Way Back Wednesday - Smokey and the Bandit

Okay, I wasn't planning to do this movie until later in the year, but after watching it again on TV this weekend, I couldn't resist - I had to let my inner redneck out!

Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 movie starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams, and Mike Henry.

A rich Texan Big Enos Burdette (Pat McCormick) and his son, Little Enos (Paul Williams), hire legendary truck driver Bo "Bandit" Darville (Burt Reynolds) to haul truck load of Coors beer from Texas to Georgia. (Unfortunately, due to federal liquor laws of the time, selling and/or shipping Coors east of the Mississippi River was considered bootlegging, and the truck drivers who had taken the bet previously had been discovered and arrested.) They offer him $80,000 to haul 400 cases of Coors in 28 hours. Bandit recruits fellow trucker Cletus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) to drive the truck - Snow brings along his dog, a Basset Hound named "Fred", for company). Bandit purchases a black Pontiac Trans Am, which he will drive himself as a "blocker" car to deflect attention away from the truck and its cargo.

The duo reach Texas ahead of schedule, load their truck with Coors, and immediately head back towards Georgia. Shortly thereafter, Bandit picks up professional dancer and apparent runaway bride Carrie (Sally Field), whom he nicknames "Frog" because she was "always hopping around". However, by picking up Carrie, Bandit becomes the target of Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), whose handsome yet very simple-minded son Junior (Mike Henry) was to have been Carrie's groom.

The remainder of the film is essentially one big high-speed chase, as Bandit and Frog attract continuous attention from local and state police while Snowman barrels eastward with the Coors beer.

This movie is so campy, I find myself laughing hysterically! And you know you're a redneck when you know all the word to the theme music "East Bound and Down", which became a signature song for Jerry Reed. Although there have been several sequels, nothing compares to the original.

"Breaker, breaker - we're east bound and down"

East bound and down, loaded up and truckin'
a'we gonna do what they say can't be done
We've got a long why to go and a short time to get there
I'm east bound just watch ol'Bandit run

Keep your foot hard on the peddle...son, never mind them brakes
let it all hang out cause we've got a run to make
The boys are thirsty in Atlanta,and there's beer in Texarcana
and we'll bring it back no matter what it takes

East bound and down, loaded up and truckin'
a'we gonna do what they say can't be done
We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there
I'm east bound just watch ol'Bandit run ......

( banjo & guitar solo )

Old Smokey's got them ears on, he's hot on your trail
and he ain't gonna rest 'till you're in jail
So you gotta dodge him.... you gotta duck him
You've gotta keep that diesel truckin....
just put that hammer down and give it hell

East bound and down, loaded up and truckin'
a'we gonna do what they say can't be done
We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there
I'm east bound just watch ol'Bandit run