| The Last Detail |
original film poster |
| Directed by |
Hal Ashby |
| Produced by |
Gerald Ayres |
| Written by |
Robert Towne |
| Starring |
Jack Nicholson
Randy Quaid
Otis Young |
| Cinematography |
Michael Chapman |
| Editing by |
Robert C. Jones |
| Distributed by |
Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) |
1973 |
| Running time |
103 min |
| IMDb profile |
The Last Detail (1973) is a comedy-drama film which tells the story of two United States Navy lifers who are assigned shore patrol duty to transport a young sailor to Portsmouth Naval Prison. On their journey to Portsmouth the prisoner, Meadows, begins to grow on the two sailors and they decide to show him a good time before serving his unjust sentence of eight years.
The film stars Jack Nicholson, Otis Young, Randy Quaid, Clifton James, Carol Kane, Michael Moriarty, and Nancy Allen, and was directed by Hal Ashby. The screenplay was adapted by Robert Towne from a novel by Daryl Ponicsan.
The Last Detail was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Jack Nicholson), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Randy Quaid), and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
Nicholson reportedly turned down a part in The Sting (eventually filled by Robert Redford) to appear in this film, which was written by his good friend Robert Towne. Both he and Redford were nominated as Best Actor of 1973 at the Academy Awards, but the award went to Jack Lemmon for his work in Save the Tiger.
