The Great Smokey Roadblock

The Great Smokey Roadblock is a 1977 comedy road film written and directed by John Leone.[2] It stars Henry Fonda,[2] Eileen Brennan, John Byner, Dub Taylor and Daina House. The film is also known as The Goodbye Run and The Last of the Cowboys.

The Great Smokey Roadblock
theatrical poster
Directed byJohn Leone
Written byJohn Leone
Produced byAllan F. Bodoh
Susan Sarandon
StarringHenry Fonda
Eileen Brennan
John Byner
Dub Taylor
Daina House
CinematographyEdward R. Brown
Edited byCorky Ehlers
Music byCraig Safan
Production
company
Mar Vista
Distributed byDimension Pictures
Release date
[1]
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

While in a Los Angeles hospital, 60-year-old truck driver Elegant John Howard's truck is repossessed by a finance company.

Deciding that it is time to make one last perfect cross-country run, he escapes from the hospital and steals back his truck. His first stop is a diner where he is well remembered. He then picks up Beebo, a hitch-hiker heading to Florida.

Meanwhile, in a Wyoming whorehouse, Madam Penelope and five other prostitutes entertain various men. However, one of the men is an undercover cop, and the place is given 48 hours to close down.

John finds it impossible to get a load, as firms checking his vehicle have it listed as stolen. He visits his old friend Penelope, who suggests that she and her girls head east with John and Beebo, helping them to earn money along the way. They head off into the night with the police on their tail.

En route in Missouri, they are ambushed by Harley Davidson, a renegade country cop who throws them all in jail and awaits the photographers for his moment of fame. The girls strip naked and lure the sheriff and his deputy into the cell, then all escape. They stop into another diner where they know John.

In the next eatery, a TV news program reports their flight from the law and shows sympathy. While there, they encounter a "duck toucher" and his journalist friend. The journalist gives them radio time and encourages them to run the growing blockade, naming them "Elegant John and the Sweet Mystery Six". A cavalcade of vehicles gathers and follows the tractor-trailer, which smashes through the blockade that has been set up on a bridge.

John's illness starts to kick in, so Beebo takes over the driving.

Cast

Production

The Great Smokey Roadblock was filmed in Oroville, California.[1] Fonda suffered from a number of illnesses during filming.[3]

Release

The film debuted at the May 1977 Cannes Film Festival as The Last of the Cowboys. Dimension Pictures acquired distribution rights and re-edited and retitled the film against Fonda's wishes. The Great Smokey Roadblock was previewed on February 3, 1978, in Texas, and had its premiere in Cincinnati on April 12, 1978, before opening in other states.[1]

References
  1. The Great Smokey Roadblock at the American Film Institute Catalog
  2. Hal Erickson (2014). "The Great Smokey Roadblock". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2014-07-22.
  3. "Overview" on AllMovie
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