Final live action theatrical feature film of actor Sterling Holloway who later only did a bit of voice work and narration in television but was the narrator in the animated cinema movie Ico, the Brave Horse (1983).
The concept of the film originated from Frances Doel. After reading the 1973 novel Alp by William Hjortsberg, she contacted him at his Montana home and told him that she had come up with the idea of a film about two women and a robber on the run titled Three's Company. Hjortsberg objected to the idea, saying no one would watch a film like that. He made an agreement with Doel that he could write a moonshine car chase comedy film and he wrote the script, all with assistance from Doel over the phone.
Debut mainstream theatrical feature film directed by television director Corey Allen who had previously helmed the X-rated motion picture Pinocchio (1971).
The film has a similar title to the then recent Clint Eastwood movie Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) which had been first released about three years earlier.