The Sugarland Express (1974)

A woman attempts to reunite her family by helping her husband escape prison and together kidnapping their son. But things don't go as planned when they are forced to take a police hostage on the road.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Hal Barwood (screenplay), Matthew Robbins (screenplay)

Stars:

Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, Michael Sacks

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Goldie Hawn	...	Lou Jean
Ben Johnson	...	Captain Tanner
Michael Sacks	...	Slide
William Atherton	...	Clovis
Gregory Walcott	...	Mashburn
Steve Kanaly	...	Officer Ernie Jessup
Louise Latham	...	Mrs. Looby
Harrison Zanuck	...	Baby Langston
A.L. Camp	...	Mr. Alvin T. Nocker
Jessie Lee Fulton	...	Mrs. Nocker
Dean Smith	...	Russ Berry
Ted Grossman	...	Dietz
Bill Thurman	...	Hunter
Ken Hudgins	...	Standby #1 (as Kenneth Hudgins)
Buster Daniels	...	Buster Daniels - Drunk (as Buster Danials)

Storyline

Lou-Jean, a blonde woman, tells her husband, who is imprisoned, to escape. They plan to kidnap their own child, who was placed with foster parents. The escape is partly successful, they take a hostage, who is a policeman and are pursued through to Texas...

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Plot Keywords:

texas | hostage | pursuit | highway | police car | 

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Taglines:

A girl with a great following.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first theatrical feature film directed by Steven Spielberg to get a wide release. His previous theatrical film, Firelight (1964), was only shown once at one theater, and is partly lost.

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Goofs

While the Border Patrol's purpose is indeed to protect the United States against illegal entry and not vice-versa, they are still a law enforcement agency that can be called upon to assist other state or federal agencies (as depicted in the film) to prevent wanted felons fleeing the United States jurisdiction during a pursuit. This has happened numerous times in reality and as such they are completely justified in firing at Clovis's car during their attempted escape.

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Quotes

Mrs. Nocker: Well shit, our car's stole

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Special Show: The Magic of Spielberg (1984)

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Soundtracks

The Eyes of Texas
(uncredited)
Written by John Lang Sinclair
[Played by marching band when the car enters Rodrigues, Texas]

User Reviews

Fun movie!

Man, I forgot how much fun this movie actually was. In my mind it was a heavy drama but on my recent viewing (finally it's on DVD!) I rediscovered this movie and found out how fun it was. It kind of has the same fun feeling the other 'based on a true story' Spielberg movies: "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Terminal" have.

The movie is made with lot's of profession and very little money. The small budget does not stop Spielberg of making a good movie. This movie was also the first Vilmos Zsigmond/Steven Spielberg collaboration. They later worked together on "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". But more importantly; it also was the first collaboration of John Williams and Steven Spielberg, one of the most successful collaborations in movie history, as later turned out.

the movie features a young Goldie Hawn and William Atherton who I really like as an actor. Atherton is probably best known for his role in "Die Hard 1 & 2", "Ghostbusters" and the more recent movie "The Last Samurai" in which he has a small part early in the movie.

It might be a bit too slow and probably boring for some people but I still recommend this movie. It has both action and substance. In a way also a must see because it was Spielberg his first real big hit and can be regarded as his breakthrough.

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 May 1974 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Carte Blanche

Filming Locations:

San Antonio, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$7,500,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,504,841

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Zanuck/Brown Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1