Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 American action comedy road film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams, and Mike Henry. The film marks the directorial debut of stuntman Hal Needham.
The film follows Bo "Bandit" Darville (Reynolds) and Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Reed), two truck-driving bootleggers attempting to illegally transport 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana to Atlanta. During their run, they are pursued by Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Gleason), of Montague County, Texas, after his son's runaway bride Carrie (Field) joins The Bandit and Snowman in their rum-run.
Smokey and the Bandit was a box office success following initial screenings at drive-in theaters across the Southern United States that prompted Universal to reopen the film nationwide, grossing $127 million ($ in ) against a $4.3 million ($ in ) budget, becoming the second-highest-grossing domestic film of 1977 in the United States, behind Star Wars.
The film became the first installment in the Smokey and the Bandit franchise and the first film of the Smokey and the Bandit trilogy.
Plot Wealthy Texan capitalist Big Enos Burdette and his son, Little Enos, frequently bet notable truckers in Atlanta to bootleg 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas, to Atlanta in 28 hours, but all have failed with many being arrested. They find local legend Bo "Bandit" Darville at a truck rodeo at Lakewood Fairgrounds and offer him $80,000 (equivalent to $440,860 in 2026) to take the bet. The Bandit accepts and recruits his friend Cledus "Snowman" Snow and Fred, Cledus' Basset Hound, to drive the truck, while Bandit drives a black 1977 Pontiac Trans Am (Trigger) as a "blocker" to divert attention away from the truck and its illegal cargo.
The pair arrives in Texarkana an hour early and load the truck, but as they begin their return journey, Bandit is intercepted by Carrie, a runaway bride who suddenly jumps into his car. Unbeknownst to him, this makes Bandit an indirect target of Sheriff Buford T. Justice, a seasoned Texas law enforcement officer whose dimwitted son, Junior, was supposed to marry Carrie. The Justice father and son engage in a high-speed hot pursuit, doggedly chasing Bandit all the way to Georgia to retrieve Carrie and arrest the Bandit. Successive comical mishaps cause Justice's cruiser to experience increasing damage along the way.
Bandit attracts more police attention across Dixie as Cledus barrels toward Atlanta with the contraband beer. They are helped en route by many colorful characters via CB radio. Neither Buford nor any other lawmen are aware of Cledus's illegal manifest, while Bandit is likewise unaware that Buford is chasing him because of Carrie.
Just after re-entering Georgia, Cledus is rescued by Bandit after being pulled over by a Georgia State Patrol motorcycle trooper, as state and local police intensely pursue Bandit with roadblocks and a helicopter to track his movement. With remaining, Bandit, discouraged by the unexpected mounting attention, is ready to relent, but Cledus, who initially thought they would fail, takes the lead and smashes through the roadblock at the fairgrounds' main entrance. They reach their destination with ten minutes to spare. However, instead of taking the winnings, Carrie and Bandit accept a double-or-nothing offer from Little Enos: a challenge to run up to Boston and bring back a shipment of clam chowder in 18 hours. They quickly escape in Big Enos's 1974 Cadillac Eldorado convertible as police flood the racetrack.
Buford arrives at the fairgrounds, his cruiser now a barely functioning wreck. When Bandit passes him, he uses his CB to contact Buford, and the pair briefly exchange some mutual respect before Buford demands to understand Bandit's whereabouts. Bandit initially directs him to the Burdettes, but he then respectfully gives his real location right behind Buford, who continues his chase, leaving Junior behind, and with more parts falling off his cruiser as he limps off after Bandit.
Cast
Production Development Hal Needham originally planned the film as a low-budget B movie with a production cost of $1 million, with Jerry Reed as Bo "The Bandit" Darville. Needham had great difficulty getting any studios or producers to take his project seriously, being better known in the film industry as a stuntman. He obtained the attention of studios and aimed the film at a more mainstream release after his friend Burt Reynolds read the script and agreed to portray the Bandit, with Reed now portraying the Bandit's friend Cledus "The Snowman" Snow. Reed would eventually play the Bandit in Smokey and the Bandit Part 3, in which Reynolds only appeared in a cameo near the end. At the time, Reynolds was the top box office star in the world.
In the original script, Carrie was called Kate while Big Enos and Little Enos Burdette were called Kyle and Dickey. The Bandit's car was a second-generation Trans Am and the prize for completing the run was a new truck rather than $80,000. Reynolds revealed in his autobiography that Needham had written the first draft script on legal pads. Upon showing it to his friend, Reynolds told Needham that it was the worst script he had ever read, but that he would still make the movie. Most of the dialogue was improvised on set.
Universal Studios bankrolled Smokey and the Bandit for $5.3 million, figuring it was a good risk. Just two days before production was to begin, Universal sent a "hatchet man" to Atlanta to inform Needham that the budget was being trimmed by $1 million. With Reynolds' salary at $1 million, Needham was left with only $3.3 million to make the film. Needham and assistant director David Hamburger spent 30 hours revising the shooting schedule.
Buford T. Justice was the name of a real Florida Highway Patrolman known to Reynolds's father Burt Sr., who was once police chief of Riviera Beach, Florida. His father was also the inspiration for the word "sumbitch" used in the film, a variation of the phrase "son-of-a-bitch" that, according to Reynolds, he uttered quite often. Jackie Gleason was given free rein to ad-lib dialogue and make suggestions. It was his idea to have Junior (Mike Henry) alongside him throughout the film. In particular, the scene where Sheriff Justice unknowingly encounters the Bandit in a roadside diner (a "choke and puke" in CB lingo) was not in the original story but was rather Gleason's idea.
The film's theme song, "East Bound and Down", was written virtually overnight by Reed. He gave Needham a preview of the song and, getting no reaction, offered to rewrite it. In response, Needham told Reed that he liked the song so much that if Reed changed even a word or a note, Needham would "choke him". It became one of Reed's biggest hits and his signature song.
The film features the custom clothing and costuming of Niver Western Wear of Fort Worth, Texas.Niver Western Wear Corporate Records Niver provided much of the western attire worn in the film, as well as the custom-made sheriff's uniforms Gleason wore throughout the film.
While made to take advantage of the ongoing 1970s CB radio fad, the film added to the craze. Though the film Moonrunners (1975) is the precursor to the television series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–1985), from the same creator and with many identical settings and concepts, the popularity of Smokey and the Bandit and similar films helped get the Dukes series on the air. Three actors from the main cast of The Dukes of Hazzard appear in small uncredited roles in Smokey and the Bandit: Ben Jones, John Schneider, and Sonny Shroyer (who played a police officer in both). In return, Reynolds portrayed Boss Hogg (originally portrayed by Sorrell Booke) in the film adaptation The Dukes of Hazzard (2005). Reynolds is referenced by name in several early episodes of the series.
Casting Before Gleason was cast in the film, Richard Boone was originally considered for the role of Buford T. Justice. Sally Field only accepted the part after her agent advised her that she needed a big movie role on her résumé. Universal executives initially resisted casting Field, claiming she was not attractive enough, but Reynolds insisted on her involvement. Field enjoyed making the film, but remembers that virtually the entire project was improvised.
Filming Principal photography of the film began on August 30, 1976. The movie was primarily filmed in Georgia, in the cities of McDonough, Jonesboro and Lithonia. The scenes set in Texarkana were filmed in Jonesboro and the surrounding area and many of the chase scenes were filmed in the surrounding areas on Highway 54 between Fayetteville and Jonesboro for a majority of the driving scenes, Mundy's Mill Road, Main Street in Jonesboro, Georgia State Route 400, I-85 (Pleasant Hill exit) and in McDonough. However, the scene where they drive through the Shell gas station was filmed in Ojai, California, on the corner of Ojai Avenue and El Paseo Road. Much of the surrounding scene comes from that immediate vicinity. The scene featuring the racetrack was filmed at Lakewood Speedway at the old Lakewood Fairgrounds on Atlanta's south side. The roller coaster in the movie was the Greyhound. It had not been used for some time and was repainted for the film. It was destroyed in Smokey and the Bandit II and in a flashback scene in Part 3. The area around Helen, Georgia, was used for some locations. The scene where Sheriff Justice's car has the door knocked off by a passing semi-truck was shot on Georgia State Route 75, north of Helen. The tow truck driver was a local garage owner, Berlin Wike. Reynolds and Field began dating during the filming.
According to an interview with Susie McIver Ewing on The RetroZest Podcast, she was picked to play the role of Hot Pants Hilliard after the dailies footage (shot in the Atlanta area) of the original actress playing the role was inadvertently destroyed on its way from Atlanta to Los Angeles. The new Hot Pants scene had to quickly be refilmed as a part of a second unit in the San Fernando Valley and was shot at a drive-in restaurant near Hansen Dam named Baby Beef Burgers, which has since been demolished. This same restaurant was used for a scene in the 1983 Stephen King Movie Christine, which was ultimately cut in the final film (it can be viewed as a deleted scene on the DVD release of the film).
Vehicles
Hal Needham saw an advertisement for the soon-to-be-released 1977 Pontiac Trans Am and knew right away that it would be the Bandit's car, or, as Needham referred to it, a character in the movie. He contacted Pontiac and an agreement was made that four 1977 Trans Ams and two Pontiac LeMans four-door sedans would be provided for the movie. The Trans Ams were actually 1976-model cars with 1977 front ends (from 1970 to 1976, both the Firebird/Trans Am and Chevrolet Camaro have two round headlights and in 1977, the Firebird/Trans Am was changed to four rectangular headlights, and the Camaro remained unchanged). The decals were changed to 1977-style units, as evidenced by the engine size callouts on the hood scoop being in liters rather than cubic inches, as had been the case in 1976. The hood scoop on these cars says "6.6 LITRE", which, in 1977, would have denoted an Oldsmobile 403-equipped car or a non-W-72, 180 hp version of the 400 Pontiac engine.