The Last Detail (1973)

Two Navy men are ordered to bring a young offender to prison, but decide to show him one last good time along the way.

Director:

Hal Ashby

Writers:

Robert Towne (screenplay), Darryl Ponicsan (novel)

Stars:

Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid, Otis Young

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Nicholson	...	Buddusky
Otis Young	...	Mulhall
Randy Quaid	...	Meadows
Clifton James	...	M.A.A.
Carol Kane	...	Young Whore
Michael Moriarty	...	Marine O.D.
Luana Anders	...	Donna
Kathleen Miller	...	Annette
Nancy Allen	...	Nancy
Gerry Salsberg	...	Henry
Don McGovern	...	Bartender
Pat Hamilton	...	Madame
Michael Chapman	...	Taxi Driver
Jim Henshaw	...	Sweek
Derek McGrath	...	Nichiren Shoshu Member

Storyline

Two bawdy, tough looking navy lifers - "Bad-Ass" Buddusky, and "Mule" Mulhall - are commissioned to escort a young pilferer named Meadows to the brig in Portsmouth. Meadows is not much of a thief. Indeed, in his late teens, he is not much of a man at all. His great crime was to try to steal forty dollars from the admiral's wife's pet charity. For this, he's been sentenced to eight years behind bars. At first, Buddusky and Mulhall view the journey as a paid vacation, but their holiday spirits are quickly depressed by the prisoner, who looks prepared to break into tears at any moment. And he has the lowest self-image imaginable. Buddusky gets it into his head to give Meadows a good time and teach him a bit about getting on in the world. Lesson one: Don't take every card life deals you. Next, he teaches Meadows to drink, and, as a coup de grace, finds a nice young whore to instruct him in lovemaking. Mule, who worries aloud about his own position with military authority, seems pleased ...

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Plot Keywords:

foot chase | attempted escape | male bonding | navy | train | 

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Taglines:

What's "The Last Detail"? 300 beers and a barrel of laughs! (re-release)

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 February 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

El último deber

Filming Locations:

Boston Common, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,300,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$10,000,000, 31 December 1974

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Bright-Persky Associates, Acrobat Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The U.S. Navy would not allow Director Hal Ashby to film on their bases in Norfolk, so on-base scenes were filmed in Canada. Twice in the movie, the base in Norfolk is referred to as "Shit City". The scene where the sailors are leaving Norfolk was shot at the Greyhound bus station at the corner of Granby Street and Brambleton Avenue in downtown Norfolk. The gray Navy vehicle turns left off Granby and drops the sailors off at the rear entrance to the station. The bus station and the storefronts along Granby look remarkably the same over forty years later.

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Goofs

Even though Meadows would have been out of Boot Camp for a comparatively short time, he still would've known not to address the MAA (an enlisted man) as "sir".

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Quotes

Buddusky: [listening to Nichiren Shoshu members singing a happy song]
Buddusky: Why does all of this make me feel so fucking bad?

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Raquel Welch/Phoebe Snow, John Sebastian (1976)

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Soundtracks

Good Ole Country Livin'
by Jack Goga and K. Lawrence Dunham

User Reviews

Real Sailors, Warts and All

Ever since 9/11, you hear a lot of fluff in the press about our "heroes" in the armed services. Typically they are portrayed as wide-eyed, short hair enthusiasm and commitment machines. It's a nice image, but the real version is much more human, much more interesting and much more likable.

I was a naval officer for seven years. The best part of my service was the wonderful opportunity to get to know the many men and women who make up the enlisted ranks of our armed services. They tend to be from the rural towns of the south and Midwest or the inner city ghettos. Most of them were average students with limited financial prospects. The ones who succeed in the ranks enough to stay for 20 years do so because the Navy is the first place where they belong. And because they enjoy the job. They get good at it and they believe that what they are doing is much more rewarding and challenging than their friends back home.

They also love to party. To drink and to chase skirts and raise hell. They feel entitled to and they are almost always out for a good time without hurting anyone. They also love to mentor the younger sailors to show them how to survive and how to enjoy the time in.

The details of this movie are wonderful. The dreary time in transit, ironing uniforms and staring at the walls. Wanting to be at sea, something that few people can imagine until they've done it. The thrill of a few days per diem to blow in bars. The resignation of being a lifer and above all the nature of Navy friendships.

Jack Nicholson's character and Otis Young's are not natural friends. They probably wouldn't have time for one another in any other line of work, but having the shared experience of being First Class Petty Officers at the same base is enough for them to be comfortable with one another and to enjoy each other's company. They also both take to the young kid and they both know how to treat him because they've been doing it for so long.

I can't tell you how real these characters were to me. I can's say "Oh Jack reminds me of GSM1 So-and-so and Otis reminds me of QM1 Whatshisname". IT's too real for that. They both remind me of many, many people I had the good fortune to work with.

And they are flawed. They lack the guts to spare Randy Quad from this injustice. They don't even stick together on the way back to Norfolk, probably because they know they did something less than wonderful to the young man. They are indoctrinated but not inhuman.

I also enjoyed seeing shades of Jack's work in "One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest". Bad-ass is kind of a rough draft of his McMuphy. This is Jack at his finest.

Randy Quaid's performance made me feel a little bit sad. Not just for the character, but for the actor. He had so much talent back then and somehow he got pigeon holed playing big dopes. He certainly has as much talent as his younger brother but not the leading man looks. I don't think I'll ever see him in the Vaction movies without cringing. He should have become so much more. (Of course his other work is entertaining but it's never touching or through provoking as it is here.) And Otis Young was terrific too. I'm not sure why he never got more good roles, but this is something to be proud of.

In short, this is the most realistic navy movie I've ever seen. If you're thinking about enlisting, or if a loved one is, this is not a bad way to see what the navy does to a man-good and bad. And it's funny that they do this without ever setting foot on a vessel.

I want to find the poster and hang it on my walls next to my commission.