The Sugarland Express

The Sugarland Express (1974) is Steven Spielberg's first theatrical feature — watch it online on iFILM. Goldie Hawn plays Lou-Jean Poplin, a young Texas woman who breaks her husband Clovis out of prison, steals a car, takes a highway patrolman hostage and leads every squad car in the state on a chase across the flatlands — all to get their toddler back from a foster home.

William Atherton plays Clovis, a man more reluctant than dangerous. Ben Johnson is the highway captain who follows the couple with something closer to weariness than fury. The kidnapped officer slowly develops an odd rapport with his captors. The film is built on a true incident from 1969, and Spielberg keeps the tone caught between road-comedy and something more melancholy.

Every bystander along the highway cheers Lou-Jean on. Every cop in the state is trying to stop her. The gap between those two reactions is where the film lives. Stream The Sugarland Express (1974) on iFILM.