Smokey And The Bandit

The first in the series and the best of a lousy lot. Depending on whom you believe, the movie grossed anywhere between $40 million and $70 million; that must be some sort of new record for fooling the public. It was the first picture directed by Needham, one of the highest-paid stuntmen in movies, and is one long, stupid car chase punctuated by four-letter words in a live-action version of the "Roadrunner" cartoons.

The plot is premised on the fact that it once was illegal for Coors to sell their Colorado beer east of Texas unless a special permit was secured. McCormick and Williams play a father-son team of filthy-rich Texans who have a car entered in an At...