Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 action comedy film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Will...
Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 action comedy film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams, Mike Henry, and the 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. It inspired several other trucking films, including two sequels, Smokey and the Bandit II, and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3.nThere was also a series of 1994 television films (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 actor Brian Bloom now playing Bandit. The three original films introduced two generations of the Pontiac Trans Am. The film was the fourth highest-grossing film of 1977.nRich Texas wheeler-dealer 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. At the time, Coors was unavailable east of Texas. Local laws prevented it from being sold in many places because it was not pasteurized, therefore it has to be kept cold throughout transportation, thus the 28 hour timeline for the trip. Unauthorized transportation of Coors across state lines was considered "bootlegging". 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 $80,000 (over $300,000 in 2013) to haul 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas to the "Southern Classic" in Georgia -- in 28 hours, driving a total of 1,800 mi (2,900 km), for an average of 65 mph including all stops. (This was an artistic liberty, as the trip is only 1260 miles round-trip. Also, Texarkana, Texas, is located in a dry county, preventing Coors or any other alcoholic beverage from being sold there.)nBandit accepts the bet and recruits his best friend and fellow truck driver Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) to drive the truck, promising to buy him a new truck. Snowman brings along his dog, a Basset Hound named "Fred", for company. After requesting an advance from the Burdettes for a "speedy car", Bandit purchases a black Pontiac Trans Am, which he named Trigger and which he drives himself as a "blocker" car to deflect attention away from the truck and its illegal 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 runaway bride Carrie (Sally Field), whom he nicknames "Frog" because she is "always hoppin' around!" and "you're kind of cute like a frog and I'd like to jump ya". However, by picking up Carrie, Bandit becomes the target of Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), "a respectable law officer of over thirty years seniority", whose handsome yet very simple-minded son Junior (Mike Henry) was to have been Carrie's groom.nThe remainder of the film is essentially one big high-speed chase, as Bandit and Frog attract continuous attention from local and state police throughout Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama 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 they encounter along the way, many of whom are truckers 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, as they are more interested in capturing the "legendary" Bandit.nDespite 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, with Cledus blazing a trail into the grounds with his truck. Instead of taking their payoff, they accept the Texans' new offer to drive to Boston and bring back clam chowder in 18 hours, for double the original bet or nothing. As they are leaving for Boston in one of Big Enos' Cadillacs, they see Justice's badly damaged car on the roadside. Bandit calls Justice over the radio, and, after a brief bit of mutual respect (begrudgingly, by Justice), Justice angrily demands to know where he is. Bandit 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 turns to pursue them in futility with his car disintegrating further, leaving Junior to chase haplessly after his father on foot (with the closing line "Don't leave me Daddy, who's going to hold your hat?!) as the credits roll. Less
