Mort Engelberg, a movie producer behind such hits as “Smokey and the Bandit” and “The Big Easy” who drew on his Hollywood expertise to stage manage appearances for politicians, notably a bus tour for Bill Clinton and Al Gore following the 1992 Democratic convention, died Dec. 9 in Los Angeles. He was 86.

He drew on the tropes of road movies to invent the modern presidential bus tour for Clinton and Gore through Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky and other heartland states. The eight-day bus trip drew throngs of people, and helped to cement Mr. Clinton’s image as a down-home politician.