Smokey and the Bandit



Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 movie starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, and country singer Jerry Reed, who also sang the film's theme song "East Bound and Down". It is the Trope Codifier of the "Moonshiner on the run from Corrupt Hick cops" movie. The plot revolves around truck driver Bo "Bandit" Darville (Reynolds), who is offered $80,000 to bootleg four hundred cases of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas to the Southern Classic truck rodeo in Georgia within 28 hours. The Bandit recruits fellow trucker Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Reed) to make the journey with him, with the Bandit's Pontiac Firebird Trans Am acting as a spotter for Snowman's rig. On the journey back, the Bandit picks up a Runaway Bride named Carrie (Field), making him the target of the jilted groom's father, Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Gleason). Hilarity Ensues and a chase across the South ensue.

Smokey was the second highest-grossing movie of 1977, beaten to the #1 spot by Star Wars: A New Hope, and established Burt Reynolds as one of the biggest stars in Hollywood in the late '70s and early '80s. Two sequels were made, Smokey and the Bandit II in 1980 and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (sans Reynolds and Field) in 1983. They did not end up doing as well in competition with the respective Star Wars films at the box office.

Tropes used by the films:
"Junior: The top came off, Daddy.
 * The Alleged Car: Buford's police cruiser becomes this as it gets smashed to hell.
 * Aluminum Christmas Trees: In 1977, it was indeed illegal to ship large amounts of Coors beer east of Texas due to state alcohol laws at the time. Since at the time the company still produced all of its beer in Colorado, it didn't bother to seek state licenses for parts of the country outside of a comfortable shipping range.
 * Are You Sure You Can Drive This Thing?: "I can drive any fork'n thing around."
 * Aside Glance: The Bandit gives one after hiding behind a building from the cops.
 * Badass Boast
 * Badass Driver
 * Bar Brawl: Snowman gets his ass kicked in one after his dog bites one of the patrons. He gets his revenge.
 * Bowdlerise: The TV edit replaced "sum'bitch," Buford's Catch Phrase, with "scum bum". This phrase wound up becoming quite popular with children at the time. Years later, when Hot Wheels released a '70s Firebird Trans Am toy car, it had the word "scum bum" on the back as a reference to the TV edit.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: The Bandit does this when he smiles at the audience after eluding a cop on the way to Texarkana.
 * Butt Monkey: Junior, hands down.
 * California Doubling: The movie was mostly filmed in Georgia, which not only appears as itself, but is also used to represent four other Southern states. The scene where they drive through the Shell gas station was also filmed in Ojai, California.
 * Captain Obvious

Buford T. Justice: No shit."

"Oh, pardon me. For some reason you sounded a little taller on radio."
 * Catch Phrase: "I'm in the MIDDLE of a HOT PURSUIT!" "Sum'bitch!"
 * Chewing the Scenery: Jerry Reed.
 * City Mouse: Carrie, a Broadway dancer who is implied to be from New England (judging by her comment about taking a bus up to Jersey and walking the rest of the way home).
 * Clueless Deputy: Junior.
 * Cool Car: The Bandit's black Trans Am. It's not for nothing that the caption under the poster refers to it as "the other star" of the film.
 * Corrupt Hick: Buford T. Justice.
 * Well, Sheriff Buford T. Justice is treated as one of these, even though the titular Bandit is breaking the law left and right.
 * Buford has no idea that The Bandit is hauling illegal beer, which would have justified the pursuit at least within his jurisdiction. His pursuit is entirely for personal reasons and thus qualifies as being corrupt. Neither party comes to the plot with clean hands.
 * Cyclic National Fascination: This film, along with the CW McCall song "Convoy", helped to kick off the CB radio and trucker fads in the late '70s.
 * Determinator: Buford in every movie.
 * Did Not Do the Research: While Darville (Bandit) and Snow, did go to the right city, they went to the wrong side. As it's the Arkansas side not the Texas side that sells beer.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: Buford.
 * Driving Into a Truck: In Smokey and the Bandit II, a speeder calls for help to a trucker hauling a empty car carrier when being pursued by a state cop. The trucker agrees. With some fancy driving the speeder loses the cop by driving aboard the car carrier... or so he thinks. The speeder unexpectedly gets a tap on his window, and the cop is there asking him for his license and registration. (Its implied that the cop has driven aboard the car carrier also.) The speeder gets out of the ticket because the truck hasn't stopped, and they all cross a state line, so the cop is now out of his jurisdiction.
 * Dynamic Entry: The door for the Coors warehouse is locked, so The Bandit kicks in the door.
 * Ear Worm: Oh lord the Theme Tune. It has banjos.
 * Epic Race
 * Expecting Someone Taller:


 * Follow the Leader: The Dukes of Hazzard was at least honest about being a blatant ripoff of this movie.
 * Actually, both Smokey and The Dukes can be seen as ripoffs of a 1975 film called Moonrunners...which even has some of the same characters as the latter show!
 * Good Hair, Evil Hair: Parodied by Buford T. Justice
 * Greasy Spoon: references to the "Choke-and-puke".
 * Ham and Cheese: Jackie Gleason as Sheriff Buford T. Justice.
 * Hollywood CB: Perhaps the Trope Codifier.
 * Hollywood Police Driving Academy
 * Hot Pursuit
 * The Lancer: Snowman to the Bandit.
 * Lemming Cops
 * Lovable Rogue: Bandit. Everywhere he goes there are people lining up to help him out or at least cheer him on.
 * Male Gaze: The camera lingers on Carrie's ass for about five seconds as she's reaching into the backseat.
 * The Mountains of Illinois: While northern Georgia has mountains. Northeastern Texas does not, as the nearest is 100 miles to the north.
 * Motorcycle Dominoes: After Snowman gets beat up by bikers because his dog supposedly bit one of them, he stumbles outside and sees their bikes lined up. So he gets in his semi and runs over the entire line of them on his way out of the parking lot.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Carrie.
 * Playing Against Type: Jackie Gleason was a New York Jew. He plays an East Texas redneck in all three movies.
 * Plot Hole: Buford never learns about the illegal cargo of beer; The Bandit never learns that Frog left Junior at the altar.
 * Politically-Incorrect Villain: Buford, as seen with his reaction to finding out that Sheriff Branford is black.
 * Porn Stache: Burt Reynolds, naturally.
 * Ramming Always Works: Snowman near the end to save The Bandit.
 * Ramp Jump: The "Reynolds Ramp" originator.
 * The Red Stapler: After this movie came out, there was a six-month waiting list to purchase black Trans Ams.
 * Runaway Bride: Carrie.
 * The Seventies
 * The Sheriff: Buford T. Justice.
 * Sweet Home Alabama
 * Take the Wheel: Lampshaded; it turns out to be harder to do this than it looks.
 * Also a This Is Reality moment as Bandit comments that it's easier in the movies.
 * Throw It In: Jackie Gleason was given a lot of lee-way to ad lib. The scene where he meets Bandit at the choke'n'puke without knowing it was his idea.
 * Sound Effect Bleep: The only way they kept a PG rating.
 * Supporting Leader: Bandit is essentially a professional leader, even if he's the main character.
 * Worthy Opponent: Buford and the Bandit both admit a mutual respect for the other's tenacity at the end over the CB.
 * You Have No Idea Who You're Dealing With: Buford.
 * Your Mom: "Your mama's so ugly..."
 * A version of Your Mom is a Running Gag with Buford and Junior--Buford insults Junior's mother, but she is of course Buford's wife.

Smokey and the Bandit II:

"Tackle that car."
 * Did Not Do the Research: Why an ambulance would stop for a potty-break when the guy in the back has malaria is... rather inconceivable. And no Jurassic Park references, dammit!
 * Hard Work Montage: Bandit even races racehorses.
 * Informed Flaw: Bandit, with regards to alcoholism, or at least being out of shape for drinking too many beers. Somewhat averted when he has to go through the Hard Work Montage to work it off, but even beforehand he still looks in pretty good shape.
 * It Works Better with Bullets
 * Mass "Oh Crap"
 * Rule of Cool

"Security Officer: First dock on the left.
 * Your Other Left

Bandit: Right.

Security Officer: No, left."

Smokey and the Bandit Part 3:

"Buford: Here's how you handle the Klan, Junior."
 * Absentee Actor: Both Burt Reynolds and Sally Field opted out of this one, although Reynolds does appear in a brief cameo toward the end when Buford confronts Cledus, who's taken on the Bandit role, and hallucinates that he's the "real" Bandit.
 * For the Evulz: Big Enos and Little Enos. While the other two bets (well, three) actually had reasons behind them, the one they foist onto Buford in the third film is purely to alleviate boredom.
 * And possibly to get Buford to turn in his badge (which was Buford's end of the wager, should he not complete the run successfully) to remove his interference with future deals.
 * Panty Shot: Colleen Camp (the film's Sally Field expy).
 * Shout-Out: Star Wars and Patton.
 * Tar and Feathers


 * Also, arguably, Even Evil Has Standards.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: Moreso here than the other two.
 * What Could Have Been: The infamous "Smokey IS the Bandit" story. Supposedly, Jackie Gleason was going to play a dual role. The most readily available proof that the film was originally shot this way is a trailer in which Gleason as Justice addresses the audience directly and declares that he has literally stepped into the Bandit's shoes in the new film.