BEHIND THE SCENES 10/8/1976

46th Anniversary of Filming Day #31

"The fact that you are a Sheriff is not germane to the situation"

NOTE: The filming date is estimated based on related confirmed filming dates and other evidence.

During Bandit Run 2022 I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Mann who played Sheriff Branford's deputy. He told some great stories during the closing ceremony. One of the interesting facts he told us was that the very first scene they filmed when he arrived on set was when the patrol car was hanging over the bridge. They used a crane to lower him and George Reynolds. who played Sheriff Branford, into the car.

Another interesting fact was that Sheriff Branford's voice was overdubbed. The explaination given is that because of Sheriff Justice's line; "You sounded a little taller on radio" the producers wanted a deeper voice for Branford. I have watched the movie hundreds of times and even knowing this fact, it is very hard to detect. They did a good job synching up the voices.

Back in July we did some research to determine Sheriff Branford's Deputy's name. It looks like R. CORNWALL.

George Reynolds is really 6' 8" tall. Not just because it says it in the script. They did their best to emphasize that feature in this shot.

Here is an excerpt from the script. Note omitted scene 105...in that scene Sheriff Justice swirves off the road and hits a vegetable stand. That is where he gets his busted LH headlight and grille.

Here is a location comparison for where the roadblock was vs the bridge. Google Maps