The Sugarland Express

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Steven Spielberg directs. Vilmos Zsigmond behind the camera. John Williams scores. Edward M. Abroms cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 2Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.
• 352 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 4Directed by Steven Spielberg, shot by Vilmos Zsigmond. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Edward M. Abroms shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Goldie Hawn and William Atherton and Ben Johnson carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "A girl with a great following. Every cop in the state was after her. Everybody else was behind her.".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0072226 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Classified under 15 themes, including "prison", "police", "stadium", "kidnapping".

The technical file

Cinematography

Vilmos Zsigmond

Original score

John Williams

Editing

Edward M. Abroms

Costume design

James Gilmore

Makeup / hair

Del Armstrong

Stunt coordinator

Carey Loftin

Runtime

110 min · 1h 50m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$3,000,000

Box office

$12,800,000

Return

427% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

The Sugarland Express (1974) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

87% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

65/100

IMDB rating

6.7/10 · 21,282 votes

MPAA

PG

Also by

Steven Spielberg

• 
  Schindler's List

  1993 · ★ 8.6
• 
  Saving Private Ryan

  1998 · ★ 8.2
• 
  Columbo

  1971 · ★ 8.1
• 
  Catch Me If You Can

  2002 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Jurassic Park

  1993 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Raiders of the Lost Ark

  1981 · ★ 7.9

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Theatrical Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• DanDare2020-06-01
  ★ 6/10

  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 away and ready to put up for adoption. They kidnap a police officer which leads to them being pursued by the police and the media. Goldie Hawn is spiky as Lou Jean but she is also stupidly impulsive. A story that needed more work, Spielberg does make an accomplished film.

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2023-04-01
  ★ 6/10

  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 say, the police - under the shrewd "Capt. Tanner" (Ben Johnson) now up the ante and we are now looking at a chase that involves just about every police vehicle in the country! They are gradually digging themselves deeper with each mile they drive, but equally they begin to befriend their hostage and elicit a degree of sympathy from their pursuer as their predicament starts to tug at heart strings. It's a bit preposterous at times, and is certainly too long - but it does illustrate that Goldie Hawn has a skill - as an actress with a strong narrative to deliver, and as a woman who has expert comedy timing. There is humour here. It doesn't always work and at times is maybe just a little slapstick. It also does introduce and develop some depth to the characters - including Sacks and Johnson - which I found engaging as it trundled along. It's all based on a true story so not too much Steven Spielberg could do with the ending but the journey he takes us along is entertaining enough.

  Read full review ↓
• r96sk2024-05-08
  ★ 9/10

  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 Thielemans on the harmonica, but that's no surprise - John Williams, duh! As for plot, it is very entertaining. I like how silly everything plays out for the first chunk and the film knows it, but events gradually rise up a notch throughout the 110 minutes. The more serious conclusion would've felt quite sudden and out of place, though it is portrayed and paced perfectly. Cast-wise, Goldie Hawn, William Atherton and Michael Sacks are excellent, though Ben Johnson is probably the one I'd rate highest.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Universal Pictures

  US

• TH

  The Zanuck/Brown Company

  US

Key crew

• CastingShari Rhodes
• EditorEdward M. Abroms
• Art DirectionJoe Alves
• CastingMike Fenton
• ProducerDavid Brown
• ProducerRichard D. Zanuck
• EditorVerna Fields
• SoundJohn R. Carter
• StuntsDale Van Sickel
• First Assistant CameraNick McLean
• Camera OperatorSven Walnum
• Production ExecutiveWilliam S. Gilmore
• Sound RecordistDennis C. Salcedo
• Assistant CameraJohn J. Connor
• Costume DesignJames Gilmore
• Camera OperatorJack L. Richards
• Costume DesignRobert Ellsworth
• SoundRobert L. Hoyt
• StuntsTed Duncan
• First Assistant DirectorJames Fargo
• Makeup ArtistDel Armstrong
• Property MasterBill Dietz
• StuntsMax Balchowsky
• StuntsPatty Elder

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• prison
• police
• stadium
• kidnapping
• hostage
• texas
• adoption
• texas ranger
• baby-snatching
• based on true story
• road trip
• on the run
• vulgarity
• runaway couple
• fugitive lovers

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere1974-03-31PG· USA Film Festival
• Premiere1974-03-30PG· New Directors/New Films
• Theatrical (limited)2024-06-15PG· Tribeca Festival 50th Anniversary Retrospective Screening
• Theatrical1974-03-31PG
• Physical2004-08-17PG· DVD
• Physical2015-05-05PG· Blu-ray
• Physical2024-11-12PG· 4K Blu-ray

Also known as

International titles

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