History Film / TheSugarlandExpress

* HeroicWannabe: The reserve deputies--who aren't even on any active lists--think they're legitimate law enforcement. They are in reality complete idiots. They make a hostage situation far worse, they shoot without any regard for anyone's safety (including their own), destroy property, and traumatize a poor kid who tagged along. The captain rightly rips into them and has them arrested for their idiocy.

* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: The kid that was riding along with the reserve deputies gets freaked out by the reserve deputies' rather one-sided shooting battle and runs away.

* HeroicWannabe: The reserve deputies--who aren't even on any active lists--think they're legitimate law enforcement. They are in reality complete idiots. They make a hostage situation far worse, they shoot without any regard for anyone's safety, destroy property, and traumatize a poor kid who tagged along. The captain rightly rips into them and has them arrested for their idiocy.

* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: The kid that was riding along with the reserve deputies, gets freaked out by the reserve deputies reckless shooting and runs away.

* EveryCarIsAPinto: One of the cars at the dealership goes up in a big explosion as Clovis and Lou Jean are engaged in a shootout with some former reserve deputies.

* HeroticWannabe: The reserve deputies--who aren't even on any active lists--think they're legitimate law enforcement. They are in reality complete idiots. They make a hostage situation far worse, they shoot without any regard for anyone's safety, destroy property, and traumatize a poor kid who tagged along. The captain rightly rips into them and has them arrested for their idiocy.

* EveryCarIsAPinto: One of the cars at the dealership goes up in a big explosion as Clovis and Lou Jean are engaged in a shootout with some reserve deputies.

* WoundedGazelleGambit: Lou Jean pretends to be hurt worse than she really is after she wrecks the car so that Officer Slide will have to carry her out of the car, so she can get his gun.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The opening title card says the movie is based on a true event that happeend in Texas in 1969, but much was changed. The wife didn't break the husband out of jail; he had been paroled two weeks earlier. They were not setting out to see their kid, but were just driving around when the officer tried to pull them over. They didn't kidnap the cop on the spur of the moment, but instead called for help with the idea of hijacking the police car. And while the story in the film unfolds over a couple of days, the real-life incident only took a few hours.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: When the cops find the crashed car--Officer Slide had called for an ambulance before Lou Jean and Clovis kidnap him--two tow truckers are seen in the background, arguing over who gets to tow the car away. They continue to scuffle in the background as the police talk in the foreground, and the scene ends with one driver punching the other one out. [[UsefulNotes/PanAndScan This was unfortunately edited out of the original videocassette release.]]

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: When the cops find the crashed car--Officer Slide had called for an ambulance before Lou Jean and Clovis kidnap him--two tow truckers are seen in the background, arguing over who gets to tow the car away. They continue to scuffle in the background as the police talk in the foreground, and the scene ends with one driver punching the other one out.

Hawn is Lou Jean Poplin, a petty criminal two weeks out of jail, who arrives at the "pre-release" minimum-security facility holding her dimwitted husband Clovis (William Atherton), another petty criminal who has four months left on his sentence. Lou Jean insists on breaking Clovis out of jail immediately, because the government has taken their two-year-old son away and put him in foster care.

''The Sugarland Express'' is remembered today for being the feature debut for its director. Spielberg, 28 years old at the time, had been working in television since 1969, including the 1971 TV movie ''Film/{{Duel}}''. ''The Sugarland Express'' did poorly at the box office but didn't stop Spielberg from getting hired for his next project, ''Film/{{Jaws}}''. ''Sugarland'' is also notable for being the first film to use the Panaflex camera, a compact camera that allowed Spielberg to get complicated panning shots from inside a moving car. William Atherton later made a career out of playing obnoxious pricks in films like ''Film/DieHard'' and ''[[Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}} Ghostbusters]]''.

''The Sugarland Express'' is a 1974 film directed by Creator/StevenSpielberg and starring Goldie Hawn.

Hawn is Lou Jean, a petty criminal two weeks out of jail, who arrives at the "pre-release" minimum-security facility holding her dimwitted husband Clovis (William Atherton), another petty criminal who has four months left on his sentence. Lou Jean insists on breaking Clovis out of jail immediately, because the government has taken their two-year-old son away and put him in foster care.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thesugarlandexpress_1974_mp_1sht_itl_1200_110520131236.jpg]]

''The Sugarland Express'' is remembered today for being the feature debut for its director. Spielberg, 28 years old at the time, had been working in television since 1969, including the 1971 TV movie ''Film/{{Duel}}''. ''The Sugarland Express'' did poorly at the box office but didn't stop Spielberg from getting hired for his next project, ''Film/{{Jaws}}''. ''Sugarland'' is also notable for being the first film to use the Panaflex camera, a compact camera that allowed Spielberg to get complicated panning shots from inside a moving car. William Atherton, who later made a career out of playing obnoxious pricks in films like ''Film/DieHard'' and ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'', stars as Clovis.

''The Sugarland Express'' is remembered today for being the feature debut for its director. Spielberg, 28 years old at the time, had been working in television since 1969, including the 1971 TV movie ''Film/{{Duel}}''. ''The Sugarland Express'' did poorly at the box office but didn't stop Spielberg from getting hired for his next project, ''Film/{{Jaws}}''. ''Sugarland'' is also notable for being the first film to use the Panaflex camera, a compact camera that allowed Spielberg to get complicated panning shots from inside a moving car. William Atherton, who later made a career out of playing obnoxious pricks in films like ''Film/DieHard'' and ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'', stars as Clovis.

The film is also the first collaboration of Spielberg and Music/JohnWilliams.

''The Sugarland Express'' is a 1974 film directed by Creator/StevenSpielberg and starring Creator/GoldieHawn. Hawn is Lou Jean, a petty criminal two weeks out of jail, who arrives at the "pre-release" minimum-security facility holding her dimwitted husband Clovis (William Atherton), another petty criminal who has four months left on his sentence. Lou Jean insists on breaking Clovis out of jail immediately, because the government has taken their two-year-old son away and put him in foster care.

Lou Jean sneaks Clovis past the guards, and they hitch a ride, meaning to get to Sugarland, Texas, where their boy is living. But after a patrolman, Officer Slide, pulls their driver over for driving unsafely, Lou Jean panics and steals the car. She crashes it, but when Slide finds them she steals his gun and kidnaps him. This leads to an extraordinary low-speed chase, as Clovis and Lou Jean take Slide at gunpoint across Texas to Sugarland, as a caravan of police cars follows, and citizens turn out at the roadside to cheer the fugitives on.

[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thesugarlandexpress_1974_mp_1sht_itl_1200_110520131236.jpg]]

[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thesugarlandexpress_1974_mp_1sht_itl_1200_110520131236.jpg]]

''The Sugarland Express'' is a 1974 film directed by Creator/StevenSpielberg and starring Goldie Hawn. Hawn is Lou Jean, a petty criminal two weeks out of jail, who arrives at the "pre-release" minimum-security facility holding her dimwitted husband Clovis (William Atherton), another petty criminal who has four months left on his sentence. Lou Jean insists on breaking Clovis out of jail immediately, because the government has taken their two-year-old son away and put him in foster care.

''The Sugarland Express'' is a 1974 film starring Creator/GoldieHawn. Hawn is Lou Jean, a petty criminal two weeks out of jail, who arrives at the "pre-release" minimum-security facility holding her dimwitted husband Clovis (William Atherton), another petty criminal who has four months left on his sentence. Lou Jean insists on breaking Clovis out of jail immediately, because the government has taken their two-year-old son away and put him in foster care.

''The Sugarland Express'' is remembered today for being the feature film debut of Creator/StevenSpielberg. Spielberg, 28 years old at the time, had been working in television since 1969, including the 1971 TV movie ''Film/{{Duel}}''. The film did poorly at the box office but didn't stop Spielberg from getting hired for his next project, ''Film/{{Jaws}}''. Notable also for being the first film to use the Panaflex camera, a compact camera that allowed Spielberg to get complicated panning shots from inside a moving car. William Atherton, who later made a career out of playing obnoxious pricks in films like ''Film/DieHard'' and ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'', stars as Clovis.

''The Sugarland Express'' is remembered today for being the feature film debut of Creator/StevenSpielberg. Spielberg, 28 years old at the time, had been working in television since 1969, including the 1971 TV movie ''Film/{{Duel}}''. The film did poorly at the box office but didn't stop Spielberg from getting hired for his next project, ''Film/{{Jaws}}' Notable also for being the first film to use the Panaflex camera, a compact camera that allowed Spielberg to get complicated panning shots from inside a moving car.