In Steven Spielberg’s The Sugarland Express, Goldie Hawn plays Lou Jean Poplin.
Lou Jean is a young woman who persuades her husband, Clovis Poplin, to escape from custody so they can recover their child. Their plan develops into a long police pursuit across Texas after they take a state trooper hostage.
The 1974 film was Spielberg’s first theatrically released feature film. Hawn’s performance was a departure from the lighter comic roles with which many audiences associated her at the time. William Atherton plays Clovis, while Ben Johnson plays Captain Harlin Tanner, the officer leading the pursuit.
The film was inspired by a real 1969 incident involving a couple in Texas, although the screenplay reshapes the events for dramatic purposes. Its road-movie structure, escalating pursuit, and uneasy sympathy for its central couple anticipate elements that Spielberg would explore in later films.