what was the year of trans am in smokey and the bandit

#WHAT WAS THE YEAR OF TRANS AM IN SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT MOVIE#
#WHAT WAS THE YEAR OF TRANS AM IN SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT CODE#
#WHAT WAS THE YEAR OF TRANS AM IN SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT PROFESSIONAL#

Reynolds was an avid boot wearer in real life who owned dozens of cowboy boots and zip-up ankle boots from bootmakers including Di Fabrizio, Manuel, Tony Lama, Ammons, Code West, and Rocketbuster Boots, as seen in the Julien’s Live catalog from a 2019 auction of items from the actor’s estate.Įyes shaded by the cowboy hat integral to his image, the Bandit wears a light blue chambray cotton work shirt with a large point collar, front placket unbuttoned over the chest, and two flapped chest pockets. His state of respite also introduces us to his chosen footwear, a pair of black leather cowboy boots with raised heels and square toes, the latter embellished with studs. The Bandit wears his usual skin-tight blue jeans with his personalized belt and the large turquoise-ornamented belt buckle that matches his complement of turquoise-and-silver jewelry.

Guess which one is Big Enos and which one is Little Enos? Little Enos Burdette (Paul Williams) is hardly impressed by the supposed icon reclining on a zebra-print hammock at the Georgia “Truck Road-eo” state finals, awaiting an absent line of fans eagerly seeking photos at $1.25 75 cents a pop. Seems like a legend and an out-of-work bum look a lot alike, Daddy.

#WHAT WAS THE YEAR OF TRANS AM IN SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT MOVIE#

Reynolds’ popularity derived not from the quality of his movies-and he would no doubt be the first to admit that few of his output in the 25-year span between Deliverance (1972) and Boogie Nights (1997) could be argued as “great” cinema-but instead from his laidback charm watching a Burt Reynolds movie often meant an hour and a half with an unpretentious hero who needed not a tailored tuxedo and well-made martini to be happy, just a cowboy hat and a hammock… and that’s exactly how we’re introduced to the Bandit. So began Burt Reynolds’ obituary by Jennifer Brett for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, capturing the charismatic star’s seemingly contradictory ability to balance his down-to-earth, everyman appeal with a self-deprecating awareness of his own megastardom. His tousled bangs and rolled-up shirt sleeves said he was just one of the guys.

In his snug-fitting, bell-bottomed jeans and polished boots, a perfectly creased Stetson resting at his elbow and a massive belt buckle gleaming at his trim waistline, he seemed every bit the movie star.

That day on the Atlanta set of Smokey and the Bandit, Burt Reynolds stretched his lanky legs out in his shag-carpeted trailer and took a little break. Indeed, Hal Needham-a Korean War veteran and experienced stuntman-had a particular talent for delivering what audiences would want to see, ignoring the influence of critics or studio heads, ultimately delivering a movie that would gross over $300 million, earn an Academy Award nomination for editors Walter Hannemann and Angelo Ross, and would become a favorite of many… including Alfred Hitchcock. Smokey and the Bandit became the second-highest grossing film in North America in 1977, second only to Star Wars… an impressive performance for a mostly improvised movie that had been outlined on legal pads by a stuntman who was also making his directorial debut.

#WHAT WAS THE YEAR OF TRANS AM IN SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT PROFESSIONAL#

The friendship and professional association between the actor and stuntman would inspire the Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth characters and dynamic in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). Justice (Jackie Gleason), who calls Bandit “the goddamndest pursuee I ever pursued!”īurt Reynolds and Hal Needham during production of Smokey and the Bandit. Their expedition is further complicated when the Bandit picks up a runaway bride, Carrie (Sally Field)-soon to be redubbed “Frog” for the benefit of our heroes’ CB radios-and invites the dogged pursuit of Carrie’s prospective father-in-law, the excessively proud Sheriff Buford T. Reynolds stars as the eponymous Bandit, a charming anti-authoritarian rogue who swaps out his usual truck for a speedy Trans Am as he and his fellow trucker pal Cledus “Snowman” Snow (Jerry Reed) dodge the police across five states in their mission to haul 400 cases of Coors from Texas to Atlanta in under 28 hours for a $80,000 payday. Of course, it’s a costume that Burt Reynolds inhabits like few others could, perhaps rooted in less authenticity than the Snowman’s trucker uniform of plaid shirt, puffer vest, and CAT hat but consistent with Reynolds’ swaggering screen persona. I’m sure my initial resistance to chronicling the Bandit’s road trip regalia was its relative inaccessibility, as it’s hard to wear a red rayon shirt, tight jeans, and cowboy hat and boots-let alone the mustache-without looking like costume. Happy birthday, America… from Burt Reynolds and BAMF Style.

What was the year of trans am in smokey and the bandit