Steven Spielberg’s “Empowered” Directorial Debut – With Goldie Hawn!
While his latest film “The Post” was nominated for Best Picture of 2017, it was his theatrical motion picture debut in 1974 that showcased his interest in telling stories about real people – with an “empowered female” role for Goldie Hawn that is one of her best!
After wowing TV audiences with his terrific made-for-TV film “Duel”, a very young Steven Spielberg was given the chance to make his big screen directorial debut with the 1974 action drama “The Sugarland Express.”
Here’s the plot:
A woman attempts to reunite her family by helping her husband escape from prison. Once out, they make plans to get their son before he’s put into a foster home. But things don’t go as planned, and they end up taking a police office hostage – and try to outrun the law.
“The Sugarland Express” is based on a true story, and was a very dramatic departure for Comedic Actress Goldie Hawn. William Atherton co-stars, along with legendary character Actor Ben Johnson.
Here is the trailer:
It might seem an unusual choice for the Director of such big box office films as “E.T.”, “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” and “Jurassic Park”, but characters and story were always important in his films, and in this debut, he combined action, drama and emotion well, allowing time for you to care about all of the people involved.
Oh yeah – just one year later, Spielberg’s next directorial effort was released:
Talk about a dramatic leap! While “The Sugarland Express” was critically acclaimed, it didn’t do much at the box office. One year later, he made the biggest hit in movie history!
Here is a look at how “Jaws” changed cinema forever:
Let me know if you’ve seen “The Sugarland Express!”
Categories: 70's Cinema, Academy Awards, Action Films, Art, Books / Media, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Film Noir, Great Films, Hollywood, Independent Cinema, Los Angeles, Memoirs, Movies, Obscure Movies, Talent/Celebrities, Uncategorized
johnrieber 
I’d love to see this, titles from this era of the 70s rarely can be tracked down on DVD or streaming services but I hope to see it one day. I saw Duel years ago and I’m a huge Spielberg fan.
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I saw Sugarland Express at the time, and hardly remember it now. I do remember Ben Johnson though. He was a great character actor.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, I’m taking part in a “favorite Spielberg movie” post that you will see coming soon, so I wanted something different!
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Good call, John. 🙂
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This is interesting, John. Jaws scared the hell out of me as a girl and I still won’t swim at night.
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Yes, you never know what’s swimming around down there!
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