Max’s Drive-In Movie – Smokey And The Bandit

I wanted to do something fun today…not exactly a thinking man’s movie, but fun. 

I ran across a trailer for this on YouTube and ended up watching the movie again. Yes, I know this isn’t exactly Citizen Kane or the most sophisticated movie,  but it does have redeeming qualities. This movie was released in the era of Jaws, Star Wars, and many more classics. It’s still remembered today very highly. It is not a movie that is going to make you think…it’s just going to entertain you, which is what movies are for. There are no hidden messages, just pure fun. 

In the mid-1970s, Coors beer had a near-mythic reputation east of the Mississippi. It was not widely distributed nationwide, and it was famously unpasteurized, meaning it had to stay cold and be delivered fast. To people back east, Coors was contraband. The movie goes into this perfectly, turning a real-world distribution quirk into the ultimate outlaw challenge.

The entire plot kicks off with a simple outlaw wager: haul a truckload of Coors beer from Texas to Georgia in under 28 hours, back when the unpasteurized beer couldn’t legally be sold east of the Mississippi. The Snowman (Jerry Reed) drives the rig loaded with ice-cold contraband, while the Bandit (Burt Reynolds) races ahead in his black Trans Am, using speed and nonstop CB chatter to lure every lawman in the region away from the Coors. It was a game of misdirection and bravado, with Sheriff Buford T. Justice closing in, all for the satisfaction of proving that sometimes the best reason to. Along the way, Bandit picks up “frog” (Sally Field), a bride who just ran out of a wedding with Bufford T Justice’s son. 

Burt Reynolds was in his prime during this stretch.  A lot of guys grew the mustache, and their hair was black. My dad had the same look as Reynolds at this time. He had already been in many successful movies, including Gator, Deliverance, W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, The Longest Yard, and more. At this time, he was one of the biggest, most recognizable movie stars on the planet. 

The public mostly adored Reynolds, but the critics did not like him. He had a charisma about him that he had at the beginning when he was on Gunsmoke for 3 years. Sally Field was also in this movie, and she played her part perfectly. The Flying Nun to “Sybil” or “Frog” in this movie is quite a stretch. She was one of my first crushes as a young boy, and in this film, that crush was only strengthened. 

I guess one reason I love this movie is that it doesn’t pretend to be anything more than it is. It doesn’t aspire to great movie-making. It was just supposed to be 90 minutes of entertainment on the big screen, and it’s still entertaining. Turn your brain off for a while and have fun with it. It rolled into theaters and straight through American pop culture. Jackie Gleason’s Sheriff Buford T. Justice is the perfect comic counterweight to Bandit, loud and absolutely unhinged. Add Sally Field’s runaway bride with attitude and Jerry Reed’s snowman trucker charisma, and you’ve got a cast that clicks like a great bar band.

If you want Gone With The Wind, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, or Lawrence of Arabia…you have come to the wrong movie, but give it a chance and have some fun. Oh, I forgot Fred, the lovable Basset Hound dog in this movie, he was chosen by Burt Reynolds because the dog wouldn’t obey commands, adding to his character as Snowman’s independent but loyal companion.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

33 thoughts on “Max’s Drive-In Movie – Smokey And The Bandit”

  1. I remember the title and that Burt Reynolds was in it but not much else. I think, but am not 100% sure we went to see it at the drive-in when it was out so many years ago, my brother and I watching from the back of the big old station wagon. Interesting beer trivia! Never knew Coors once couldn’t be sold in the East!

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    1. I thought you would have remembered this one! It was huge Dave…unlike a lot of movies I feature…this one sold the heck out of tickets…but yea I remember the Coors deal where I live…everyone wanted it…why? Becasue they couldn’t get it.

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  2. I Max,

    I remember being impressed by this movie when I saw it in my childhood, particularly the black Pontiac. The french title of the film is “Cours après moi Shérif” (run after me Sheriff) which was for me a great example of rebel spirit. So I did a lot of car chases with my little toys in my room, I fought the law and I always won. And Burt Reynolds was my hero.

    Far later (and thanks to Tarantino’s Death Proof), I discovered a more serious same kind of film called “Vanishing point” and I realised that this kind of escape race is kind of a survival way to think in the terrible world we’re linving in.

    Thanx a lot for reminding these old memories.

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    1. On that Trans Am car…yes I loved it as well. Burt Reynolds was fun and had charisma to spare.

      OH….Vanshing Point! I LOVE that movie. I covered that one years ago…yes that was a serious one and the ending I’m still in love with. There are so many meanings in that movie with the hitchhiker (maybe death?) and is one of my favorite movies.
      Thanks for reading this!

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  3. Pingback: Max’s Drive-In Movie – Smokey And The Bandit – MobsterTiger

  5. A blast from the past! Movies aren’t exactly my expertise, but I do recall watching that picture sometime in the late ’70s/early ’80s back in Germany.

    Nothing like watching senseless car chases and resulting car wrecks! There’s something very satisfying about it, especially when the bad guys total their vehicles!

    I also thought Burt’s Trans Am or whatever that muscle car is was pretty cool.

    And, damn, watching the trailer again I have to have Sally Field really looked cute!

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    1. Oh Sally Field! Yes she was something else…for a 10 year old boy she was the tops. Sometimes it’s nice watching a movie that is just made to enjoy. No matter how silly it can be…yes I do love the car chases…there is an art to filming those. Plus Jackie Gleason as well.

      Burt was cool back then…he had charisma to spare.

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  6. Great movie, great music too…”Eastbound & Down”. Great cover version by one of my favorite bands too, the Supersuckers. And yes Sally Field’s mix of innocent charm & sex appeal blew this young teenager’s mind back then. Jackie Gleason from Ralph Kramden on the Honeymooners to a southern sheriff, who knew he had it in him, lol…Fun classic 70s movie.

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    1. Thank you! I saw this movie in 1977 as a 10 year old in a theater… my love for Sally Field was already there with Gidget reruns I remember watching. I agree with the music…Reed was such a great guitarist and he knocked it out of the park with this one with that song. I’ll check out that cover! Thank You.
      Glad you enjoyed it. Oh Gleason was the perfect “bad” guy in this one….never gave up.

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  7. One of the first movies I remember going to in the movie theaters with my father was Smokey and the Bandit II. If I recall correctly, the movie begins with airplanes dropping cow manure on a crowd of people. I thought it was hilarious but I think my Dad was embarrassed that he took his kids to this movie.

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    1. I haven’t seen the second one in years. I will have to check that out. This one I do remember seeing in the theaters. It’s so much fun and I love car chases so it’s a natural. I will have to check out the second one again…I remember something about an elephant in the second one also.

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  9. I’m almost embarrased to say how many times me and my then buddies went to see this both in theaters and drive-ins…..and yes I think I learned every Jerry Reed tune on that soudtrack……and Paul Williams became a star?

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    1. You are right…I forgot to mention Paul Williams in the post. I do remember how popular this movie was at the time and surprised the critics. I was 10 years old and saw it…how I loved that black Trans Am.

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      2. You made me laugh there Warren…it’s one of those movies that you just turn off your brain and enjoy. I like the scene where Snowman goes into the diner and they beat him up…then he comes out and flattens their bikes.

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  10. To this day, it is one of my favorite movies. It really is 90 minutes of nonsense and profanity.

    Jerry was originally hired to be the Bandit, but when Burt came on, he became Snowman. It’s hard to imagine it any other way.

    Sally was just beautiful. She didn’t have all the posters that Farrah had, but she deserved them. She was easy on the eyes.

    Jerry Reed told me in an interview that Jackie Gleason made the film. Even with Burt’s star status, Jerry said it would never have worked without Jackie as Buford.

    For what it’s worth, the movie did offer new insults to use. “Moose Twit,” “Tick Turd,” and “Barrel of Monkey Nuts” were common phrases we used amongst friends.

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    1. It is…just a fun movie to enjoy. Oh I loved Sally Field. I remembered her from the Gidget tv show and The Flying Nun…her and the Trans Am stole the show for me…
      Oh Jackie Gleason tied it all together I agree with Reed! Without him you wouldn’t have a person to root against.
      Tick Turd…if you google that term…this movie comes up…because I just did this morning lol.

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  11. Your spot on man , Burt was in his prime during these run of movies. Have you seen the late Norm McDonald do his impersonation of Reynolds on SNL? If not check it out. Spot on…

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  12. Enjoyed the writeup, Max. My mom took my brother and me to see Smokey and The Bandit at the movie theatre when it came out. It was a big deal! One of those blockbusters that people waited in line to get tickets for. My favorite thing about it was the Trans Am and Jackie Gleason.

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    2. The Trans Am became iconic in this movie. Everyone wanted one, everyone was a wannabe Burt. I personally thought my ratty wheezy old four cylinder Ford might be mistaken for a Trans Am in the right light. Well, looked at with a squint. Hey, my wearing an orange shirt and an adolescent’s whispy moustache couldn’t hurt, could it?!?!

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  13. Pure fun, as you said. This came out while I was in highschool, but I didn’t see it until it was on TV. The whole CB culture was strong with “Convoy” and “Teddy Bear”. I had a T-shirt with three bears dressed as police that said “Wall To Wall Bears”.

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    1. I do remember that CB fad…it lasted a while. I remember seeing those long antennas on cars of every shape and size…from trucks to pintos. I would wear that shirt today!
      I saw this at the theater…had to stand in line for a while.

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  14. This movie is such a welcome, breezy ride with Burt and Sally at the helm. Two super-hot leads…and Reed and Gleason as outstanding supporting players. I haven’t seen this in a while, but I remember as much about this film as any back then. You would have expected that foursome to deliver a fun popcorn film, and that’s exactly what they did.

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    1. Yes…and the movie didn’t take itself seriously…but after this movie…everyone wanted a Trans Am and a date with Sally Field! I always liked Burt…even in Gunsmoke. The critics hated him but the public loved him. Such a fun movie.

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