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My relationship to some movie franchises is kinda weird. In my science fiction loving mind, Smokey And The Bandit was a movie That was never a real priority to see for me. So, I really didn't see any of them. Then, came cable and HBO and teenage hormones. The HBO/Cinemax guide was always scanned for the movies with that magic word: "nudity". Among the ones with the magic word was one "Smokey And The Bandit Part 3". Wow, I did not know Smokey ran that way.
So, I made sure to check it out. Well, first if all, there was no Burt Reynolds and no Sally Field. But there was Jackie Gleason. This was a little over a year or two before I would fall in love with The Honeymooners. But, I tell you he still made me laugh. I am convinced most of Gleason's lines were ad libbed by him.
Even back then, I could tell this movie was a bit low rent but I liked it.
Now, I can see what an absolute train wreck it all was... And I love it. There are others who this movie has a cult status with. The chaotic history of the movie is talked about. Like when many believed that this movie was first shot with Gleason playing both the Bandit and Smokey somehow. But they tested it to disastrous results and decided to revamp the movie. There was a lack of hard evidence (only newspaper articles saying Gleason was set to do both roles) for this until recently, when a teaser trailer turned up with Goeaon pretty much saying he would be the bandit too and a picture of Gleason in Bandit clothes.
The clues in the movie itself mostly show with the scenes with a stunt man that looks huskier than Jerry Reid, who ended up shooting new stuff as The Bandit.
Yes, the plot, such as it is has the Enos brothers coaxing Sherrif Justice out of retirement to transport a stuffed shark (the mascot for a chain of seafood restaurants) from Florida to Texas in a certain amount of time for 250 grand but if he loses, he has to surrender his badge (even though he's retiring...). So Justice takes along his dim witted son which sets up for a low rent Kramden and Norton road trip act.
The Enos brothers want to prevent Justice from winning and when their early attempts don't stop him they end up calling Bandit's friend, the snowman (Jerry Reid) (thinking he'll be easier to control than the actual bandit) to foil Justice and get the stuffed fish himself for the prize.
The snowman dresses up in the hat and clothes of the bandit and also has the same car.
Along the way he meets a girl who walks off a live commercial for a car dealer (who does live commercials anymore? Even back then) and runs off with him.
Then it is a potpourri of car chases, car crashes and dubious continuity. There are many WTH moments. Probably the biggest one is the scene wher 2 black chicken farmers in a truck are being harassed by the KKK and it's all played for laughs, complete with "the south will rise again" music. Buford Justice encounters them and says "what are these Klan clowns doing here?" And ends up cutting them off so they crash into a tar machine. Then a whole bunch if chicken feathers fall to coat the tar covered Klan to the delight if the chicken farmers.
Later both Smokey and the Bandit find themselves at a hotel with a whole bunch of... Wild parties going on. That and the fact Buford Justice ends up crashing a nudist party later accounts for the nudity. You know, I note that many PG rated movies were allowed to be borderline raunchy in the late 70's and early 80's in a way they would not be today. Still what makes the scene is Gleason's comments like telling the hotel clerk who is reading a dirty magazine to go back to his "gonad gazette". At the hotel, Justice think he has the bandit in the steam room but it turns out to be a mannish nymphomaniac that ends up having the hots for him. She pops up at different points in the movie, following him.
Anyway, bad movie fans, you must watch this one!
So, I made sure to check it out. Well, first if all, there was no Burt Reynolds and no Sally Field. But there was Jackie Gleason. This was a little over a year or two before I would fall in love with The Honeymooners. But, I tell you he still made me laugh. I am convinced most of Gleason's lines were ad libbed by him.
Even back then, I could tell this movie was a bit low rent but I liked it.
Now, I can see what an absolute train wreck it all was... And I love it. There are others who this movie has a cult status with. The chaotic history of the movie is talked about. Like when many believed that this movie was first shot with Gleason playing both the Bandit and Smokey somehow. But they tested it to disastrous results and decided to revamp the movie. There was a lack of hard evidence (only newspaper articles saying Gleason was set to do both roles) for this until recently, when a teaser trailer turned up with Goeaon pretty much saying he would be the bandit too and a picture of Gleason in Bandit clothes.
The clues in the movie itself mostly show with the scenes with a stunt man that looks huskier than Jerry Reid, who ended up shooting new stuff as The Bandit.
Yes, the plot, such as it is has the Enos brothers coaxing Sherrif Justice out of retirement to transport a stuffed shark (the mascot for a chain of seafood restaurants) from Florida to Texas in a certain amount of time for 250 grand but if he loses, he has to surrender his badge (even though he's retiring...). So Justice takes along his dim witted son which sets up for a low rent Kramden and Norton road trip act.
The Enos brothers want to prevent Justice from winning and when their early attempts don't stop him they end up calling Bandit's friend, the snowman (Jerry Reid) (thinking he'll be easier to control than the actual bandit) to foil Justice and get the stuffed fish himself for the prize.
The snowman dresses up in the hat and clothes of the bandit and also has the same car.
Along the way he meets a girl who walks off a live commercial for a car dealer (who does live commercials anymore? Even back then) and runs off with him.
Then it is a potpourri of car chases, car crashes and dubious continuity. There are many WTH moments. Probably the biggest one is the scene wher 2 black chicken farmers in a truck are being harassed by the KKK and it's all played for laughs, complete with "the south will rise again" music. Buford Justice encounters them and says "what are these Klan clowns doing here?" And ends up cutting them off so they crash into a tar machine. Then a whole bunch if chicken feathers fall to coat the tar covered Klan to the delight if the chicken farmers.
Later both Smokey and the Bandit find themselves at a hotel with a whole bunch of... Wild parties going on. That and the fact Buford Justice ends up crashing a nudist party later accounts for the nudity. You know, I note that many PG rated movies were allowed to be borderline raunchy in the late 70's and early 80's in a way they would not be today. Still what makes the scene is Gleason's comments like telling the hotel clerk who is reading a dirty magazine to go back to his "gonad gazette". At the hotel, Justice think he has the bandit in the steam room but it turns out to be a mannish nymphomaniac that ends up having the hots for him. She pops up at different points in the movie, following him.
Anyway, bad movie fans, you must watch this one!
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