Smokey and the Bandit

Question: What did the trooper mean when he said, "Didn't you know this ain't Saturday"? It always makes me wonder.

Answer: The trooper on the motorcycle had just landed in the water. In older days, the typical day to take a bath, wash hair, etc. was Saturday. The trooper in the car (once he saw the motorcycle trooper was okay and wet) just made a joke about him taking a bath.

Zwn Annwn

Answer: I think the trooper makes this joke in reference to Evel Knievel, a popular performer of the day. His shows, which prominently featured motorcycle stunts (particularly jumping) usually occurred on the weekends (i.e. Saturday).

Question: Who is the actress that plays the old lady that called herself the Good Witch of the North? Also, did she voice cartoons? I could swear her voice sounded very familiar.

Answer: Don't know if she did cartoon voices, but her name is Nora Meerbaum. She was in Airplane and St. Elmo's fire in the following years though so you may know her from those.

I thought the same thing. Maybe one of the Mrs Clauses in Christmas cartoons.

Shirley Booth voiced the Christmas favorites.

She looks and sounds like Shirley Booth, Mrs. Claus in The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974).

Answer: My guess is the 2-headed bird on the Bugs Bunny with the vampire. I believe the bird's name was Emily. She also resembles Clarabelle or Jennifer Morrison (one of the moonshine sisters) from the Andy Griffith Show episode "Alcohol and Old Lace."

Answer: She was Mother Nature in The Year Without a Santa Claus.

She was Mrs. Claus in the year without a Santa Claus... May have also been mother nature (I don't think so though) from the same show, but definitely was Mrs. Claus.

That's wrong. Shirley Booth voiced Mrs Claus.

Answer: Dorothy Stikney was the other sister.

Question: Does anyone know if the Trans AM and the truck used in the film are still around?

Answer: The trailer appeared in a recent episode of "The Walking Dead"

The trailer on the walking dead episode is a replica it's not the original one used in the movie as the one in TWD is a standard low slung with air baffles the original one doesn't have those and is also refrigerated.

Answer: The original "Bandit" Trans am no longer exists, but one from the second movie is kept at The Performance Car Museum, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The original "Bandit" Trans Am still exists. Burt Reynolds owned it right up to the time of his passing. It was then auctioned at the Barrett-Jackson auction house in Florida and sold for more then half a million dollars. That Trans AM is now in the hands of a private collector and no doubt very well cared for.

Question: When Bandit is getting the money for the run, he asks for a speedy car and Little Enos counts out the bills. Exactly how much was a 1977 Trans Am?

Answer: The base price for a 1977 Trans Am was around $5450. By the time you added the Hurst hatches (T-Tops), gold trim package, and CB radio, the final price was around $7000.

BGraz

Question: What does the waitress call the sheriff in the cafe scene when she gives him the sandwich?

Answer: She says "diablo and doc" referring to the diablo sandwich and Dr. Pepper he ordered.

Bishop73

Chosen answer: For two reasons, one to be polite and not act suspiciously, if he acted nervous or uncomfortable, the sheriff would be wary of him. Second, so the sheriff would leave quickly in case he had no cash or wanted to pay with a credit card. There were no slide cards back in the 1970's.

Question: When Frog and The Bandit have stopped and are walking through the woods, you can see something that is wrapped around Burt Reynolds gut under his shirt. Does anyone know what that was?

wolfman

Chosen answer: That's a 'kidney belt'. It's used for two reasons: 1) in long distance driving, it keeps your kidney's from bouncing around from all that high-speed stunt driving and 2) it holds in your gut for filming purposes to make you look good on film.

CCARNI

Question: I am really confused by one scene. When Buford realises that Bandit is leaving the same service station he is at, he attempts to drive after him, but the front of his car is cranked up, When it cuts back to that scene, Junior (for no apparent reason) is lying on the hood and a crowd is watching them. Was there some missing scene which explains why Junior is in that odd position? Also why is Buford's car cranked up to begin with?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: There's no missing scene; it's just a joke, albeit not particularly well-executed. Basically, the car was cranked up to replace the tires, and Buford forgot about them in his haste to pull out and crashed into the car in front of him. When we cut back, the joke is that he hit the other car so hard Junior flew out of his seat and wound up on the hood. The crowd gathers, as they tend to do in real life, around the accident to see what happened.

Question: Why is trucking Coors beer south of Texas bootlegging?

Answer: It wasn't south of Texas - it was east of the Mississippi River. Coors was not licensed to be sold in the east at that time (it, of course, is different today). Anyone carrying more than what would be considered for personal consumption (about 24 beers) would be in violation of the registration and licensing law. During prohibition, bootlegging was applied to those that made their own alcohol for distribution or use. After prohibition, bootlegging has been used to describe those people violating the laws for registration and licensing of alcohol. So, in the vernacular of the time, carrying Coors beer east of the Mississippi River would be bootlegging. Coors (brewed in Colorado) could not be shipped East of the Mississippi because it was brewed without being pasteurized and with no added preservatives, so shipping it long distances was impossible due to spoilage.

Zwn Annwn

Question: Carrie mentions that her longest or most serious relationship was eight-and-a-half days with an acid rock singer, that she came home and found in the shower with his mother. Wasn't she about to get married when Bandit found her? Would you not think that she actually had a relationship with him (and didn't she say she was pregnant, therefore, had to get married?).

ckbyers

Answer: She had a relationship with her fiance but in her mind it wasn't serious. She is running away because she is being pressured into marriage with a man she doesn't love. So the statement is accurate, her longest serious relationship was only 8 days.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: Where does she say she was pressured into marriage? - didn't have to really be snarky about it. They pick her up, she says there is a wedding in search of a bride... doesn't mean she was pressured... In fact, there is no definitive statement that she was forced to marry him or didn't love him. All she says is "I'm sorry Junior!" at the end. She just bolted from the wedding... people get cold feet all the time.

ckbyers

Answer: She is running away because she is being pressured into marriage with a man she doesn't love. That implies that there was no declining the proposal.

Answer: The "eight-and-a-half days" comment is a hyperbole - a deliberate exaggeration that is used to make a point. She was not being serious when she said that.

raywest

Answer: Then she could have said no to the proposal (just saying) when it was done (off camera).

ckbyers

So what's your point? The character agreed to the marriage under pressure, then changed her mind and decided to run. Where's the problem?

Question: The Bandit and Buford come face to face in the diner. Buford orders a diablo sandwich, and then runs to the door and hollers at Jr and asks if he wants something - when Jr. orders, Buford's response was "We don't have time for that!" - then why even ask Jr to begin with, if that's going to be his answer?

ckbyers

Answer: Junior asks for hush puppies, which are basically deep-fried dough balls...they would probably take a couple of minutes to make. The diablo sandwich, on the other hand, seems to be prepared in advance, since the sheriff gets his seconds after asking for it. Still, hush puppies probably would have been ready by the time the sheriff finishes his conversation with the Bandit.

Answer: Depends what he ordered - if it was something more complicated than a diablo sandwich, they wouldn't have time. Or he's just being a jerk.

Answer: I think he said "Onion rings daddy" - but I guess it would depend on what consists of a Diablo sandwich that is easy to make as opposed to waiting to having the rings made (it's a trivial point, I know...but it's been bugging me).

ckbyers

He said hush puppies.

Continuity mistake: When the Bandit first pulls over and picks up Sally Field, then he screeches off, if you look at the road you can see all the skid marks from all of the other takes of this scene, even down to the bit where the van pulls out of the junction and the bandit does his thing and then suddenly speeds off.

More mistakes in Smokey and the Bandit

Buford T. Justice: What we're dealing with here is a complete lack of respect for the law.

More quotes from Smokey and the Bandit

Trivia: Jackie Gleason's character is Buford T. Justice. This was the name of a real Florida Highway Patrolman known to Burt Reynolds' father who was once Chief of Police of Jupiter, Florida.

More trivia for Smokey and the Bandit

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