The Last Detail
Encyclopedia
The Last Detail is a 1973 American comedy-drama
film directed by Hal Ashby
with a screenplay adapted by Robert Towne
from a novel of the same name by Daryl Ponicsan. The film became known for its frequent use of profanity.
, Virginia
, U.S. Navy
sailors, Billy "Badass" Buddusky (Jack Nicholson
) and "Mule" Mulhall (Otis Young
) are assigned shore patrol
detail to escort young sailor Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid
) to Portsmouth Naval Prison
near Portsmouth, New Hampshire
. Meadows has drawn a stiff eight-year sentence for a petty crime: trying to steal $40 from a mite box
of the C.O.'s wife's favorite charity. During their train trip up the northeast corridor, the oddly likeable Meadows begins to grow on the two Navy "lifers"; they know the grim reality of the Marine guards at Portsmouth, and feel sorry he'll miss his youth serving his sentence. They decide to show him a good time before delivering him to the brig.
With several days to spare before they are due in Portsmouth, the trio detrains at the major cities along the route to provide bon-voyage adventures for Meadows. In Washington they take him to a bar to have a beer, but are denied because Meadows is too young. Buddusky gets a few six packs and a hotel room, and the three get drunk. In Philadelphia they seek out Meadows's mother, only to find her away for the day and the house cluttered with empty whiskey bottles. In New York, they take him ice skating at Rockefeller Center
and then in Boston, to a brothel to lose his virginity. In between, they brawl with Marines in a public restroom, dine on "the world's finest" Italian sausage sandwich, chant with Nichiren Shōshū
Buddhists and open intimate windows for each other in swaying train coaches. Meadows pronounces his several days with Badass and Mule to be the best of his whole life.
When they finally arrive in frozen Portsmouth, Meadows has a final request — a picnic — so they buy some hot dogs and attempt a frigid picnic in the crunching snow. Docile Meadows walks along the park, seemingly ready to head to prison. He suddenly bolts, though, in a last-ditch effort to run away. Buddusky runs after him, catches him, and pistol-whips him fiercely upside the head. Mulhall and Buddusky then brusquely take Meadows to the prison, execute the Navy paperwork, and after being released from their detail, they stride away angrily, berating the marines they have encountered at the prison — and about how hopefully their orders will come through when they get back to Norfolk.
, Robert Towne began adapting the novel. The screenwriter tailored the script for close friends Jack Nicholson and Rupert Crosse
. In adapting the novel, Towne removed Buddusky's "closet intellectualism and his beautiful wife". The screenwriter also changed the ending so that Buddusky lives instead of dying as he does in the book. Ayres convinced Columbia Pictures
to produce the film based on his consultant's credit on Bonnie & Clyde
but had difficulty getting it made because of the studio's concern about the bad language in Townes's script. Peter Guber
recalls, "The first seven minutes, there were 342 'fucks'". The head of Columbia asked Towne to reduce the number of curse words to which the writer responded, "This is the way people talk when they're powerless to act; they bitch". Towne refused to tone down the language and the project remained in limbo until Nicholson, by then a bankable star, got involved.
Ayres sent the script to Robert Altman
and then Hal Ashby. Ayres remembers, "I thought that this was a picture that required a skewed perspective, and that's what Hal had". Ashby was coming off the disappointing commercial and critical failure of Harold and Maude
and was in pre-production on Three Cornered Circle at MGM when Jack Nicholson told him about The Last Detail, his upcoming film at Columbia. The director had actually been sent the script in the fall of 1971 and the reader's report called it "lengthy and unimaginative", but he now he found it very appealing. He wanted to do it but it conflicted with his schedule for Three Cornered Circle. However Ashby pulled out of his deal with MGM and Nicholson suggested that they team up on Last Detail. Columbia did not like Ashby because he had a reputation of distrusting authority and made little effort to communicate with executives. The budget was low enough, at $2.6 million, for him to get approved.
met with Ashby and begged to play Meadows but the director felt that he was not right for the role. Casting director Lynn Stalmaster gave Ashby a final selection of actors and the two that stood out were Randy Quaid and John Travolta
. As originally written, the character of Meadows was a "helpless little guy", but Ashby wanted to cast Quaid in the role, who was 6'4". He had offbeat and vulnerable qualities that Ashby wanted. Towne remembers thinking, "There's a real poignancy to this huge guy's helplessness that's great. I thought it was a fantastic choice, and I'd never thought of it". Rupert Crosse
was cast as Mule.
. Guber told Ayres that he could get Burt Reynolds
, Jim Brown
, and David Cassidy
and a new writer and he would approve production immediately. Ayres rejected this proposal and the studio agreed to wait because they were afraid that the producer would take the film to another studio. Ashby and Ayres read navy publications and interviewed current and ex-servicemen who helped them correct minor errors in the script. The director wanted to shoot on location at the naval base in Norfolk, Virginia
and the brig at Portsmouth, New Hampshire
but was unable to get permission from the United States Navy
. However, the Canadian Navy was willing to cooperate and in mid-August 1972, Ashby and his casting director Stalmaster traveled to Toronto, Ontario to look at a naval base and meet with actors. The base suited their needs and Ashby met Carol Kane
whom he would cast in a small role.
Ashby was busted for possession of marijuana while scouting locations in Canada. This almost changed the studio's mind about backing the project but the director's drug bust was not widely reported and Nicholson remained fiercely loyal to him, which was a deciding factor. Just as the film was about to go into production, Crosse was diagnosed with terminal cancer
. Ashby postponed principal photography for a week to allow Crosse to deal with the news and decide if he still wanted to do the film. The actor decided not to do the film and Ashby and Stalmaster scrambled to find a replacement. They cast Otis Young.
was supposed to shoot The Last Detail but he could not get a union card for an East Coast production and so Ashby asked Nestor Almendros
and Gordon Willis
but they were both unavailable. Ashby promoted Michael Chapman
, his camera operator on The Landlord, to director of photography. They worked together to create a specific look for the film that involved using natural light to create a realistic, documentary-style. Ashby let Nicholson look through the camera's viewfinder as a shot was being set up so he knew the parameters of a given scene and how much freedom he had within the frame. The actor said, "Hal is the first director to let me go, to let me find my own level".
, one of the fastest editors in the business who had been nominated for an Academy Award for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
. Jones put the film back into rushes and six weeks later had a first cut ready that ran four hours. Ashby was very impressed with his abilities and trusted him completely. Jones cut the film with Ashby at the filmmaker's home and the process took an unusually long time as the director agonized over all the footage he had shot. Ashby would ignore phone calls from Columbia and eventually executives higher and higher up the corporate ladder tried to contact him. Ashby was in London, England meeting with Peter Sellers
about doing Being There
when he received a phone call from Jones who told him that Columbia was fed up with the time it was taking for the film to be assembled. The head of the studio's editing department called Jones to say that a representative was coming to take the film. Jones refused to give up the film and Ashby called the studio and managed to calm them down. Towne occasionally visited Ashby's house to check in and did not like the pacing of the film. According to Towne, Ashby "left his dramatizing to the editing room, and the effect was a thinning out of the script". During the editing process, Columbia hated the jump cut
s Ashby employed. The studio was also concerned about the number of expletives. It needed a commercial hit as they were in major financial trouble. By August 1973, the final cut of The Last Detail was completed and submitted to the MPAA which gave it an R rating. Columbia was still not happy with the film and asked for 26 lines with the word "fuck" in them to be cut. The theatrical release of The Last Detail was delayed for six months while Columbia fought over the profanity issue. Ashby convinced Columbia to let him preview the film as it was to see how the public would react. It was shown in San Francisco and the screening was a huge success.
. After Nicholson won Best Actor there, it shamed the studio into releasing the film. The studio decided to give the film a limited release to qualify for Oscar consideration with a wide release planned for the spring of 1974. By the time of its wide release, any pre-Oscar hype that was generated was now gone.
When the film was released for a week in Los Angeles
, it received very positive reviews. In his review for The New York Times
, Vincent Canby
wrote, "It's by far the best thing he's ever done", referring to Nicholson's performance. Variety
magazine also praised Nicholson, writing that he was "outstanding at the head of a superb cast". Andrew Sarris
praised Ashby's "sensitive, precise direction". Time
magazine's Richard Schickel
wrote, "there is an unpretentious realism in Towne's script, and director Ashby handles his camera with a simplicity reminiscent of the way American directors treated lower-depths material in the '30s".
at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival
and Nicholson was awarded Best Actor. It was also nominated for three Academy Awards
- Jack Nicholson for Best Actor in a Leading Role
, Randy Quaid for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
, and Robert Towne for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
with none of them winning. In addition, The Last Detail was nominated for two Golden Globes Awards - Nicholson for Best Motion Picture Actor - Drama
and Quaid for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
. Nicholson did win a BAFTA award for his role in the film. Nicholson won the Best Actor awards from the National Society of Film Critics
and the New York Film Critics Circle. However, he was disappointed that he failed to win an Oscar for his performance. "I like the idea of winning at Cannes with The Last Detail, but not getting our own Academy Award hurt real bad. I did it in that movie, that was my best role".
expressed an interest in adapting Last Flag Flying, a sequel to The Last Detail, into a film. He wrote a screenplay and sent a copy to Quaid but said that he would not do it unless Nicholson was involved. In the novel, Buddusky runs a bar and is reunited with Larry Meadows after his son is killed in the Iraq War. It was rumored that Morgan Freeman
was interested in taking over the role of Mule from Otis Young, who died in 2001.
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
film directed by Hal Ashby
Hal Ashby
Hal Ashby was an American film director and film editor.-Birth and early years:Born William Hal Ashby in Ogden, Utah, Ashby grew up in a Mormon household and had a tumultuous childhood as part of a dysfunctional family which included the divorce of his parents, his father's suicide and his...
with a screenplay adapted by Robert Towne
Robert Towne
Robert Towne is an American screenwriter and director. His most notable work may be his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown .-Film:...
from a novel of the same name by Daryl Ponicsan. The film became known for its frequent use of profanity.
Plot
Stationed in NorfolkNorfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
sailors, Billy "Badass" Buddusky (Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
) and "Mule" Mulhall (Otis Young
Otis Young
Otis E. Young was an African-American actor. He was only the second African-American actor to co-star in a television Western, The Outcasts , with Don Murray, the first being Raymond St Jacques who had co-starred on the final season of Rawhide in 1965, as cattle drover Simon Blake...
) are assigned shore patrol
Shore patrol
Shore patrol are service members that are provided to aid in security for the U.S. Navy, United States Coast Guard, United States Marine Corps, and the British Royal Navy while on shore...
detail to escort young sailor Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid
Randy Quaid
Randall Rudy "Randy" Quaid is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, as well as his numerous supporting roles in films, including his Oscar nominated performance in The Last Detail, Independence Day, Kingpin and Brokeback Mountain...
) to Portsmouth Naval Prison
Portsmouth Naval Prison
Portsmouth Naval Prison is a former U.S. Navy and Marine Corps prison on the grounds of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard . The building has the appearance of a castle. The reinforced concrete naval prison was occupied from 1908 until 1974....
near Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
. Meadows has drawn a stiff eight-year sentence for a petty crime: trying to steal $40 from a mite box
Mite box
The term mite box refers to a box that is used to save coins for charitable purposes. Contemporary mite boxes are usually made of cardboard and given out to church congregations during the Lenten season. The mite boxes are collected by the church and donations are given to the poor...
of the C.O.'s wife's favorite charity. During their train trip up the northeast corridor, the oddly likeable Meadows begins to grow on the two Navy "lifers"; they know the grim reality of the Marine guards at Portsmouth, and feel sorry he'll miss his youth serving his sentence. They decide to show him a good time before delivering him to the brig.
With several days to spare before they are due in Portsmouth, the trio detrains at the major cities along the route to provide bon-voyage adventures for Meadows. In Washington they take him to a bar to have a beer, but are denied because Meadows is too young. Buddusky gets a few six packs and a hotel room, and the three get drunk. In Philadelphia they seek out Meadows's mother, only to find her away for the day and the house cluttered with empty whiskey bottles. In New York, they take him ice skating at Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
and then in Boston, to a brothel to lose his virginity. In between, they brawl with Marines in a public restroom, dine on "the world's finest" Italian sausage sandwich, chant with Nichiren Shōshū
Nichiren Shōshū
Nichiren Shōshū is a branch of Nichiren Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese monk Nichiren . Nichiren Shōshū claims Nichiren as its founder through his disciple Nikkō , the founder of the school's Head Temple Taiseki-ji...
Buddhists and open intimate windows for each other in swaying train coaches. Meadows pronounces his several days with Badass and Mule to be the best of his whole life.
When they finally arrive in frozen Portsmouth, Meadows has a final request — a picnic — so they buy some hot dogs and attempt a frigid picnic in the crunching snow. Docile Meadows walks along the park, seemingly ready to head to prison. He suddenly bolts, though, in a last-ditch effort to run away. Buddusky runs after him, catches him, and pistol-whips him fiercely upside the head. Mulhall and Buddusky then brusquely take Meadows to the prison, execute the Navy paperwork, and after being released from their detail, they stride away angrily, berating the marines they have encountered at the prison — and about how hopefully their orders will come through when they get back to Norfolk.
Cast and characters
- Jack NicholsonJack NicholsonJohn Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
as Signalman 1st Class Billy L. "Bad Ass" Buddusky - Otis YoungOtis YoungOtis E. Young was an African-American actor. He was only the second African-American actor to co-star in a television Western, The Outcasts , with Don Murray, the first being Raymond St Jacques who had co-starred on the final season of Rawhide in 1965, as cattle drover Simon Blake...
as Gunner's Mate 1st Class Richard "Mule" Mulhall - Randy QuaidRandy QuaidRandall Rudy "Randy" Quaid is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, as well as his numerous supporting roles in films, including his Oscar nominated performance in The Last Detail, Independence Day, Kingpin and Brokeback Mountain...
as Seaman Laurence M. "Larry" Meadows - Clifton JamesClifton JamesGeorge Clifton James is an American actor. He is probably best known for his role as the bumbling Sheriff J.W. Pepper alongside Roger Moore in the James Bond films Live and Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun and his role alongside Sean Connery in The Untouchables .-Personal life:James was...
as M.A.A.Master-at-armsA master-at-arms may be a naval rating responsible for discipline and law enforcement, an army officer responsible for physical training, or a member of the crew of a merchant ship responsible for security and law enforcement.-Royal Navy:The master-at-arms is a ship's senior rating, comparable in... - Carol KaneCarol KaneCarolyn Laurie "Carol" Kane is an American actress. Kane has worked on the stage, on the screen and in television. She appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s, as the wife of the character played by Andy Kaufman. She received two Emmy Awards for her work...
as Young Whore - Michael MoriartyMichael MoriartyMichael Moriarty is an American-Canadian actor of stage and screen, and a jazz musician. He played Benjamin Stone for four seasons on the TV series Law & Order.-Early life:...
as Marine Duty Officer - Nancy AllenNancy Allen (actress)Nancy Anne Allen is a Golden Globe nominated American actress and cancer activist.Allen began an acting and modelling career as a child, and from the mid-1970s appeared in small film roles, most notably the anchor of Robert Zemeckis's ensemble comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand...
as Nancy - Gilda RadnerGilda RadnerGilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...
as Nichiren Shoshu Member - Jim Hohn as Nichiren Shoshu Member{incorrectly listed as Jim Horn on Imdb}
- Luana AndersLuana AndersLuana Anders was an American film and television actress.-Career:Anders, born Luana Margo Anderson, began her career appearing in several supporting roles in low budget B-movies for American International Pictures, quite a few of them directed by Roger Corman. She was part of a group of well known...
as Donna
Production
Producer Gerry Ayres had bought the rights to Darryl Ponicsan's novel in 1969. After returning from the set of Drive, He SaidDrive, He Said
Drive, He Said is an American motion picture released by Columbia Pictures, based upon the 1964 novel of the same title by Jeremy Larner...
, Robert Towne began adapting the novel. The screenwriter tailored the script for close friends Jack Nicholson and Rupert Crosse
Rupert Crosse
Rupert Crosse was an American television and film actor. Crosse was the first African American to be nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role in the 1969 adaptation of William Faulkner's The Reivers....
. In adapting the novel, Towne removed Buddusky's "closet intellectualism and his beautiful wife". The screenwriter also changed the ending so that Buddusky lives instead of dying as he does in the book. Ayres convinced Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
to produce the film based on his consultant's credit on Bonnie & Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde (film)
The film was originally offered to François Truffaut, the best-known director of the New Wave movement, who made contributions to the script. He passed on the project to make Fahrenheit 451. The producers approached Jean-Luc Godard next...
but had difficulty getting it made because of the studio's concern about the bad language in Townes's script. Peter Guber
Peter Guber
Howard Peter Guber is an American film producer and executive and Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment...
recalls, "The first seven minutes, there were 342 'fucks'". The head of Columbia asked Towne to reduce the number of curse words to which the writer responded, "This is the way people talk when they're powerless to act; they bitch". Towne refused to tone down the language and the project remained in limbo until Nicholson, by then a bankable star, got involved.
Ayres sent the script to Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
and then Hal Ashby. Ayres remembers, "I thought that this was a picture that required a skewed perspective, and that's what Hal had". Ashby was coming off the disappointing commercial and critical failure of Harold and Maude
Harold and Maude
Harold and Maude is a 1971 American dark comedy film directed by Hal Ashby and released by Paramount Pictures. It incorporates elements of dark humor and existentialist drama, with a plot that revolves around the exploits of a young man intrigued with death, Harold...
and was in pre-production on Three Cornered Circle at MGM when Jack Nicholson told him about The Last Detail, his upcoming film at Columbia. The director had actually been sent the script in the fall of 1971 and the reader's report called it "lengthy and unimaginative", but he now he found it very appealing. He wanted to do it but it conflicted with his schedule for Three Cornered Circle. However Ashby pulled out of his deal with MGM and Nicholson suggested that they team up on Last Detail. Columbia did not like Ashby because he had a reputation of distrusting authority and made little effort to communicate with executives. The budget was low enough, at $2.6 million, for him to get approved.
Casting
Nicholson was set to play Buddusky and so the casting of The Last Detail focused mainly on the roles of Mule and Meadows. Bud CortBud Cort
Bud Cort is an American film and stage actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his portrayals of Harold in Hal Ashby's 1971 film Harold and Maude and the titular hero in Robert Altman's 1970 film Brewster McCloud...
met with Ashby and begged to play Meadows but the director felt that he was not right for the role. Casting director Lynn Stalmaster gave Ashby a final selection of actors and the two that stood out were Randy Quaid and John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
. As originally written, the character of Meadows was a "helpless little guy", but Ashby wanted to cast Quaid in the role, who was 6'4". He had offbeat and vulnerable qualities that Ashby wanted. Towne remembers thinking, "There's a real poignancy to this huge guy's helplessness that's great. I thought it was a fantastic choice, and I'd never thought of it". Rupert Crosse
Rupert Crosse
Rupert Crosse was an American television and film actor. Crosse was the first African American to be nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role in the 1969 adaptation of William Faulkner's The Reivers....
was cast as Mule.
Pre-production
The project stalled for 18 months while Nicholson made The King of Marvin GardensThe King of Marvin Gardens
The King of Marvin Gardens is a 1972 American drama film. It stars Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn and Scatman Crothers. It is one of several collaborations between Nicholson and director Bob Rafelson. The majority of the film is set in a wintry Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the plot...
. Guber told Ayres that he could get Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
, Jim Brown
Jim Brown
James Nathaniel "Jim" Brown is an American former professional football player who has also made his mark as an actor. He is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. In 2002, he was named by Sporting News...
, and David Cassidy
David Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his role as the character of Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. He was one of pop culture's most celebrated teen idols, enjoying a successful pop career in the 1970s, and...
and a new writer and he would approve production immediately. Ayres rejected this proposal and the studio agreed to wait because they were afraid that the producer would take the film to another studio. Ashby and Ayres read navy publications and interviewed current and ex-servicemen who helped them correct minor errors in the script. The director wanted to shoot on location at the naval base in Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
and the brig at Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
but was unable to get permission from the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. However, the Canadian Navy was willing to cooperate and in mid-August 1972, Ashby and his casting director Stalmaster traveled to Toronto, Ontario to look at a naval base and meet with actors. The base suited their needs and Ashby met Carol Kane
Carol Kane
Carolyn Laurie "Carol" Kane is an American actress. Kane has worked on the stage, on the screen and in television. She appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s, as the wife of the character played by Andy Kaufman. She received two Emmy Awards for her work...
whom he would cast in a small role.
Ashby was busted for possession of marijuana while scouting locations in Canada. This almost changed the studio's mind about backing the project but the director's drug bust was not widely reported and Nicholson remained fiercely loyal to him, which was a deciding factor. Just as the film was about to go into production, Crosse was diagnosed with terminal cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. Ashby postponed principal photography for a week to allow Crosse to deal with the news and decide if he still wanted to do the film. The actor decided not to do the film and Ashby and Stalmaster scrambled to find a replacement. They cast Otis Young.
Principal photography
Ashby decided to shoot the film chronologically in order to help the inexperienced Quaid and recently cast Young ease into their characters. With the exception of Toronto doubling as Norfolk, the production shot on location, making the same journey as the three main characters. Early on, Quaid was very nervous and wanted to make a good impression. Ashby kept a close eye on the actor but allowed him to develop into the role. Haskell WexlerHaskell Wexler
Haskell Wexler, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the International Cinematographers Guild.-Early life and education:Wexler was born to a Jewish...
was supposed to shoot The Last Detail but he could not get a union card for an East Coast production and so Ashby asked Nestor Almendros
Néstor Almendros
Néstor Almendros, ASC was an Oscar winning Spanish cinematographer. One of the highest appraised contemporary cinematographers, "Almendros was an artist of deep integrity, who believed the most beautiful light was natural light...he will always be remembered as a cinematographer of absolute...
and Gordon Willis
Gordon Willis
Gordon Willis, ASC, is an American cinematographer best known for his work on Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather series as well as Woody Allen's Annie Hall and Manhattan....
but they were both unavailable. Ashby promoted Michael Chapman
Michael Chapman (cinematographer)
Michael Chapman, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer whose prominence owes most to his innovative work of the 1970s and 1980s....
, his camera operator on The Landlord, to director of photography. They worked together to create a specific look for the film that involved using natural light to create a realistic, documentary-style. Ashby let Nicholson look through the camera's viewfinder as a shot was being set up so he knew the parameters of a given scene and how much freedom he had within the frame. The actor said, "Hal is the first director to let me go, to let me find my own level".
Post-production
The day after principal photography was completed, Ashby had his editor send what he had cut together so far. The director was shocked at the results and fired the editor. He was afraid that he would have to edit the film himself. Ayres recommended bringing in Robert C. JonesRobert C. Jones
Robert C. Jones , sometimes credited as Robert Jones, is a screenwriter and film editor. He received an Academy Award for the screenplay of the film Coming Home . As an editor, Jones has had notable collaborations with the directors Arthur Hiller and Hal Ashby...
, one of the fastest editors in the business who had been nominated for an Academy Award for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is a 1967 American drama film starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn, and featuring Hepburn's niece Katharine Houghton...
. Jones put the film back into rushes and six weeks later had a first cut ready that ran four hours. Ashby was very impressed with his abilities and trusted him completely. Jones cut the film with Ashby at the filmmaker's home and the process took an unusually long time as the director agonized over all the footage he had shot. Ashby would ignore phone calls from Columbia and eventually executives higher and higher up the corporate ladder tried to contact him. Ashby was in London, England meeting with Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
about doing Being There
Being There
Being There is a 1979 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby. Adapted from the 1971 novella written by Jerzy Kosinski, the screenplay was coauthored by Kosinski and Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A...
when he received a phone call from Jones who told him that Columbia was fed up with the time it was taking for the film to be assembled. The head of the studio's editing department called Jones to say that a representative was coming to take the film. Jones refused to give up the film and Ashby called the studio and managed to calm them down. Towne occasionally visited Ashby's house to check in and did not like the pacing of the film. According to Towne, Ashby "left his dramatizing to the editing room, and the effect was a thinning out of the script". During the editing process, Columbia hated the jump cut
Jump cut
A jump cut is a cut in film editing and vloging in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This type of edit causes the subject of the shots to appear to "jump" position in a discontinuous way...
s Ashby employed. The studio was also concerned about the number of expletives. It needed a commercial hit as they were in major financial trouble. By August 1973, the final cut of The Last Detail was completed and submitted to the MPAA which gave it an R rating. Columbia was still not happy with the film and asked for 26 lines with the word "fuck" in them to be cut. The theatrical release of The Last Detail was delayed for six months while Columbia fought over the profanity issue. Ashby convinced Columbia to let him preview the film as it was to see how the public would react. It was shown in San Francisco and the screening was a huge success.
Release
Ayres persuaded Columbia to submit The Last Detail to the Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
. After Nicholson won Best Actor there, it shamed the studio into releasing the film. The studio decided to give the film a limited release to qualify for Oscar consideration with a wide release planned for the spring of 1974. By the time of its wide release, any pre-Oscar hype that was generated was now gone.
When the film was released for a week in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, it received very positive reviews. In his review for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
wrote, "It's by far the best thing he's ever done", referring to Nicholson's performance. Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine also praised Nicholson, writing that he was "outstanding at the head of a superb cast". Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris is an American film critic and a leading proponent of the auteur theory of criticism.-Career:Sarris is generally credited with popularizing the auteur theory in the U.S...
praised Ashby's "sensitive, precise direction". Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine's Richard Schickel
Richard Schickel
Richard Warren Schickel is an American author, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. He is a film critic for Time magazine, having also written for Life magazine and the Los Angeles Times Book Review....
wrote, "there is an unpretentious realism in Towne's script, and director Ashby handles his camera with a simplicity reminiscent of the way American directors treated lower-depths material in the '30s".
Awards and nominations
The Last Detail was nominated for the Palme d'OrPalme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival
1974 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*René Clair *Jean-Loup Dabadie *Kenne Fant *Félix Labisse *Irwin Shaw *Michel Soutter *Monica Vitti *Alexander Walker *Rostislav Yurenev -Feature film competition:...
and Nicholson was awarded Best Actor. It was also nominated for three Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
- Jack Nicholson for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, Randy Quaid for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, and Robert Towne for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay
The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...
with none of them winning. In addition, The Last Detail was nominated for two Golden Globes Awards - Nicholson for Best Motion Picture Actor - Drama
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
and Quaid for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year....
. Nicholson did win a BAFTA award for his role in the film. Nicholson won the Best Actor awards from the National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
and the New York Film Critics Circle. However, he was disappointed that he failed to win an Oscar for his performance. "I like the idea of winning at Cannes with The Last Detail, but not getting our own Academy Award hurt real bad. I did it in that movie, that was my best role".
Sequel
In 2006, filmmaker Richard LinklaterRichard Linklater
-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
expressed an interest in adapting Last Flag Flying, a sequel to The Last Detail, into a film. He wrote a screenplay and sent a copy to Quaid but said that he would not do it unless Nicholson was involved. In the novel, Buddusky runs a bar and is reunited with Larry Meadows after his son is killed in the Iraq War. It was rumored that Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
was interested in taking over the role of Mule from Otis Young, who died in 2001.
Further reading
- "The Last Detail" by Richard Armstrong, Senses of Cinema, April 2003.
- "The Last Detail: Beyond the call of duty" by John and Judith Hess, Jump Cut, no. 2, 1974.