Burt Reynolds On Shooting “Smokey and the Bandit” With GA State Sheriffs

While shooting for Smokey and the Bandit in Georgia, Burt Reynolds said one thing they were always very careful of was not to make fools out of the Georgia State Patrol. He said they never let anybody get hurt or got too out of control, but the one thing that might have been wrong was showing kids that running fro the cops could be seen as “fun” or “cool”.

Even though in the movie you can see cop cars rolling over or crashing, Reynolds said there was always a shot of the officer after showing that they were alright.