Smokey and the Bandit

Factual error: When The Silver Tongued Devil contacts Bandit for a smokey report, he asks if the Bandit is "coming up on Fayetteville, on Interstate 82." Aside from the fact that Fayetteville, Arkansas is far off the direct route from Texarkana to Atlanta, Interstate 82 is about 1900 miles away from Fayetteville, in Washington state. In fact, at the time, there was no interstate highway at all near Fayetteville, Arkansas.

DavidCBohn

Factual error: When Justice is talking to Sheriff Branford of Deason County Arkansas, Justice is told that he is out of his Texas jurisdiction. But a sign behind Branford tells us that Branford is also a long way from home, as the sign indicates he is in Willow Bend, Clayton County, in Georgia (where this scene was actually filmed).

johnrosa

Factual error: The model of CB radio that Bandit uses is a Pace CB-166. There are three switches to the right of the microphone jack. The third one over is a PA (public address when switch is in the up position, think of a cop coming up behind you in traffic and radioing you to pull over on a loud speaker) and CB (citizens band when switch is in the down position, the setting you would have it set to to talk normally on the CB to others). In the cutaways where it shows Bandit messing with the radio, not only is the radio switched off each time (you can tell because the "TX" lights, meter, and channel selection is not lit, but the radio is switched to the "PA" setting (switch up). Bandit couldn't have used the radio normally when in this position.

Factual error: After the scene where Snowman is trying to leave a written note for the beer warehouse staff (and then throws his notepad away), Bandit's CB radio is shown receiving a signal and Bandit changing the channel, however, the radio is not powered on as the signal meter needle does not swing out, nor are the signal meter light, channel indicator light or receiving LED (yellow on this radio model) illuminated. (00:18:00)

Factual error: When they are only 4 miles from the end, after Frog asks if the Bandit had been expecting all of what was going on, the Bandit picks up the mic, keys up, and calls for the Snowman. The Bandit does not let go of the key, yet you hear Snowman's reply. That is impossible. You need to let go of the key. Bandit then continues to talk on the radio.

mchaos

Factual error: After the Bandit starts negotiating the challenge, he says that hauling beer east of the Texas state line is bootlegging. Actually, Texarkana is a city on the state line border of NE Texas and SW Arkansas. The city is divided in half on the main north/south street called State Line Blvd. The double yellow lines in the center separate Texarkana, Texas on the west side from Texarkana, Arkansas on the east side. Texarkana, Texas is located in Bowie County, Texas which is a dry county (meaning no alcohol sales or consumption except through/inside private membership in organized, officially recognized organizations, i.e. VFW, Rotary, Elks, etc. - transportation, or distribution of alcohol are allowed). Therefore, there would be no Coors distribution center in Texarkana, Texas. With that in mind, hauling beer east of the Texas state line from Texarkana, Texas to Texarkana, Arkansas is not bootlegging. Hauling beer west of the state line of Texarkana, Texas from Texarkana, Arkansas is not considered bootlegging if it is performed by a licensed driver working for a licensed brewery or distributor of a licensed brewery during that person's normal working responsibilities and duties of said employment (federal interstate trade). Other than that, it is bootlegging if a private individual buys alcohol in Texarkana, Arkansas and then transports said alcohol into Texarkana, Texas (which happens 1000's of times a day).

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: At the time of the movie, Coors was only available in the states west of Texas because of the alcohol content of Coors at the time, Coors was 6.0 not 3.2 so hauling Coors east of Texas licensed, commercial or not WOULD be bootlegging.

Suggested correction: The road the OP is referring to is State Line Ave, not State Line Blvd. I've crossed the road in question several times on Interstate 30.

Factual error: In Texarkana at the distributor, the boxes presented are boxes for bottles (as cans are shipped in "flats"), there are usually approximately 64 cases to a pallet (8 cases to a layer - 8 layers high). 400 cases of bottles would only be 6 full pallets plus a little left over on a 7th. It certainly would not be stacked to the roof of the trailer all the way to the tail.

Continuity mistake: Sheriff Buford T. Justice gets out of his car and leaves the door open. A few moments later, we see a different shot of the car with the door closed. Then a truck drives by and tears the car door off which is open again.

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: Three future cast members of the Dukes of Hazzard, John Schneider, Sonny Shroyer and Ben Jones have unbilled cameos. Years later, Burt Reynolds would play Boss Hogg in the Dukes of Hazzard movie.

More trivia for 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).

More questions & answers from Smokey and the Bandit

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.