The Last Detail (1973) Movie Overview

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. It tells the story of two U.S. Navy Sailors Billy Buddusky and “Mule” Mulhall (played by Jack Nicholson and Otis Young respectively) who are assigned shore patrol duty to escort a young sailor Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid) to Portsmouth Naval Prison. On their trip to Portsmouth, Meadows begins to grow on them and they decide to show him a good time before serving what is, in their eyes, an unjust sentence of eight years for trying to steal $40 from the commanding officer’s wife’s favorite charity. Along the way they feel sorry for the young man never getting a chance to live his life and knowing he will be beaten regulary by Marines. 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 and they get drunk. Later they take the sailor ice skating and to lose his virginity. When they do arrive at Portsmouth the young sailor wants a picnic and they buy some hot dogs and have a picnic in the snow. Me… Source

• The Last Detail Movie Details
• Director: Hal Ashby
• Tagline: No *#@!!* Navy's going to give some poor **!!@* kid eight years in the #@!* brig without me taking him out for the time of his *#@!!* life.
• Country: USA
• Run Time: 103 min
• Genre: Comedy , Drama

• Cast Overview
• Jack Nicholson as SM1 Billy 'Bad Ass' Buddusky
• Otis Young as GM1 'Mule' Mulhall
• Randy Quaid as Seaman Larry Meadows
• Clifton James as M.A.A.
• Carol Kane as Young Whore
• Michael Moriarty as Marine O.D.

The Last Detail Movie Overview – Yahoo Movies

The Last Detail (1973): Returning back to the U.S. with a criminal in tow, navy lifers turn their prison escort of a kleptomaniac into a profane and raucous government paid vacation. Source

The Last Detail Movie Review from New York Times

Two Navy “lifers” and one military innocent briefly attempt to thumb their nose at Authority in Hal Ashby’s The Last Detail (1973). “Badass” Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) and “Mule” Mulhall (Otis Young) are assigned to escort young sailor Meadows (Randy Quaid, who beat out John Travolta for the part) from their Virginia base to a New England military p… Source

The Last Detail Movie Details from Imdb

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 Boston. 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 general’s wife’s pet charity. For this,… Source

The Last Detail (1973) from YouTube