"Ya heard about the legend of Jesse James, and John Henry just to mention some names, well there's a truck drivin' legend in the South today: a man called Bandit from Atlanta, G.A...."
[~lyrics from "The Legend", the opening song in Smokey And The Bandit]
"...as the pursuer, may I say you're the God-damnedest pursuee I ever pursued! And now that the mutual bullshit is over, WHERE ARE YOU, YOU SUMBITCH??"
[~Sheriff Buford T. Justice, to Bandit over the radio at the end of the first film]
Bo "Bandit" Darville is the main protagonist of the 1977 movie Smokey and the Bandit and its 1980 sequel film Smokey and the Bandit II. As the "Real Bandit" he made a cameo appearance in Smokey and the Bandit 3. He was portrayed by Burt Reynolds, who also portrayed Paul Crewe in The Longest Yard (1974), and voiced Charlie Barkin in All Dogs Go to Heaven, and Avery Carrington in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
About Bandit[]
Based out of Atlanta, Georgia, Bandit (Bo's handle on the CB Radio) is described as a hero to the young and a legend to the old, the latter of which grew after an incident in 1963 when- according to the song lyrics from the opening credits, while hauling a load from Atlanta, Bandit gets caught in a torrential downpour in, of all places, Monteagle, Tennessee. Just as he started going down the steep and treacherous Monteagle Mountain, Bandit's truck lost a gear and his brakes failed, causing it to go out of control and to spin around sliding down the 6% grade backwards. Witnesses were convinced that Bandit would not survive, but he miraculously walked away without a scratch.
Still driving a truck fourteen years later, Bandit had become a living legend in the trucking community, maintaining his public image by competing in Truck "Roadeos" in and around Georgia.
Smokey and the Bandit[]
Wealthy Texan Big Enos Burdette and his son Little Enos approach Bandit offering him $80,000 to make a run to Texarkana, Texas to grab 400 cases of Coors Beer (which at the time could not be legally transported east of Texas) and bring it back to Atlanta within 28 hours; Big Enos explains that he has a racer entered in the Southern Classic and "wants to celebrate in style" when he wins. After getting an advance to pay for the beer and for a fast car- a black Trans Am, to block for the truck, Bandit recruits his best friend Cledus "Snowman" Snow to drive the truck.
The pair make it to Texarkana with little trouble and load the trailer with the beer. But just as they begin the trip back, Bandit gets flagged down by Carrie, a runaway bride being chased by Sheriff Buford T. Justice to bring her back to marry his son Junior. She hitches her own ride with Bandit to Atlanta, and he assumes that she is a bride in search of a wedding, but it turns out to be the other way around- a wedding (posse) in search of a bride, namely her. Initially, Bandit doesn't make the connection between Carrie and Sheriff Justice's pursuit of them, though along the way he and Carrie bond and begin to fall for one another.
With help from various other police units along the way, Justice pursued Bandit all the way back to Atlanta, gradually wrecking his car in the process. While Bandit and Snowman, with help en route from many colorful characters, make it back to Atlanta with only ten minutes to spare. But instead of taking the payoff, Carrie and Bandit agree to a double-or-nothing challenge, running to Boston to get some clam chowder. With Carrie and Snowman, Bandit narrowly escapes in one of Big Enos' thirteen Cadillacs just as the police converge en masse on where Bandit and Snowman left the truck and the Trans Am. By the end of the film, even with his car almost undriveable, Justice stubbornly continues his pursuit as Bandit, Snowman and Carrie leave for Boston.
Smokey and the Bandit 2[]
Running for governor of Texas, and after failing to get an endorsement from the outgoing governor, Big Enos schemes to get a major edge on his opponent by offering Bandit and Snowman $400,000 to pick up a package in Miami and deliver it to the Republican National Convention in Dallas. However, by the events of the sequel movie, Bandit's massive ego has driven Carrie away, which has consequently caused him to become a heavy drinker. A now-divorced Snowman is making a living as a truck racer, and Carrie has gone back to Texas to marry Junior, but Snowman calls her during the wedding and offers her $50,000 to help Bandit; she accepts and again becomes a runaway bride.
They arrive in Miami only to find that the "package" they were commissioned to deliver to Dallas is a live elephant, which Snowman names Charlotte, and who takes a shine to Bandit after he removes a large splinter from her foot. Right after loading Charlotte up in the truck they are accosted for the first of several times by Sheriff Justice and Junior, but Bandit outwits them. En route to Dallas they find something wrong with Charlotte, and through sheer luck they come across a Pompeiian doctor Frederico Carlucci (whom they nickname "Doc") who agrees to look after Charlotte, and soon discovers that she is pregnant and due to give birth any time. But Bandit, more interested in the $400,000 payoff and recapturing his former glory, initially ignores Doc's (and the others') pleas to stay put until after Charlotte gives birth, and stubbornly continues their trek to Dallas. alienates Carrie to the point where she leaves him again. They stop in a safari preserve where Charlotte finally has her baby. Bandit is ready to load them both up and take off for Dallas, but Cledus refuses, and even knocks Bandit to the ground after he insults him. But when Bandit looks up and sees Charlotte in tears, he finally has a change of heart and apologizes.
Bandit later finds Carrie at a bus station and tells her he does not want to be without her. He also says he failed to get Charlotte to Dallas on time, but they can still make it. She agrees and, with Charlotte's approval, the two make plans to marry.
Smokey and the Bandit 3[]
Having evidently lost the Texas gubernatorial election, the Burdettes, wanting nothing more to do with Bandit, turn to Cledus Snow to take over as Bandit to keep Sheriff Justice from making a run to their new seafood resturant. As The Real Bandit, Bo made a brief cameo at the end of the film as he encouraged Justice to keep chasing after him.
Trivia[]
- In the film Texarkana is noted as being 900 miles away from Atlanta. In reality, the two cities are about 620 miles apart, making it easy to do a run in 28 hours as it would be 10 hours each way. In addition, with the completion of Interstate 49, the fastest route would be Interstates 49 and 20 through Louisiana.
- Meeting for the first time while making the film Reynolds began a real life relationship with Field that would last for five years.