Five-string banjo player Bobby Thompson is prominent toward the end of "East Bound and Down". Remember that Smokey and the Bandit was the 2nd biggest movie of the year, right after Star Wars. The most noted change made for network broadcast was the replacing of Buford's often-spoken phrase "sumbitch" (a contraction of "son of a bitch"; usually in reference to the Bandit) with the phrase "scum bum". Before Gleason was cast in the film, Richard Boone was originally considered for the role of Buford T. She is a runaway bride, sitting on the side of the road in her 1973 Chevrolet Impala coupe. High estimates for the car were up to $80,000, but the actual sale price was $450,000. Everything You Should Know About The The Trans Am From Smokey And The Ask him to choose between a BMW M4 and an Audi RS5, and hell gladly trade both for a beat-up Cuda. Id like to hear from Mr. Needham why so many of those police cars had what look like shaker hood scoops. Producer Hal Needham intended Smokey and the Bandit to be one of the best product placement films of all time. Thats all true. Actually, there were 2 future Dukes stars in the movie: Ben Jones (Cooter) was in an early scene helping Big Enos find Bandit. Another one is, Theres no way youre from my loins.. Three Kenworth W900A short-frame semi trucks, driven by Reed, were each equipped with 38-inch sleepers. Of course, nobody else cared if it was in the trunk of the car when heading back home. As a former Club Wagon pilot, I happen to like his Econoline. Anyway, on the trip east, we stopped at a grocery in Topeka, Kansas and bought 16-18 cases of Coors, all that we had room for in the car. Nuts about any form of classic motorsport and muscle cars, Ciprian's currently working on a time machine that would take him back to the 1960s for a long vacation alongside Dan Gurney and Jim Hall. Ive always wanted some sort of de-commission/ex unmarked cop car, something from the 70s preferably. That is why there are not any left. I ended up buying a 1969 Cadillac ambulance a year later! The three movie cars were destroyed during various stunts, so the promo car is the only surviving Trans Am connected to this film. 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. Mr. Reynolds made a bunch of low budget films before this , all had wild chase scenes with cop cars crashing & going into swamps . 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. I've heard . document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Let us dissect this flick to better examine it. In the movie . Seven: (Three with Burt Reynolds and Crew, and Four without) Smokey and the Bandit - 1977 Smokey and the Bandit II - 1980 Smokey and the Bandit III . If you somehow managed to miss Smokey and the Bandit in the years between the films 1977 release and now, you should rectify that situation immediately (to be fair, it was released two days after Star Wars, so its understandable if it slipped through the cracks). Smokey and the Bandit II - Wikipedia [27] In his review in the Chicago Tribune, Gene Siskel gave the film two stars and complained that the film failed to tell the audience when the clock started on the beer run, thus reducing suspense. My family did all grocery shopping in Cape. The commercials were produced after Stewart mentioned that the movie was one of his favorites.[39]. Additionally, he can give you several reasons why theres still no replacement for displacement. When Smokey & The Banditfirst aired on television in the early 1980s, the Gleason phrase sum bitcha regional butchering of son of a bitchhad to be dubbed out. Ive also looked at a Fox based LTD cop car and an early 1991 whale Caprice 9C1 detective model, burgundy on burgundy cloth. Sure Smokey helped, but was not the sole reason T/A and F body sales went up. Somewhere along the line, the company acquired a new president who told Reynolds: Im the new president, and I dont like your movies. and used hard. How many cars did they wreck in Smokey and the Bandit? My favorite would have been an ex-WSP 1970 Plymouth they were all Fury IIIs, white on blue with factory air and 440s under the hood; but none ever turned up when I was buying. Well, they simply considered that the Trans Am didn't sound intimidating enough. The 1977 Firebird Trans Am once owned by Burt Reynolds was sold at auction Saturday for $495,000 at a sale held by Barrett-Jackson. I have worked a long time to eradicate the one I had but it still crops up periodically from exposure, like you experienced. The three original films introduced two generations of the Pontiac Trans Am and the Dodge Stealth in the television movies. So, for years one, two, and three, he got a shiny new Pontiac. Burt Reynolds recently revealed the ridiculous number of Pontiac Trans Ams they went through filming 1977s Smokey and the Bandit. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1975 Plymouth Fury Police Pursuit Arkansas State Police "Smokey and The Bandit" at the best online prices at eBay! Smokey and the Bandit: Behind-the-Scenes Details With - MotorTrend Gator , Stroker Ace , lots of them . His personaround, dumpy, and clipping wordsreminds one of another fictional southern sheriff. 13 Fast Facts About Smokey and the Bandit - Mental Floss When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. CC Cinema: The Cars of "Smokey & The Bandit - Curbside Classic This movie was filmed in Georgia as well. 1975 Plymouth Fury Police Pursuit Arkansas State Police "Smokey and The The film was followed by two sequels: Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983). Director Hal Needham convinced Pontiac to feature the Pontiac Trans Am in the movie. Television censorship and alternative versions, second highest-grossing domestic film of 1977, AFI's 100 Years100 Heroes and Villains, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Smokey and the Bandit at 35: A Case for the Genius of Hal Needham", "Greyhound Lakewood Park (Atlanta, Georgia, USA)", "Burt Reynolds' old Pontiac Trans Am replica sold for $317,500", "An Interview With Jim Wangers: Pontiac and the 1970's", "How the Bandit, Coors and a bunch of Makers changed the course of booze history", "Various Smokey And The Bandit (Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)", "Smokey and the Bandit, Box Office Information", "Burt Reynolds at the 2015 Macon Film Festival", "Seven Quirky Lowbrow Favorite Films of Highbrow Directors", "Remembering Hal Needham and the Birth of Redneck Cinema", "Smokey and the Bandit Film from RadioTimes", "Burt Reynolds' Bandit Trans Am sells for $450,000", "See a "New" Vintage Bandit Trans Am Approved by Burt Reynolds Himself", "Diablo Sandwich Recipe from CMT's Reel Eats", "Diablo Sandwich / "Diablo & Doc" From Smokey & the Bandit, Identified! The sound came from a 1955 Chevrolet Custom, the same car that was used in Two-Lane Blacktop and American Graffiti, films launched in 1971 and 1973, respectively. Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 American road action comedy film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams and Mike Henry. [40] Major portions of the audio background have been modified with different engine sounds or tire squeals from the original film. [17], In 1977, Coors was unavailable for sale east of Oklahoma. Sales almost doubled in two years, which is a very big deal given that the Trans Ams 1978 facelift was rather minor save for the front fascia. Sales jumped even higher in 1979 when Pontiac moved 117,108 Trans Ams. Thats all well and good, and it worked smooth as silk for a good while. 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. Needham and assistant director David Hamburger spent 30 hours revising the shooting schedule.[4]. A couple of years ago, I was sitting around on a lazy Saturday afternoon and it was on TV. Producers of Smokey and the Bandit wrecked 26 cars while filming the movie in 1977. Most of the shots that show Reynolds and Field in the car talking were filmed with the T/A being towed along on a lowboy trailer. Since mentioning the Kenworth, it must be noted it was a redecorator of the highest fashion. With Reynolds' salary at $1 million, Needham was left with only $3.3 million to make the film. http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/john-fedack-my-days-as-a-dekalb-county-police-officer/. 1979 was equally successful for the brand, joining 1978 to create Pontiac's best sales years ever. [original research?] Everything You Should Know About The The Trans Am From Smokey And The Bandit, 10 Most Potentially Unreliable Electric Vehicles According To Consumer Reports, 10 Reasons Why It's Time You Should Buy A Bagger, Here's How Solid-State Batteries Will Change EVs Forever. The tow truck driver was a local garage owner, Berlin Wike. Burt Reynolds once claimed in an interview that there were actually 12 Trans Ams featured in Smokey and the Banditand he wrecked every one. This movie just showed how much an urban legend the supposed unobtainability had become. Car movies are notorious for being tough on the very vehicles that give them their allure. The Smokey and the Bandit Car - Carsforsale.com It had an AM transmitter and you would tune in the sound on your AM car radio, or on my case, on a transistor radio. Its lack of additives and preservatives meant that Coors could spoil in one week without refrigeration, explaining the film's 28-hour deadline. At the time, using "fuck" would immediately require an R rating and this self-censorship allowed the film to avoid this rating and reach a much larger audience. I remember reading somewhere that one of the cars was equipped with a 455 for some of the higher speed scenes. 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). I actually remember the construction of that segment of I-75, as it stopped around Tampa prior to that time. Likely this isnt any rare engine venting package, but I could be wrong. The films are indeed classic and very funny to this day. The unrestored car reportedly showed up on eBay back in 2015, but no one wanted to buy it. Please refresh the page and try again. That came out in 1981. 12 A Total Of 3 Trans Ams Were Destroyed During Filming. The worldwide gross is estimated at over $300 million. Tragically, every Trans Am used in filming was destroyed. I have only seen pieces of the second and none of the third; I plan to keep it that way. These two 1967 Ford Galaxies (CC here), soon to be redecorated by a Kenworth road tractor, do not. The theatrical release has a few lines deleted, including an edit in which Sheriff Justice tells a state trooper to "fuck off" after the sheriff called his vehicle "a piece of crap". Smokey and the Bandit - Wikipedia how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2. I think more of Smokey and the Bandit II and the awful part 3 were filmed largely in Florida, I dont know if I-75 construction was started by 1976-77, at least the section down to Miami part, when they filmed. How much did the Smokey and the Bandit car sell for? And the 400 Pontiac or 403 Olds versions could be made to run well. I grew up in Illinois, within eyeshot of the banks of the MIssissippi River, and ten miles from Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Just after re-entering Georgia, Snowman is rescued by Bandit after being stopped by a Georgia State Patrol motorcycle trooper, and state and local police intensely pursue Bandit with roadblocks and a helicopter to track his movement. A dastardly scoundrel? . This gives rise to various continuity errors with Justice's patrol car, which during some chase sequences is shown with a black rear fender, which then reverts to the car's bronze color again in later scenes. They find local legend Bo "Bandit" Darville at a roadeo at Lakewood Fairgrounds and offer him US$80,000 (equivalent to $357,738 in 2021) to haul 400 cases of Coors from Texarkana (the closest place it could be legally sold at that time) to Atlanta in 28 hours. We stopped in that same Safeway later on the way back home from southern Cal, and they had a huge display of cases of Coors out on the floor near the checkstands. Called Smoke is the Bandit and playing on Stewart's nickname, the commercials featured him as the Bandit opposite commentators Darrell Waltrip as the Snowman and Jeff Hammond as Buford T. Justice. However, the U.S. government introduced new emission controls in 1972, and automakers had to step back. Jane Russell hawked bras on television for full-figured gals like her, a line that evoked snickers among my high-school classmates. It was the second highest-grossing film of the year, trailing only Star Wars: A New Hope, and it made Burt Reynolds into a certifiable superstar. 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". He has no less than four movies listed as coming out, and they run the gamut from romantic drama to family comedy to horror mystery to action thriller. [29] Alfred Hitchcock claimed that the film was one of his favorites. A segment of the CMT program Reel Eats used a sloppy joe-style recipe consisting of seasoned ground beef, corn, and sour cream. The site's consensus states: "Not much in the head but plenty beneath the hood, Smokey and the Bandit is infectious fun with plenty of car wrecks to keep your eyes glued". The theme music "East Bound and Down" was sung and co-written by Reed (credited under his birth name, Jerry Hubbard) and Dick Feller. It was the second-highest-grossing movie of 1977 after Star Wars. I recall reading somewhere that the Trans Am that did the bridge jump had a tweaked Chevy 350 in it with a stick, and of course that it was WO after the jump. MN12 Thunderbirds had the same appeal to me, for similar reasons. The movie, in fact, caused sales of the . They return one minute after their time limit, but instead of taking the payoff, Carrie and Bandit accept a double-or-nothing offer from Little Enos: a challenge to run up to Boston and bring back clam chowder in 18 hours. Dodge pitchman Sheriff Joe Higgins. As if GM owes them something. I have at least 4 really good car buddies that will from time to time love popping this movie in to watch. Burt Reynolds' 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Sold for $240,000. What Sports Cars Are In Smokey And The Bandit - OsVehicle These Furys, as well as some of the LeMans units, have hood scoops. How Many Cars Did Blues Brothers Wreck | Car Geek No more needs to be said. Musicians such as Beegie Adair and George Tidwell[20] played on the soundtrack. While watching the movie (yes, I did have to diligently research this article), one shot seemed to indicate this may be a dummy scoop. How many police cars were wrecked in Smokey and the Bandit? Funny that T/A isnt on the movie poster, considering it was the obvious star of the show. When it was over, I cried and cried and cried because I didnt want it to end. via iconic premier. The movie is responsible for something, by 1979 Pontiac was selling 100,000 plus Trans Ams, not the whole Firebird line, JUST Trans Ams, Pontiac sold more T/As in 1979 than any of the cheaper Firebirds combined, Smokey and the Bandit had to have a hand in that. The scene where Sheriff Justice's car has the door knocked off by a passing semi-truck was shot on Georgia State Route 75, 3 miles (4.8km) north of Helen. A series of four made-for-TV spin-off films (Bandit Goes Country, Bandit Bandit, Beauty and the Bandit, and Bandit's Silver Angel) were produced in 1994 for Universal Television's Action Pack with actor Brian Bloom playing a younger version of the Bandit. The T/A is just as quick as my present Challenger is, but the Challenger doesnt have anything close to the throttle response it had, and I miss it. The whereabouts of the remaining Smokey and the Bandit car, the one that was used to promote the movie, remained a mystery for years.