The Sugarland Express (1974)

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Steven Spielberg (story) and
Hal Barwood (story) ...

Release Date:

5 April 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

The true story of a girl who took on all of Texas...and almost won.

Plot:

Lou-Jean, a blonde woman, tells her husband, who is imprisoned, to escape. They plan to kidnap their own child...

Plot Keywords:

Hostage | Texas | Prison | Police | Convicted Felon

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Goldie Hawn	...	Lou Jean Poplin
Ben Johnson	...	Captain Harlin Tanner
Michael Sacks	...	Patrolman Maxwell Slide
William Atherton	...	Clovis Michael Poplin
Gregory Walcott	...	Patrolman Ernie Mashburn
Steve Kanaly	...	Patrolman Jessup
Louise Latham	...	Mrs. Looby
Harrison Zanuck	...	Baby Langston Poplin
A.L. Camp	...	Mr. Alvin T. Nocker
Jessie Lee Fulton	...	Mrs. Nocker
Dean Smith	...	Russ Berry
Ted Grossman	...	Dietz
Bill Thurman	...	Hunter
Kenneth Hudgins	...	Standby
Buster Daniels	...	Drunk (as Buster Danials)

Also Known As:

Carte Blanche (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:M (video rating) | Iceland:12 | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:18 (original rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Del Rio, Texas, USA

Company:

Zanuck/Brown Productions

Trivia:

The first theatrical feature film directed by Steven Spielberg.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the first chicken eating scene, the chicken bucket is with LouJean. In the next scene inside the car, Slide asks for something and LouJean pulls something (WetNap?) from the bucket and gives it to him. The next scene has the bucket between Slide and Clovis. Time between shots doesn't allow for this because the background song, When my Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again, is playing uninterrupted.

Quotes:

Maxwell Slide: Is your name Buster Daniels?
Drunk: Well, it was before I married.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Spielberg on Spielberg (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

I've Been Working on the Railroad

Spielberg's Forgotten First Film

After the success of Duel (which was really a TV movie) Sugarland Express (Spielberg's first feature film) flopped at the box office, though it received a reasonably warm critical response. In fact this is a great little movie for all kinds of reasons.

If you're interested in Spielberg as a director this is fascinating as it begins to lay out most of the themes that have driven his work ever since - family (especially divided and dysfunctional families), childhood, parenthood, outsiders, America and Americana etc. It's also a really interesting piece in terms of his developing style. This is the first Hollywood film in which cornflakes cameras were used allowing Spielberg to produce fantastically elaborate and fluid shots even in the confines of a car (see the superb 360 pan fixed on Ben Johnson's car when he first talks to the Poplins)- a kind of cinematography that has become a hall mark of Spielberg's, as have the rising crane shots and extended tracking shots that pepper the film. Spielberg skies and "God Light" (his term for shafts of light in mist/at night) also feature heavily.

It's also a really interesting if somewhat unrecognised influence on films like Thelma and Louise which seems to lift its basic structure and characters right out of this film. The way Ben Johnson's Captain Tanner equates to Harvey Keitel's police officer in Ridley Scott's film seems particularly close.

Fantastic performances all round too. Johnson, Horne and Atherton (a much under-used actor who as been largely wasted since, playing roles like the self serving journalist in the Die Hard films)particularly shine.

It's also very funny, sad and engaging from beginning to end. Can't recommend this one enough - especially if you're a Spielberg fan.