49 Fun Facts About Smokey and the Bandit

Who plays Bo 'Bandit' Darville?

Director Hal Needham had originally imagined Jerry Reed in the role before Reynolds signed on and Reed became Snowman.

Which comedy legend plays Sheriff Buford T. Justice?

He was given free rein to ad-lib, and the roadside diner scene with the Bandit was entirely his idea.

What cargo do the Bandit and Snowman have to haul from Texarkana to Atlanta?

In 1977 Coors was not sold east of Texas, so hauling it across the Mississippi was technically bootlegging.

How many hours do they have to make the round trip?

The deadline has a logic: unrefrigerated Coors could spoil in a week, so nobody wanted it hanging around.

How much do Big Enos and Little Enos offer the Bandit for the run?

Everyone else who had taken the bet had failed, and many had been arrested along the way.

What car does the Bandit drive?

Needham saw an advertisement for the not-yet-released model and knew instantly it was the car; sales nearly doubled within two years.

What nickname does the Bandit give his car?

The name borrows Roy Rogers's famous horse; the car works as a 'blocker' to draw police away from the truck.

How many Trans Ams did Pontiac supply to the production?

All four were badly damaged during filming, along with two Pontiac LeMans sedans that played Sheriff Justice's cruiser.

Which country singer plays Cledus 'Snowman' Snow?

He also wrote the film's theme virtually overnight, and it became his signature song.

What make of truck does Snowman drive?

Three of the trucks were used for the beer-hauling scenes, with a mural on the trailer.

What breed of dog is Fred, Snowman's companion?

Reynolds reportedly picked the dog himself because it refused to obey anyone.

Who plays Carrie, the runaway bride the Bandit picks up, nicknamed 'Frog'?

She only took the part after her agent told her she needed a big movie, and she and Reynolds began dating on set.

Whose wedding does Carrie run away from?

That is why Sheriff Justice chases the Bandit across state lines, never knowing about the beer.

Which diminutive singer-songwriter plays Little Enos Burdette?

Pat McCormick, a foot and a half taller, plays his father Big Enos; the pair are the film's running sight gag.

Which word did the actor playing Buford T. Justice improvise into his signature insult?

Television censors overdubbed it as 'scum bum', which became a joke of its own.

Where did the name Buford T. Justice come from?

Burt Reynolds Sr. had been a police chief in Florida and knew the man.

Which actor was originally considered for Sheriff Justice before Gleason?

The Have Gun, Will Travel star would have played it straight; Gleason turned it into comedy.

Smokey and the Bandit was the directorial debut of which former stuntman?

He had lived in Reynolds's guesthouse for the better part of 12 years and went on to direct Hooper and The Cannonball Run.

What was the film's production budget?

It went on to take $126.7 million in North America and more than $300 million worldwide.

Which film was the only one to out-gross Smokey and the Bandit domestically in 1977?

The Bandit was a sleeper: it flopped at Radio City Music Hall, then opened only in the South and spread from there.

In which state was the film primarily shot?

McDonough, Jonesboro and Lithonia stood in for the whole route from Texarkana; the annual Bandit Run still ends in Jonesboro.

What helped the Trans Am clear the dismantled Mulberry bridge in the famous jump?

The car that made the jump was wrecked on landing, one of the four Pontiac supplied.

Which title did the film's theme song carry?

It spent 16 weeks on the country chart, peaking at number two, and Ford revived it for truck ads in 2018.

For the westbound scenes, Reed recorded an alternate version of the theme called what?

It had modified lyrics and added strings and horns, and rarely gets played today.

Where do the Bandit and Snowman have to deliver the beer in Atlanta?

Cledus smashes through the police roadblock at the main gate and they arrive with ten minutes to spare.

What double-or-nothing challenge do Bandit and Carrie accept at the end?

They race off in Big Enos's 1974 Cadillac Eldorado convertible while Sheriff Justice's wreck of a cruiser limps after them.

Which famous director said Smokey and the Bandit was one of his favourite films?

The master of suspense apparently loved the chase; the film also earned an Oscar nomination for editing.

For which Academy Award was Smokey and the Bandit nominated?

It lost to Star Wars, which beat it at the box office too.

Where did the film have its premiere on May 19, 1977?

It performed poorly there; the studio then opened it only in the South, where it became a phenomenon.

Which studio distributed Smokey and the Bandit?

The studio cut the budget before filming, which is why it came in at just $4.3 million.

What did the star of the film receive after its release?

Pontiac later gave him a new Trans Am every year, according to Reynolds, until sales dropped and the deal ended.

What does the annual Bandit Run celebrate?

Trans Am owners retrace the route every year, ending in the Georgia town where much of the film was shot.

What do the Bandit and Snowman have to transport in Smokey and the Bandit II?

Cledus names her Charlotte; she is a Republican mascot bound for the party's convention in Dallas.

Which comedian plays Doc, caretaker of the film's four-legged cargo, in the 1980 sequel?

Reynolds's frequent sidekick played Dr. Frederico Carlucci; the film took about $66 million.

In the 1980 sequel, the actor playing Buford T. Justice also plays which two of the sheriff's brothers?

Reggie Van Justice is a Mountie sergeant from Quebec and Gaylord an effeminate Texas patrolman, all played by Gleason.

Which two Pittsburgh Steelers appear as themselves in Smokey and the Bandit II?

The sequel's finale piles up forty patrol and Mountie cruisers in a desert demolition derby.

Who plays the Bandit for most of Smokey and the Bandit Part 3?

Reynolds appears only in a cameo near the end; the film was originally shot as Smokey IS the Bandit with Gleason in both roles.

Why was Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 reshot in April 1983?

The result grossed only $7 million against a $9 million budget and ended the series.

What cargo is hauled from Miami to Texas in Part 3?

The wager belongs to the Enos father-and-son team again; Colleen Camp joins as Dusty Trails.

After the film, the Trans Am outsold which rival car for the first time?

Trans Am sales almost doubled within two years of the release, and Pontiac's president promised Reynolds a new one every year.

What is the title of Jesse Moss's 2016 documentary about the making of the film?

It explores the friendship between Reynolds and stuntman-turned-director Hal Needham through interviews with Reynolds and the crew.

Which role did Burt Reynolds play in the 2005 film version of The Dukes of Hazzard?

It returned a favor of sorts: three Dukes cast members had appeared uncredited in Smokey and the Bandit, which helped get the series on air.

Which future US president smuggled Coors home in his luggage after a Colorado trip?

In 1977 the beer was unavailable east of Texas, and its lack of preservatives meant it could spoil within a week unrefrigerated.

What phrase did 1979 network censors dub over Buford's favorite insult?

The substitute caught on with kids, and a 2007 Hot Wheels Trans Am even carried it on its ducktail spoiler.

In Hal Needham's original script, what was the prize for completing the beer run?

Needham wrote the first draft on legal pads; Reynolds called it the worst script he had ever read but agreed to make the movie anyway.

How much did Reynolds' promotional Trans Am fetch at his 2014 auction?

High estimates had been around $80,000; a go-kart replica of the car sold for nearly $14,000 in the same sale.

What was Carrie's name in the original script?

Big Enos and Little Enos were originally Kyle and Dickey, and most of the finished film's dialogue was improvised on set.

The scene where the Bandit drives through a Shell gas station was shot in which California town?

Almost everything else was filmed around McDonough, Jonesboro and Lithonia in Georgia, with chase scenes on Highway 54.

Which Fred Flintstone voice actor redubbed much of Sheriff Justice's dialogue for television?

Gleason was the one main cast member who did not return to re-record his lines for the toned-down broadcast version.