On Day 4 of the Filming Schedule, September 2, 1976, the crew found themselves at Celdus' House - a "Rambling Clapboard Structure". The crew arrived at 6am and worked until midnight 1. A long day. Today they film scenes 17 through 22.
Scenes
Today they need to film 6 1/2 pages of screenplay. That is a lot for one day. Coincidentally, today the new screenplay was published which includes changes since the budget was slashed on 8/28. The new screen play is titled "Final Draft Screenplay" dated September 2, 1976
Scene 17 - Shot - Bandit Approches Cledus' House
This scene was filmed first. This includes the truck pulling into the front yard with the kids playing. The scene was filmed at approx 8 am. Caye meets Burt at the door of the rig and welcomes him with "Hey, Uncle Bandit". Caye is played by Caye Jones Barnett and was a residence of the home. She was initially reluctant to take the part. Hal tried to entice her with a speaking part. When that wasn't enough to win her over, Hal offered her money. "How much?" was the reply. Caye setteled on $225 that day, but she continued to receive residuals which added up to much more.2
The other 4 kids in the yard with Caye were stand ins. Hal tasked Caye's mother with finding 4 more young kids. So her mother and sister, Camille, rode up to a shopping center in downtown Jonesboro to entice the other kids (with their parents approval) to participate in the filming.3
Some keen observers have noticed that the tandums are moved forward on the trailer. This allowed the truck and trailer to make the tight turn into the front yard. If you look closely you can see the camera man hiding behind the tree (red circle)
Scene 18 - Int. Cledus' Dining Room
We move inside to catch the banter between Bandit and Wynette. We are introduced to a 6th kid, Silas, as he jumps on Bandit's back. There is some cross talk between Wynette and Bandit so it may not be clear what Bandit says, but Bandit reveals how he always recognizes Silas.
It is believed this large open floor plan of the house is why it was chosen for filming. The kitchen, dining and living areas were all one big open area.
Scene 19 - Int. Bedroom
The interior bedroom was filmed at night. The crew put the film over the windows and set up lights outside to make it appear like it was still daylight. Everything you see in the bedroom is as it was. No special props. Even the deodorant that Bandit sprays on Cledus was just there in the scene and Burt ad-libbed that part of the exchange.
Scene 20 - Int. Dining Room (Ommited)
This scene was filmed but was deleted from the final movie.4 It includes Wynette's last ditch attempt to prevent Cledus from going on the adventure and finally relenting and encouraging him to take Fred with him. This excerpt from the script reveals the name of one of the kids: Alfi.
Scene 21 - Ext. Bandit and Cledus
Early afternoon Cledus and Bandit are filmed walking up to the back of the trailer with Cledus negotiating Fred's inclusion in the trip. Based on behind the scenes photos there is a crowd of people on set and across the street. There also appears to be a professional photographer on set as there were several promotional pictures for the movie that were taken during the filming of this scene.
Scene 22 - Trans Am
At approximately 2pm Burt drives the Trans Am out of the trailer and stops at the base of the ramp. For movie goers, this is the reveal of the new 1977 Trans Am Special Edition. Jerry Reed ad-libs the famous line "Honey Hush!" as the car rolls out. We refer to this car as Trans Am #1. It is kept in pristine condition for most of the filming and is used for most of the exterior shots of the Trans Am.
Behind The Scenes
There were several people there that day taking pictures. I have compiled as many as I could find and grouped them by photographer and collection.
Camille Jones Morgan photographs
Camille is Caye's older sister. She was on location that day and took several photographs.
Use the left and right arrows to navigate through the collection:
Universal Studios promo
There were several promotional pictures used by Universal Studios that were taken that day.
Use the left and right arrows to navigate through the collection:
News / Daily
A reporter from the local paper was there that day to do a story. The reporter was able to snap this photo of Caye and Burt. It was used as the front page of the newspaper the next day.
Other photos
These are other photos that I have located. Many of them can be found on the Facebook group "Smokey and the Bandit - Behind the scenes photos." set up by Mark An Stephanie Haynes.
Use the left and right arrows to navigate through the collection:
Filming Location
All scenes at Cledus' House were filmed at the Jones residence located at 114 North Ave, Jonesboro, GA. It was not the first pick. Apparently as Hal Needham was scouting out all the pre-selected filming locations he got lost looking for the "Cledus' House" filming location. As they were driving past this house the Jones' were having a yard sale and Hal stopped and asked them if they could use this house. He liked the size and layout of the home and the open field next to the house gave the crew an area for staging and support.
I am not sure of the exact day of this negotiation but an early schedule with this address printed on it was published around 8/20/76. Note that this original document shows a schedule date of 9/3 and scenes 16 thru 26. After the budget cuts the filming date was moved up to 9/2 and scenes 16 as well as scenes 23 thru 26 were omitted.
Current Condition
The Jones were renting the home at the time. In the early 90s the home was torn down to build an office complex. However the project was canceled and the original filming location is now an empty lot 5. I was able to visit the lot with Camille Jones Morgan back in March, 2023, along with Smokey and the bandit historian Tyler Hambrick. Camille shared several behind the scenes pictures and provided much of the back stories included in this article. The only things recognizable were the large oak tree in the back yard and the house across the street.
