The Last Detail
On Saturday, December 15, 1973, Navy lifers Signalman First Class Billy "Badass" Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) and Gunner's Mate First Class Richard "Mule" Mulhall (Otis Young) are awaiting orders in Norfolk, Virginia. They are assigned a shore patrol detail escorting 18-year old Seaman Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid) to Portsmouth Naval Prison near Kittery, Maine. Meadows has been court-martialed, dishonorably discharged, and sentenced to eight years in the brig for stealing $40 from a charity fund run by the wife of a senior officer. Buddusky and Mulhall are given one week to escort Meadows to Portsmouth, and if they fail to complete the task on time or let Meadows go free, they will be kicked out of the Navy and lose all benefits and pay. Despite their initial resentment of the detail, and realizing their prisoner is a kleptomaniac who steals compulsively, Billy and Mule begin to like Meadows as they escort him on a train ride through the wintry northeastern states. They decide to show him a good time before delivering him to the authorities.
| MPAA Rating: | R |
| Genre: | Comedy, Drama |
| Country: | United States |
| Produced By: | Charles Mulvehill, Joel Chernoff, Gerald Ayres |
| Directed By: | Hal Ashby |
| Written By: | Darryl Ponicsan, Robert Towne |
| Cast: | Carol Kane, Henry Calvert, Derek McGrath, Hal Ashby, Gilda Radner, Luana Anders, Gerald Ayres, Randy Quaid, Kathleen Miller, Pat Hamilton, Michael Chapman, Jim Henshaw, Gerry Salsberg, Jack Nicholson, Don McGovern, Michael Moriarty, Clifton James, Donald Warnock, Nancy Allen, Jim Horn, Peter Foldy, Otis Young, John Castellano |
| In Theaters: | Feb 15, 1974 |
| Runtime: | 1 hour 44 minutes |
| Production: | Columbia Pictures, Bright-Persky Associates, Acrobat Productions |
| Budget: | $2,300,000 |
| Available On: | Amazon, Itunes, Vudu |
| Read More On: | Wikipedia |
