Married small-time crooks Lou-Jean and Clovis Poplin lose their baby to the state of Texas and resolve to do whatever it takes to get him back. Lou-Jean gets Clovis out of jail, and the two steal their son from his foster home, in addition to taking a highway patrolman hostage. As a massive dragnet starts to pursue them across Texas, the couple become unlikely folk heroes and even start to bond with the captive policeman.
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Goldie Hawn
Lou Jean Poplin
William Atherton
Clovis Poplin
Ben Johnson
Captain Tanner
Michael Sacks
Slide
Gregory Walcott
Mashburn
Steve Kanaly
Jessup
Louise Latham
Mrs. Looby
Harrison Zanuck
Baby Langston
A.L. Camp
Mr. Nocker
Jessie Lee Fulton
Mrs. Nocker
Director
Steven Spielberg
Screenplay
Hal Barwood
Tagline
"A girl with a great following. Every cop in the state was after her. Everybody else was behind her."
Status
Released
Original Language
EN
Budget
$3,000,000
Revenue
$12,800,000
Production
Universal Pictures, The Zanuck/Brown Company
DanDare
June 1, 2020
Steven Spielberg's first proper cinema movie has some great photography from Vilmos Zsigmond. The tone is uncertain. A road movie, a tragic comedy with car pile ups that is based on true facts. Lou Jean Sparrow Poplin (Goldie Hawn) takes her husband Clovis (William Atherton) out of a minimum security prison just weeks before his eventual release. All to save their child who has been taken...
CinemaSerf
April 1, 2023
When "Clovis" (William Atherton) is incarcerated, his wife "Lou Jean" (Goldie Hawn) is facing losing their son to adoption. She's having none of this so decides to spring her husband from jail so they can go collect their bairn and head for Mexico. Things do not go to plan, though, and pretty quickly they are in an hijacked police-car being driven by "Officer Slide" (Michael Sacks). Needless to sa...
r96sk
May 8, 2024
Quality! <em>'The Sugarland Express'</em> is Steven Spielberg's first theatrical release as director, which is quite something given the movie seems like it was made by a seasoned vet. On a similar note, the look and feel of the film is absolutely outstanding; it has aged remarkably well visually, almost hard to believe it came out in 1974! I also really enjoyed the score, particularly Toots Th...
Wuchak
May 14, 2026
**_Inspired by the real-life incident from May 2, 1969, mixed with…_** …elements of the Bonnie & Clyde account from 35 years earlier, such as the way Americans were rooting for the couple. In truth, the chase only lasted 5-6 hours and not several days. So, there was no time for the press to get ahold of the story and spread it to the people. Neither did the kidnapped patrolman warm up to the co...
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