Very Rare Smokey is the Bandit Trailer Jackie Gleason

[SatanicAussie]

Thank you, I am a huge Bandit fan and for years I have been waiting to see something in the way of Smokey Is The Bandit.

[GeorgesMontalba]

This seems to be a teaser trailer - they are made while the film is being shot and are put out long in advance of the film's release. Gleason's dialog about donning the Bandit clothing and the absence of Jerry Reed from the cast list at the end seem to support the idea that the originally shot version had Gleason in both roles.

[chapel976]

how is this an unconfirmed rumor on snopes... it was even a joke in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey! (Station playing charades with the geniuses in heaven. Albert Einstein gets the right answer)

[BooNube]

It's a crime to think how much potentially interesting Jackie Gleason footage was shot for this film that we'll probably never see.

[theroger3161]

jackie gleason never played the bandit role burt renolds did and so did the snowman jerry reed

[dlrevh00]

@theroger3161 Wrong, watch the trailer, it is self explanatory. Bandit 3 was originally shot with Gleason playing both roles, test audiences didn't follow the movie very well so it was re-cut with Reed added in as the Bandit.

[ZombieFBody]

@dlrevh00 Yup, the title was to be Smokey Is The Bandit.

[stevep119]

@theroger3161 it was originally made with gleason playing both smokey and the bandit and was originally called smokey is the bandit but test audiences didn.t like it so they then made it with jerry reed as bandit

[1965cuda273]

gemin



[650bigal]

Did anyone else notice that the background music was the "Police Academy" theme?

[thestuffz]

I rented this movie at my local rental store about 10 years ago

[MrFelton1975]

He also played a great part in the movie "Hustler" .

[er10b]

@JugheadObama true. It was the CB era, the era of moonshine runnin and the Duke boys.

[tiasmith]

Damn, Would I like to see that film, ridiculous or not....it would be interesting to see where they were going with the film.

[painlessissuicide]

sumbitch!

[BAMDUNN92]

Someone HAS to find the Original version of this Film!

[X24RIDER]

Wow dlrevh00 ! Thank you so much for uploading this, been hearing for many many years about Bandit 3 being originally filmed with Gleason in both roles and this now puts to rest the rumours ! It's only a matter of time before the flimed footage finds its way on here or on DVD somwhere :D

[bigdaddybf]

ok, not only do we FINALLY have proof this was done but it sparks hope if enough of us petition we could get a release.

I , for one am sick over the shit treatent of this series. The Pursuit Pack and 7 TV movie pack are jokes.To see a true deluxe edition for all 3 movies on blu ray/dvd with commentary, deleted scenes whatevver they can find before more people from this series pass on would be proper. C'mon Universal what are you waiting for. Inc Smokey is as a bonus dvd

[MrAlbanese]

@bigdaddybf

I agree 100% Bandit fans, let's get it done!

[Rycan18]

They need to release this one on dvd/blu ray it would be cool to see.

[1977BanditTransAM]

This is SHIT Smokey and The Bandit (1) is the only one worth watching

[beeteep60]

how did you find the trailer to it?

[2040Rumely]

@LordIam1

I also read that the film with Gleason as "The Bandit" did very poorly with test audiences. They re-shot the scenes with Jerry Reed

[MurderAt1300]

the shot the whole film with gleason as bandit, but got a poor response, so jerry reed (snowman) came in and re filmed all the bandit scenes. just look it up on wikipedia

[JayFirestorm]

@LordIam1 @LordIam1 I've heard it was more to do with the fact that the audience simply found it too confusing with him as Buford AND in this role. I don't really go with the above info - surely the whole joke was that Gleason looked nothing like Reynolds... that was the whole idea. I'd really love to the the original version, I can't believe there's no more evidence of it around.

[JayFirestorm]

@LordIam1 @LordIam1 I've heard it was more to do with the fact that the audience simply found it too confusing with him as Buford AND in this role. I don't really go with the above info - surely the whole joke was that Gleason looked nothing like Reynolds... that was the whole idea. I'd really love to the the original version, I can't believe there's no more evidence of it around.

[1f5sda]

@LordIam1 I agree Jackie would not be a PROPER Bandit.

[eagletown1]

The way I understood it was that they changed the story 3 days before shooting and it was done "from the hip". I hope you guys are right, I'd love to see another movie, no matter how bad it may be.

[Andersalj]

Here is the first time Jerry Reed was announced with a role

On the 29th of May the "Beaver County times" has the following article "Smokey is the bandit": In this third "Smokey and the bandit" opus, Jackie Gleason returns as the Sheriff and Jerry Reed steps on the accelerator as the Bandit. In the original concept, Gleason was set to play both the lawman and the lawbreaker. But during sneak previews, audiences were confused by the ploy and the picture was recut."

[Andersalj]

The article states that the shooting was due to take place in Florida two weeks in mid-november

On May 8th the "Miami herald" sais that the film crew has gone on to "a few days extra shooting of the Smokey is the Bandit movie last week"

[Andersalj]

An article from a local newspaper "Ocala Star-banner" in Florida, written on the 26th of october 1982 proves once again that the film originaly was titled "smokey is the bandit". Starring Colleen Camp (Playing Dusty Trails" but no sign of Jerry Reed.

You can search for it on google news "smokey is the bandit"

[Andersalj]

Thera are a lot of news articles that proves the original title as well.

[dlrevh00]

@LordIam1 do you have a link to this info?

[DeckyStrikesBack]

This is quite the find! this was an urban legend for so long!

[acceptthis01]

So this explains the random, out of nowhere Patton homage in the beginning!

[MrGrevy]

@acceptthis01 Buford far exceeded Patton's greatness.

[jstrewth]

Someone should send this trailer to snopes.com.

[dlrevh00]

@jstrewth I sent this trailer to snopes months ago when I uploaded this as proof that the movie was originally shot this way.

[william5000forever]

@dlrevh00 I think snopes.com needs you to actually send them a jpeg or movie file attachment to the email address they give. I think they delete anything else that doesn't have an attachment like links to your youtube or mine.

[servo90]

In Snopes' defense, there still isn't any hard proof of the film outside of the way that they described it (in which the sheriff and bandit role are combined into one). This trailer contains no footage of Gleason in both roles - and no such footage has ever surfaced.

[nickma71]

@jstrewth As if they are an authority on anthing...

[mileshutchings]

I remember watching this trailer as a kid. It was part of the previews at the start of the tape of some other movie of that era. I have no idea what movie but I remember seeing the preview then watching part 3 thinking wtf? I thought Gleason was supposed to play the bandit.

[UncleCharlieOakley]

Interesting that they did it as a parody of the movie "Patton".

[JohnDeere30201]

PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS DOWN AND DO NOT LET YOUTUBE TAKE IT DOWN

[zdogdrummer14]

It's funny when he says sumbitches I remember in the first one he levee his son behind hahah

[hneftafl]

Wow, I never heard about this before. Sumbitch!

[harednuta]

umm., i'm not sure. but i read that they made the third film origionaly with Jackie Gleason because the other guy left the series. However because some viewers found it strange that the same guy played two characters, they refilmed about half the film with the guy that is in the actual 3rd film. If this trailer was made before they started to refilm it wouldn't it make sence?

Just read the video details o well, i'll post anyway lol

[PowerSynopsis]

@harednuta lol, "the other guy"

[harednuta]

@PowerSynopsis Heck, i don't know lol

[unak78]

That looks like proof to me.

[solarizer]

type the following into a google image search and check out the first image that comes up(well in uk anyway) yet more proof i feel!

'Smokey and the Bandit Part 3' by Dick Lowry, USA, 1983.

[unak78]

@solarizer Nice find. In addition to this trailer, it seems certain that another version of this movie was at least partially made. Who knows what remains of the original version, plus you only have to look at Dune to know that some things should be left on the cutting room floor. But it just goes to show that you cannot hide anything in the age of the internet.

[solarizer]

please please release this movie you tick turds!

[SirSmeargle]

At least there's some proof, but that still doesn't completely prove that Buford T. Justice is the Bandit. I would probably pay a dollar to see the missing footage.

[DamnImGreat1]

How did Home Box Office get a hold of this trailer? I could see it if this was the version of the movie that aired on one of their stations and they were advertising it for a future showing, but this clearly wasn't the case. I guess the only thing that makes sense is perhaps they were showing this as a "coming soon to a theatre near you" promo or something like that.

Very weird but interesting find. Now...if this version actually ever sees the light of day is anyone's guess.

[MachineKing1313]

So many rare finds about movies lately, the full Ghostbusters ad, the full biography of Biff Tannen in Back to the Future II, but this my friend, has to be the rarest find I have seen for a film.

[dlrevh00]

I suggest that everyone who views this contact Universal in some form and ask them to release this version. If their is enough demand then Universal would be dumb to not release it.

[stingerdrake2000]

@dlrevh00 the actual version was said to have been leaked onto here, but i havent found it yet

[william5000forever]

@dlrevh00 I already used your trailer as a basis for a review of what could have been and also started a petition online. I will post a video response as soon as the video uploads. I gave you credit at the end for the trailer :)

[cornjake88]

man this is mindblowing man! Universal needs to release it soon!

[MrFlix1983]

FINALLY!!!!! Incredible to finally see at least A TRAILER for the 3rd film! Especially before they re-edited it and removed all references to Jackie Gleason AS The Bandit! VERY RARE and I thank you!

[txknightrider82]

awww god bless gleason rip

[ersery77]

Well it is on dvd but unfortunatly it was never released on dvd by itself like the first two movies were. It always had to be in a collection in order to get released.

[elallaharzt]

@ersery77 Correct. I don't know how it is with you folks, but that collection can be bought for not more than 10bugs here. 

[Lexx2]

Crikey, that's a brilliant find! It'd be great if Universal would finally release the original test screened version, or at least SOME footage of Gleason as the Bandit.

[dlrevh00]

as far as i know it doesn't contain "Smokey is the Bandit". Universal still likes to pretend this version never existed. Hopefully, one day it will get released.

[pdennis93]

so does anyone know if the newly released "Smokey and the Bandit: The 7-Movie Outlaw Collection" has the alternate "smokey IS the bandit" version? if so that is worth the $20 for it even though i already own the original trilogy pursuit pack.

[pdennis93]

during the bandit express music scene when the bandit makes a u turn by some guys on 4 wheelers there is a clear shot of a stuntman who looks exactly like jackie gleason. i also found a pic online of gleason dressed as the bandit.

[zcarstheme]

One of those things that's always bugged me.. great find!

[dlrevh00]

hopefully the exposure this trailer gets will encourage Universal to release this film on DVD.

[pdennis93]

@dlrevh00

woah i knew this had to be out there somewhere.

[SuperShooter1978]

@dlrevh00 They did release this movie on dvd it was on a two sided disk called the Smokey and the Bandit Pursuit Pack that had all three movies on it.

[dlrevh00]

@SuperShooter1978 that was the redone version w/Jerry Reed as/Bandit. This is the trailer for the original version w/Gleason playing Buford & Bandit.

[welshfilmbuff]

Bless you for uploading this. A brief glimpse of what may have been, though it was probably for the best that we didn't get this film.

[JeremyV1]

Awesome, just happened to read up on this and here you posted the trailer. Great work!

[dlrevh00]

I found it one night just surfing the net

[Ryoku75]

@dlrevh00 Where?

[gleasondude]

YES!!! THANKS FOR POSTING THIS! How'd you come across it???

[JakeR0d31]

Respond to this video...

WOW so this is the original trailer with the 1st concept of Gleason being both Buford and Bandit. Until Universal axed the idea and put Jerry Reed instead because Burt was shooting Stroker Ace. No wonder trilogy pack does not have a trailer for part 3, where'd u find this rare trailer?