The Longest Yard (1974)

 This is the original 1974 version of the 2007 movie that featured Adam Sandler

Summary

-A prison warden asks a former pro football quarterback, who's doing hard time, to put together a team of players for a game of inmate-vs-guards football

Cast

-Burt Reynolds: Paul Crewe

-Eddie Albert: Warden Hazen

-Ed Lauter: Captain Knauer

-Michael Conrad: Nate Scarboro

-James Hampton: Caretaker

-Harry Caesar: Granville

-John Steadman: Pop

-Charles Tyner: Unger

-Mike Henry: Rassmeusen

-Jim Nicholson: Ice Man

-Bernadette Peters: Warden's Secretary

-Pervis Atkins: Mawabe

-Tony Cacciotti: Rotka

-Sonny Sixkiller: The Indian

Did You Know?

-Producer Albert S Ruddy says he got inspiration for this film from a friend of his. This friend was a promising football player that experienced a career-ending injury. After his life seemed to go downward, he got a minimum-wage job at a sandwich shop and at the same time had to take abuse from his snobbish girlfriend. Ruddy took the inspiration from there

-Some of the actors in the film played football professionally, whether it be the NFL or college. Burt Reynolds played for Florida State University and was drafted by the Baltimore Colts. Mike Henry played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Rams. Joe Kapp was a quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. Ray Nitschke played middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers. Pervis Atkins played for the Los Angeles Rams, Washington Tootball Team (they changed their name from Redskins to Washington Football Team because of the obvious insult to American Indians) and Oakland Raiders 

-The player wearing the black #65 jersey running besides Reynolds in the final game is his own brother

-Sonny Sixkiller, who plays "The Indian" is of Cherokee descent and was an incredible quarterback for the University of Washington in the 1970s. He led UW out of the losing streak finishes in the Pac-8. The season after he left, the Huskies started having bad seasons again. Sixkiller played in the World Football League before leaving pro football in 1976, two years after the film was released

-The story Crewe tells about his two blind parents is a reference to former NFL quarterback Jim Plunkett

-The Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Saturday Night Special" appears in both this film and the remake. This song was released not long before this film was released. The song is about peace and contains a line about throwing all guns into the bottom of the sea. At the time, Lynyrd Skynyrd was a band that formed in Jacksonville, Florida and were still struggling to find fame until they signed with MCA

-This is not the only film Burt Reynolds and Mike Henry would appear in. They would meet later on in Smokey & The Bandit. Reynolds played the title character; Mike Henry played Sheriff Justice's son