Smokey and the Bandit admiration knows no limits, as evidenced by the turnout for the Bandit Run to the YearOne Experience this past May. This isn't even all of them.
HPP: During the making of the movie, were there any funny behind-the-scenes stories that people generally wouldn't know about?
HN: Well, one thing. I had yet to meet with Gleason prior to shooting. The night before we were to shoot he called me and said, "Mr. Director, would you come over to my hotel? I'd like to talk about the script." "Uh-oh," I thought. "Here we go, on the eve of my directorial debut, a big actor wants to talk to me about the script." So I went over to his hotel, he invited me in and I said, "Mr. Gleason, I've had a long day, why don't we get a drink?" and he said, "Absolutely." So we moved to the bar and we never said one word about the script. We sat there and got completely plowed. I said, "Mr. Gleason, I have to get up early tomorrow morning. I have to go." And he said, "Okay. Don't be late." So I got to the set the next morning and he was already there. He was wearing the same clothes he had on the night before, except for one thing. He had his legs crossed and his shoes were on the wrong feet. He was sitting in a little actor's chair and he leaned back and lost his balance, and there was about a 12-foot drop behind him. He just rolled down that incline. He got back up and said, "Well, I guess it's time to get dressed."
HPP: What was the mood during shooting? It came across in the movie that everyone was just having a good time.
HN: Fun and games. Absolutely! I mean we had a pretty tight schedule, so we had to worry about that. We couldn't just sit around and twiddle our thumbs; we had to stay on top of it and work. We shot it in 42 days and didn't go over schedule or over budget, and everyone seemed to have a great time.
HPP: Prior to Smokey and the Bandit's release, how confident was the studio in the movie?
HN: Not very. They released it in Radio City Music Hall in New York. It didn't make enough money to pay the dancers. They pulled it out in a week or two and said, "Christ, what are we going to do with it?" I said, "Take the thing down South." I made it for the South, the Midwest and the Northwest. Not Philadelphia, New York or San Francisco. They took it down South and it went through the roof. It set all kinds of records. Then they took it back to New York and it set all kinds of records there. At first, they were scared and I was, too. I didn't agree with them putting it in Radio City Music Hall, but I couldn't stop them. Once it went down South, we couldn't count the money fast enough.
This photo is actually from Smokey and the Bandit II, but it was too good to keep out. That's the entire crew behind Burt and the Turbo T/A.
HPP: When you were working on Smokey and the Bandit, what was the best advice anyone gave you?
HN: I'm not a domineering director, so if the soundman had a good idea or something that would work, I listened to him. I listened to a lot of people, though I don't know of anyone who came up and said, "Here's what you gotta do to get a hit movie." It was all right there in the script. We just shot the script.
HPP: Was there anyone who gave you horrible advice that you're glad you didn't follow?
HN: Yeah. There was a guy helping me negotiate my salary. He wanted me to demand more money. He said, "You gotta stick with it, you know. You need to ask for this much," and so on and so forth and I said, "Wait a minute, I should be paying these people to let me direct this film." I went in for a little less and, as it turned out, I was right. I didn't listen to him, thank God.
HPP: If you could do it over again, is there anything you would change in Smokey and the Bandit?
HN: Oh, boy. Well, it became a classic, so I wouldn't want to change anything and I'm glad I didn't.
HPP: You've made a lot of car chase style movies, and you did a lot of Westerns prior to that. Do you prefer one genre to another?
HN: Not really. Probably all of my directorial things have been comedy, action, car movies, but I like them all-Westerns, car movies, and action movies. I wish Westerns would come back because I have a couple ideas for Westerns that'd just be killer. But no one goes to see Westerns anymore.
HPP: Who are your influences in the areas of stunts, writing and directing?
HN: You mean before me (laughs)? There were quite a few outstanding stuntmen in the Western genre, like Yakima Canutt and Joe Yrigoyen. Now if you want to get into the acrobatics, there's a guy named Davey Sharpe. For directors-David Lean. He directed Doctor Zhivago, my all-time favorite movie. I would love to be in his class, but never made it. I worked with John Ford and a lot of big directors. Hell, I look up to all of them because they made a lot of movies and they made a lot of money.
HPP: Of the car movies that you weren't involved in, were there any which stand out that you really like?
HN: Oh yeah. The French Connection. They had good stuff. Bullitt was great, too. I mean, hell, after Bullitt came out, you'd walk in for an interview, the producer would talk about a car chase and say, "I want it to be better than Bullitt!" Well, Bullitt had a big budget and just wrecked and tore up all kinds of stuff. This guy has a two million dollar movie and says he wants it bigger than Bullitt. I mean you've got to be kidding me.
HPP: What do you think of the digitally enhanced car chase movies being made today?
HN: Yeah, I hate that. I can see a car being photographed and I can tell you how many frames per second they're running; whether they're overcranking or undercranking to make it look faster. But digital let's you do so many things that are absolutely impossible. I find it hard to believe, and I don't find it entertaining. That's just me. I guess the kids love them from playing video games, but I don't like it.
HPP: Would you consider a remake of Smokey and the Bandit?
HN: Never happen. I've never seen a remake that is as good as the first. If you've got something that's a winner, you better not screw with it too much or you'll screw it up. Burt's not as young as he was-neither am I-and the audiences have changed. I don't think you want to do that. I'd rather just say, "I did Smokey and the Bandit" and let it go, you know? Instead of going out there screwing it up and making a piece of crap.
HPP: Do you think a car movie could be made today that would have the impact Smokey and the Bandit did? Or do you think the market is too flooded?
HN: No, if you've got the right story, the right people, and the right action, it will work. Generally, people who make car movies try to see how big a crash they can get into or how far they can jump, but you don't have to jump that far. All you need is comedy. Make people laugh! If you had a good comedy car chase movie, I think it'd work today. As a matter of fact, I think it would be better today because there are more kids involved.
Special thanks to Hal Needham for participating in this highly entertaining interview. The HPP staff is very appreciative that a person of Hal's stature would be so forth-coming with his comments and giving of his time and personal photos to make this interview possible.