<P> Wealthy Texan Big Enos Burdette (Pat McCormick) and his son Little Enos (Paul Williams) seek a truck driver willing to bootleg Coors beer to Georgia for their refreshment . At the time, Coors was regarded as one of the finest beers in the United States, but it could not be legally sold east of the Mississippi River . Truck drivers who had taken the bet previously had been caught and arrested by "Smokey" (CB slang for highway patrol officers, referring to the Smokey Bear--type hats worn in some states). </P> <P> The Burdettes find legendary trucker Bo "Bandit" Darville (Burt Reynolds) competing in a truck rodeo at Lakewood Fairgrounds in Atlanta; they offer him $80,000 to haul 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas back to Atlanta in 28 hours; Big Enos has sponsored a driver running in the Southern Classic stockcar race and "when he wins I want to celebrate in style ." Bandit accepts the bet and recruits his partner Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) to drive the truck, while Bandit drives the "blocker", a black Pontiac Trans Am bought on an advance from the Burdettes, to divert attention away from the truck and its illegal cargo . </P> <P> The trip to Texas is mostly uneventful except for at least one pursuing Arkansas State Trooper whom Bandit evades with ease . They reach Texarkana an hour ahead of schedule, load their truck with the beer and head back toward Atlanta . Immediately upon starting the second leg of the run, Bandit picks up runaway bride Carrie (Sally Field), whom he eventually nicknames "Frog" because she is "kinda cute like a frog" and "always hoppin' around". But in so doing, Bandit makes himself a target of Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), a career lawman whose handsome but slow - witted son Junior (Mike Henry) was to have been Carrie's bridegroom . Ignoring his own jurisdiction, Sheriff Justice, with Junior in tow, chases Bandit all the way to Georgia, even as various mishaps cause his cruiser to disintegrate around them . </P> <P> The remainder of the film is one lengthy high - speed chase, as Bandit's antics attract more and more attention from local and state police across Dixie while Snowman barrels on toward Atlanta with the contraband beer . Bandit and Snowman are helped along the way via CB radio by many colorful characters, including an undertaker with his hearse driver and their funeral procession, an elderly lady, a drive - in waitress and all her customers, a convoy of trucks, and even a madam who runs a brothel out of her RV . Neither Sheriff Justice nor any other police officers have any knowledge of Snowman's illegal manifest . </P>

Sheriff's name in smokey and the bandit