- Lou Jean Poplin
- Ben Johnson
Ben "Son" Johnson, Jr. was an American motion picture actor who was mainly cast in Westerns. He was also a rodeo cowboy, stuntman, and rancher.-Personal life:...
- Captain Harlin Tanner
- Michael Sacks
Michael Sacks is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Billy Pilgrim in George Roy Hill's Slaughterhouse Five, an adaptation from the novel by Kurt Vonnegut....
- Patrolman Maxwell Slide
- William Atherton
William Atherton is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Atherton was born William Atherton Knight II in Orange, Connecticut, the son of Myrtle and Robert Atherton Knight...
- Clovis Michael Poplin
- Gregory Walcott
Gregory Walcott is an American actor television and film actor. He is perhaps most well known for having appeared in a much-maligned 1959 Ed Wood film, the science-fiction flop Plan 9 from Outer Space.-Early life and career:...
- Patrolman Ernie Mashburn
- Steve Kanaly
Steven "Steve" Francis Kanaly is an American actor, best known for his role as Southfork Ranch foreman Ray Krebbs on the television soap opera Dallas from 1978 to 1989. From 1994-1995, he also had a role on the ABC daytime drama series All My Children as "Seabone Hunkle," the father of Dixie...
- Patrolman Jessup
- Louise Latham
Louise Latham is an American actress, perhaps best known for her portrayal of Bernice Edgar in Alfred Hitchcock's film Marnie...
- Mrs. Looby
- Harrison Zanuck - Baby Langston Poplin
- A. L. Camp - Mr. Alvin T. Nocker
- Jessie Lee Fulton - Mrs. Nocker
- Dean Smith
Dean Edwards Smith is a retired head coach of men’s college basketball. Originally from Emporia, Kansas, Smith has been called a “coaching legend” by the Basketball Hall of Fame. Smith is best known for his successful coaching tenure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for 36 years...
- Russ Berry
- Ted Grossman - Dietz
- Bill Thurman - Hunter
- Kenneth Hudgins - Standby
- Buster Daniels - Drunk
- George Hagy - Mr. Sparrow
Film promotion
The promoters of the film played up the grassroots support that existed for a mother trying to claim custody of her child. Some posters used the tagline:
A girl with a great following
Every cop in the state was after her.
Everybody else was behind her.
For the DVD release, the first line was dropped.
Awards
The film won the award for
Best ScreenplayThe Best Screenplay Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival...
at the
1974 Cannes Film Festival- Jury :*René Clair *Jean-Loup Dabadie *Kenne Fant *Félix Labisse *Irwin Shaw *Michel Soutter *Monica Vitti *Alexander Walker *Rostislav Yurenev -Feature film competition:...
.
Trivia
- The pre-release facility is located in the Jester III Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Institutional Division, in present-day northwestern part of Sugar Land, Texas
Sugar Land is a city located in Fort Bend County along the Gulf Coast region in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas, having grown more than 158 percent in the last decade.. In the time period of 2000–2007,...
and no where near the Mexican Border as depicted in the movie.
- Every Spielberg film from this one on has been scored by John Williams, except The Color Purple
The Color Purple is a American period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the eighth film directed by Spielberg and is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker...
, and Spielberg's segment for Twilight Zone: The MovieTwilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 film produced by Steven Spielberg as a theatrical version of The Twilight Zone, a 1950s and 60s TV series created by Rod Serling. It starred Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers, Kathleen Quinlan, and John Lithgow...
.
- The female dispatcher's voice in the movie saying "2311 Houston...2311 Houston...Houston Pierce", was an actual employee of the DPS.
- Patrolman Slide's DPS cruiser is a 1973 Dodge Polara
The Dodge Polara is an automobile introduced in the United States for the 1960 model year as Dodge's top-of-the-line full-size car; after the introduction of the Dodge Custom 880 in 1962, the Polara nameplate designated a step below the best trimmed Dodge model...
. After filming was completed, Spielberg purchased the vehicle, and drove it as his daily driver for a short period of time - bullet holes and all.