Smokey and the Bandit 2

Second film in the Smokey and the Bandit trilogy, with Burt Reynolds

Smokey and the Bandit

Smokey and the Bandit - first of three sequels starring Burt Reynolds;

Bo Darville, aka The Bandit, is a semi-retired trucker legend, working in a trucking rodeo. He is approached by a shady father and son tycoon team (Big and Little Enos Burdette) who are planning a big party. Only problem is, in 1978 America, due to arcane liquor laws, it was illegal to ship Coors beer east of Texas, let alone east of the Mississippi...and the Burdettes wanted some for their Atlanta, Georgia shindig. 400 cases of it.




The Burdetts offer The Bandit $80,000 dollars to get the brews in Texarkana, Texas and bring them back to Atlanta in 28 hours. Enter Cledus Snow, "The Snowman." Bandit convinces Cledus to drive the beer truck, while he will run blocker--distracting Smokey, just like in their heyday. With Cledus convinced, the decoy is revealed...a 1977 black Pontiac Trans Am with gold eagle paint scheme and a Hemi engine, one of the most iconic automotive symbols in American film history.

Like the Battle of Troy is to Odysseus, securing of the brew is just the beginning. Now, they just gotta get it home. How hard could that be? They would have made it with hours to spare, save for their paths crossing with the disruption of the wedding of the soon to be blushing new couple, Deputy Buford T. and Mrs. Carrie Justice, Jr. Seems the almost-Mrs. Justice got second thoughts at the altar, and "danced back up the aisle", apologizing to Junior all the way. On her way out of the church, she flags down the first car to pass...Bandit Darville's Trans Am. She hops in, wedding dress and veil (for awhile at least), flapping in the T-tops. She introduces herself to The Bandit, who eventually names her Frog, as she's prone to hoppin'. Hey, you try getting out of a wedding train in a 70s American muscle car going 110 miles an hour.

Back at the Justice wedding, the father of the groom is beside himself with rage. As he exits the church, Sherriff Buford T. Justice--OF TEXAS!!--is informed that the harlot who has embarassed him in front of his town sped away at harrowing speeds...in a black Trans Am. The pursuit is on!!

Cledus is making good time in the beer truck, although an unscheduled swim with his co-pilot (Bassett Hound Fred) and a truck stop fight with a group of grizzled bikers lose him valuable minutes. Meanwhile, chemistry is sparking up ahead between Bandit and Frog. He even takes his hat off, which he only does for one thing...and one thing, only. As Texas turns to Arkansas, suddenly something becomes apparent...Sherriff Justice is still in pursuit, and he loses another marble with each new insult to his police vehicle.

Many, many police cruisers are destroyed. An unfinished suspension bridge is jumped...and then, not. Diablo sandwiches. The rocking chair. Hot Pants. Finally, the entire Georgia State Police force, complete with helicopter, join the chase. In a stunning climax of events, the deadline is met...and the money is collected from Enos and enos. OK, not really. A double-or-nothing deal is struck for some Boston clam chowder (in 18 hours), and off run Bandit, Frog, and the Snowman in their new candy apple red Cadillac. Bandit, via the police band of his ever-present CB, finally presents himself to Buford...eventually. Tipping him off to their next destination, they speed away...heading north to New England. Sherriff Justice peels out of the parking lot, leaving Junior behind...obediently chasing Daddy. Who else, after all, is going to hold his hat?

The Sign of Four: Sherlock Holmes' Greatest Case

Another Sherlock Holmes Classic old Movie from 1932.

young woman turns to Sherlock Holmes for protection when she's menaced by an escaped killer seeking missing treasure. However, when the woman is kidnapped, Holmes and Watson must penetrate the city's criminal underworld to find her.

Watch Movie - Sherlock Holmes - The Sign of Four: Sherlock Holmes' Greatest Case

The Sign of Four: Sherlock Holmes' Greatest Case is a 1932 British film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Arthur Wontner and Ian Hunter. The movie is based on Arthur Conan Doyle's second Sherlock Holmes story.

The film is also known as The Sign of Four.

Storyline of the book;

The story is set in 1887 or 1888. The Sign of Four has a complex plot involving service in East India Company, India, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a stolen treasure, and a secret pact among four convicts ("the Four" of the title) and two corrupt prison guards. It presents the detective's drug habit and humanizes him in a way that had not been done in A Study in Scarlet. It also introduces Doctor Watson's future wife, Mary Morstan.

The Sign of Four has had three productions till now, the second and third being in 1987 and 2001 respectively.

 

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White Heat (1949)

The Raoul Walsh Classic Production - White Heat with James Cagney;

After killing two men in a train robbery, Cody Jarrett pleads guilty to a far less serious crime that occurred at the same time, but in a distant location, thereby giving him a perfect alibi. The Treasury Department decides to plant one of their officers, Hank Fallon, in the prison to see if they can learn where Jarrett hid the Treasury Bonds he stole. Jarrett and Fallon become good friends and when Jarrett makes a break for it, Fallon goes with him. Jarrett s next robbery involves stealing the nearly half-million dollar payroll from a chemical factory, but using modern technology the Feds are able to track him down and bring his robbery and killing spree to an end.



Bracingly directed by Raoul Walsh, this fast-paced thriller tracing Jarrett's (James Cagney) violent life in and out of jail is also a harrowing character study. Jarrett is a psychological time bomb ruled by impulse. He murders a wounded accomplice and revels in the act. He neglects his sultry wife (Virginia Mayo) and adores his doting mother. It is among the most vivid screen performances of Cagney's career.

 

Alternative Viewing Options;








Funny Stuff;

If the surprise expressed by James Cagney's fellow inmates during "the telephone game" scene in the prison dining room appears real, it's because it is. Director Raoul Walsh didn't tell the rest of the cast what was about to happen, so Cagney's outburst caught them by surprise. In fact, Walsh himself didn't know what Cagney had planned; the scene as written wasn't working, and Cagney had an idea. He told Walsh to put the two biggest extras playing cons in the mess-hall next to him on the bench (he used their shoulders to boost himself onto the table) and to keep the cameras rolling no matter what.

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