MovieChat Forums > The Sugarland Express (1974) Discussion > Location Filming Questions and Answers f...

Location Filming Questions and Answers for you native South Texans


So, these I know:

--The pre-release facility was actually in Sugar Land, Texas! The Sugar Land in this movie is in actuality Del Rio, except the downtown and home scenes were filmed in Floresville. And strangely enough, the town is mostly white, not Mexican!

--The Arco Station was off I-10 some 20-30 miles east of San Antonio near Highway 87, around the Adkins and LaVernia area.

--The overnight stay was at an actual used car lot on Military Drive and that was the Loop 13 Drive In next to it. That part of town has been a ghetto the past 20-30 years, but was once a respectable working-class area.

--The stadium is off Military Drive and I-35 and part of Harlandale ISD

--The chicken stand was in Pleasanton. So was the part with all the police cars piled up


So, my location questions are:

--The place Officer Slide stops the old couple?
--the town and bridge location where Lou Jean and Clovis hijack the old couples car and kidnap the officer? There's a brief shot of an old Shamrock gas station
--The Humble and Gulf gas stations location?
--the area Lou Jean goes to potty?

I know it'll probably be at least a year or two before I ever get a response on this. A shame! Old movies from the 70's are SO much better than 99% of todays crap!

reply

The bridge where Lou Jean is driving with her eyes closed is in Richmond, Texas.

reply

I appreciate! I found that out not too long after I inquired on the post and that town they're speeding through is also Richmond, since I looked up a lot of photos on the internet. I knew for sure it was not Floresville or Pleasanton. Richmond back then and Richmond proper today is a pretty ratty small town, but it has also become a prosperous extension of Houston much like Katy and Friendswood.

Actually one more location I'm curious of is the Fina station where the police cars pile up. Pretty sure either Pleasanton or South San Antonio.

reply

The Shamrock station was on the East end of the same bridge. It is a Valero station now. That old steel bridge has been replaced for some years. Most of the road scenes were along US 90A.

reply

I absolutely loved those old Sigmore Shamrock stations from the 1970's! We had one near out home. You had rainbow flags decorating the place, that Happy Motoring billboard with an elf on it and a pole with sort of a star on top, like in this movie. Then the bland Diamond Shamrock came into place and the even more bland Valero.

Richmond looked so authentic 1970's small town south Texas! I need to go to that town someday. I know a few people that are relatively well-off that live in the town, but looked up the statistics on Wikipedia and it sounds ghetto!

Now I just read the Fina station they escape from all the cop cars was in Converse. I lived only a few miles from that town and didn't even recognize it! Plus I thought the stadium was the one at Judson HS, but it was actually Harlandale on the south side

reply