Flick: The Sugarland Express

Houstonist rolled back our clocks on Saturday afternoon (proactive folks that we are). Today, we've jumped into the Way Back Machine to let you in on a Flick your folks may have seen in the theater - The Sugarland Express.

This 1974 film is the big screen major feature debut for flash-in-the-pan Steven Spielberg. The fledgling film maker uses stars Goldie Hawn and William Atherton (the annoying reporter of Die Hard fame) to tell the story of a Sugarland woman who breaks her husband out of jail to save her kids from Child Protective Services. Based on actual events, Hawn and Atherton star as Lou Jean and Clovis Michael Poplin respectively. The pair represent the fictional incarnations of Robert and Ila Fae Dent who in 1969 garnered national attention for their bold caper.

After being stopped by a state trooper, husband and wife Robert and Ila Fae Dent overpower him, commandeer his car, throw him in the back seat, and hit the road. Eventually some 150 cars as well as news helicopters follow the Dents all the way from Port Arthur to Wheelock, north of Bryan, where an FBI agent, assisted by the local sheriff, shoots Robert dead.

---
Photo: flickr user intimaj.