This was originally slated to be Steven Spielberg's first theatrical feature and he spent over two months on pre-production. He then decided he did not want to do this film and quit to go do The Sugarland Express (1974).
This was the first of the car stunt movies set in the American South that Burt Reynolds made during the 1970s and involved some kind of battle with a sheriff or official. This group of movies includes Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and its sequels, and this movie's sequel, Gator (1976).
Reunites actors Burt Reynolds and Ned Beatty who previously starred in the feature film Deliverance (1972).
This movie used the town of Benton, AR, as Bogan County.
Laura Dern: This was her uncredited film debut. She was just six years old in this brief non-speaking walk-on. She plays the daughter of her real-life mother Diane Ladd who appears in this movie as Maggie.