Burt Reynolds recalls 'Bandit' as the most fun

Burt Reynolds ranks "Smokey and the Bandit" as the most fun to make and the most fun to watch of all his movies.

"I don't have a single favorite role. I put them in different categories," says the 75-year-old actor who became a top box office star in the 1970s.

The 1977 action comedy racked up $127 million on its release, second only to "Star Wars," and spawned two sequels.

Reynolds, who lives in Jupiter, is coming Wednesday to Tampa for a special screening of "Smokey and the Bandit" at the Tampa Theatre.

He will be appearing with Turner Classic Movie host Ben Mankiewicz as part of a 10-city "Road to Hollywood Tour" during which TCM is showing iconic films. A short Q & A session with Reynolds and Mankiewicz will precede the film. Free tickets to the event were quickly snapped up and a packed house is expected.

In a telephone interview, Reynolds said they didn't know that "Smokey" would be such a hit.

"It was one of those rare happenings when the moon and stars align and everything works," he says. "We were just making this little movie that had to go up against 'Star Wars'."

In the film, Reynolds plays a charming Southern hotshot driver who takes a bet that he can pick up and deliver 400-cases of Coors, driving round trip between Atlanta and Texarkana, Texas in 28 hours. At that time Coors wasn't widely distributed.

He gets help from his buddy Snowman (the late Jerry Reed) and a cute hitchhiker (Sally Field) as they outdrive and outwit redneck sheriff Buford T. Justice (the late Jackie Gleason).

"We were all at different points in our careers," recalls Reynolds. "Sally was on the verge of becoming a Meryl Streep; Jerry was getting hot; and I was all over the place."

Reynolds, who grew up in Florida and played football for Florida State, says the film put him over the top as a box office draw.

"When it played in the theaters the audiences went wild," he says. "They were throwing popcorn and laughing. It was almost like going to a football game."

Speaking of football, the movie was the inspiration for the name of the Tampa Bay Bandits, the short-lived USFL team in the 1980s. Reynolds had invested in the team.

Critics panned the film but audiences loved it. "The reaction today is very sweet," says Reynolds. "The audience cuts across all types from real life truckers to 'Star Wars' fans to even Alfred Hitchcock fans."

Reynolds, who under went quintuple heart by-pass surgery last year, says he feels great. "I have a new set of pipes and I'm fine," he says, noting that he's still working in films. "I don't want people to think I'm dead."

The Tampa appearance is part of the buildup to the 2011 CM Classic Film Festival, set for April 28 to May 1 in Hollywood. Reynolds is appearing in Chicago in mid-April for a showing of several of his films. Included is the one he is most proud of, "Deliverance," the story of a deadly white-water canoe trip in the wilds of Georgia.

"James Dickey wrote only one good book but it was a great one," he says.