The Sugarland Express

It is a real pleasure to watch Steven Spielberg develop and hone his filmmaking craft with 1974's THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS, his theatrical debut as director.   It is obvious from the first crane shot that this young man was going places.  By then he'd worked steadily in television, but it proved to be far too limiting for this restless boy wonder's scope, one significantly widened here.  It would be the first motion picture to utilize the Panavision Panaflex camera.  It's fitting that the film takes place in the big ol' state of Texas, where the director can map a huge canvas of drama and mayhem, yet all serving a human drama.  But does the latter suffer a bit for Spielberg's grandiose visions?

A bit.   Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins' screenplay (they share a "story by" credit with their director) is based on a real event that unfolded in 1969, as two petty thieves who lost their child to foster care kidnap a highway patrolman and set off a statewide posse as they head to Sugarland to get him back.  Their real names are used for this movie.  Lou Jean Poplin (Goldie Hawn) and Clovis Michael Poplin (William Atherton) hijack patrolman Maxwell Slide (Michael Sachs), setting off a two day low speed chase southbound to the home where their son Langston (Harrison Anuck, son of this film's co-producer Richard) lives with his foster parents.  Leading the pursuit is the humane Captain Harlin Tanner (Ben Johnson).

The actors get a good showcase, though in another movie they may have had a more in depth one.  There are some quiet moments in THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS, such as the wonderful scene where Clovis and Lou watch a Road Runner cartoon spied on a drive-in movie screen next door (and he provides the soundtrack), but many more of speeding police cars.   If nothing else, Spielberg proved himself a master of complicated logistics.  The shooting and editing (Edward M. Abroms and Verna Fields, who would go on to work with Spielberg on JAWS) are top notch and make the film exciting to watch.  For good measure, there's a lengthy shootout that, while it does draw attention itself, also nicely develops the characters of some right wing gun nuts who take it upon themselves to apprehend the Poplins.

And the '70s Americana is quite vivid.  The use of locations feels plenty authentic.  The script also makes some strong points about the cult of personality - note the parade scene near the end.  It's another example of a perfect marriage of Spielberg's dazzling technique and social satire, which while underdeveloped is still effective.   There are a few bits that are too dramatically obvious, but the emotions are never diluted.  Pretty critical in this sort of movie. 

Goldie does a nice change of pace in her more-complex-than-you-might-think part, and Atherton, better known as a character actor, has several good moments.  And Johnson, well, he's a stalwart.   Those two Texas Ranger snipers we meet are plenty scary, too.