After scoring with the television movie Duel (1971), about a driver on a cross-country trip stalked by a semi, and making his film debut with a movie about cars director Steven Spielberg knew he had to get away from cars for his next film to avoid being typecast. That helped him decide to film Jaws (1975), the killer shark thriller set mostly on a small island and a boat.

Although he started his film career with a bang in Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) and The Sugarland Express, Michael Sacks retired from acting in 1984. Since then, he has held a variety of positions in the investment world related to technological development.

Ila Faye Dent, the woman on whom Goldie Hawn's character was modeled, was sentenced to five years in prison for her part in the events depicted. She was released after five months to care for her ailing mother and her children and eventually found a job as a dietitian at a Holiday Inn in Livingston, TX. She passed away in 1992.

When O.J. Simpson led Los Angeles police on a long, slow chase as on-lookers lined the highways to watch, more than one reporter compared it to the action in The Sugarland Express.

By Frank Miller