Set in 1905, the film follows the exploits of the likable but raffish Boon Hoggenbeck, who takes an interest in a new car, a new 1905 Winton Flyer that is the property of a man named Boss, the patriarch of the McCaslin family, who live in the Mississippi area where Boon lives. When the taking of the car, first by Boon, then by Ned — they show themselves to be reivers, or thieves, in the film's start — leads to a public brawl, the local magistrate lets them off on a bond that Boss pays on the condition that both men stay out of trouble and far away from the car while he is away with family to attend a funeral. That is soon changed when Boon takes the car again to go to Memphis to see his love interest Corrie, and talks his young friend Lucius into going for the ride. Ned stows away as well, but Boon grudgingly allows him to come. Other characters include a racehorse that loves sardines, a friendly bordello madam and her amiable employees, and a man with a horse who lives near an impassable sinkhole full of mud for which he charges expensive rates to get both carts and cars through.
^Mapp, Edward (2008). African Americans and the Oscar: Decades Of Struggle and Achievement (2 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 21. ISBN978-0-8108-6106-0.
^"The Reivers". Fandango.com. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
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