Smokey and The Bandit

Smokey and The Bandit (1977) starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Fields, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed

One of the all-time big box-office hits, Smokey and the Bandit stars Burt Reynolds and Jackie Gleason in an outrageous comedy that boosts full-throttle laughs and high-velocity thrills. Reynolds is the Bandit, a king-of-the-road trucker hero who accepts the ultimate challenge: pick up a truckload of Coors beer in Texarkana – the closest place it can be legally sold – and haul it cross-country to Atlanta in 48 hours. The reward? $80,000! The result? The wildest series of car chases and crashes ever filmed in this hilarious all time box office smash

Bandit: For the good old American life: For the money, for the glory, and for the fun… mostly for the money. 

Product description

Burt Reynolds stars as the Bandit in this seminal portrayal of rough-ridin’, beer-swillin’, sheriff-dodgin’, trouble-chasin’ truckers. The Bandit’s has taken on his craziest haul yet: a trailer full of Coors beer. If he can deliver the goods from Texarcana to Atlanta within forty-eight hours, he’ll be $80,000 richer. Hilarious mayhem ensues, however, when the Bandit falls for a runaway bride (Sally Field). As they push toward Atlanta, the two have to evade Fields’ vengeful father-in-law, Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason as the maniac “Smokey” of the title). The stakes get higher and the car chases more frenzied in this hysterical romp through the American highways. Charismatic performances by Reynolds and Gleason made this a huge box office draw. ITA winner. Academy Award Nominations: Best Film Editing.

Editorial review of Smokey and The Bandit courtesy of Amazon.com

It’s easy to assume this is just another dumb redneck comedy from Burt Reynolds’s years of underachievement. But it’s not bad as a dumb redneck comedy at all. Directed by career stuntman Hal Needham, Smokey and the Bandit is just a goofy chase starring a bunch of Reynolds’s Hollywood cronies. New to the job as film boss, Needham brings a silly but energized sensibility to the production and an action man’s need to see things moving. But he also has a distinctive feeling for relationships, and he’s good with a joke. Put all that together, and Smokey is, at the very least (and unlike its sequels), a simple and original pleasure. –Tom Keogh

Cast of characters

• Burt Reynolds (The Longest Yard) … Bandit
• Sally Field (Mrs. Doubtfire) … Carrie
• Jerry Reed (W.W. and the Dixie Dance Kings) … Cledus
• Mike Henry (Soylent Green) … Junior
• Paul Williams (The Muppet Movie, Battle for the Planet of the Apes) … Little Enos
• Pat McCormick (Scrooged) … Big Enos
• Alfie Wise … Patrolman at Traffic Jam
• George Reynolds … Branford
• Macon McCalman … Mr. B
• Linda McClure … Waynette
• Susie Ewing … Hot Pants
• Laura Lizer Sommers … Little Beaver (as Laura Lizer)
• Michael Mann … Branford’s Deputy
• Lamar Jackson … Sugar Bear
• Ronnie Gay … Georgia Trooper
• Quinnon Sheffield … Alabama Trooper
• Jackie Gleason (Soldier in the Rain, The Honeymooners) … Sheriff Buford T. Justice of Portague County

Updated June 2, 2022