Editing The Last Detail (section)

==Production==
Producer Gerry Ayres had bought the rights to Darryl Ponicsan's novel in 1969.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=137}} After returning from the set of ''[[Drive, He Said]]'', Robert Towne began adapting the novel.{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=174}} The screenwriter tailored the script for close friends Jack Nicholson and [[Rupert Crosse]].{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=174}} In adapting the novel, Towne removed Buddusky's "closet intellectualism and his beautiful wife".<ref name= "berg">{{cite news|last=Berg |first=Charles Ramírez |title=Robert Towne |work=Film Reference |url=http://www.filmreference.com/Writers-and-Production-Artists-Ta-Vi/Towne-Robert.html |access-date=2007-12-03}}</ref> The screenwriter also changed the ending so that Buddusky lives instead of dying as he does in the book.<ref name= "berg"/> Ayres convinced [[Columbia Pictures]] to produce the film based on his consultant's credit on ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie & Clyde]]'' but had difficulty getting it made because of the studio's concern about the coarse language in Towne's script.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=137}} [[Peter Guber]] recalled, "The first seven minutes, there were 342 'fucks'".{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=175}} 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".{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=175}} Towne refused to tone down the language and the project remained in limbo until Nicholson, by then a bankable star, got involved.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=137}}

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".{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=175}} Ashby was coming off the disappointing commercial and critical failure of ''[[Harold and Maude]]'' and was in pre-production on ''Three Cornered Circle'' at [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] when Jack Nicholson told him about ''The Last Detail'', his upcoming film at Columbia.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|pp=136–137}} The director had been sent the script in the fall of 1971, with a reader's report calling it "lengthy and unimaginative", but he personally found it very appealing.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=136}}

He wanted to do it but it conflicted with his schedule for ''Three Cornered Circle''. Ashby pulled out of his deal with MGM, and Nicholson suggested that they team up on ''Last Detail''.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=137}} Columbia did not like Ashby because he had a reputation of distrusting authority and made little effort to communicate with executives. The $2.3 million budget was low enough for him to get approved.{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=175}}{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=139}}

===Casting===
Nicholson was set to play Buddusky; additional casting focused mainly on the roles of Mule and Meadows.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=138}} [[Bud Cort]] met with Ashby and begged to play Meadows, but the director felt that he was not right for the role.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=139}} [[Robert Englund]] also auditioned for the role of Meadows.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Robert Englund on Kinky Freddy Krueger Fans, Real Nightmares, Speedos at Stanford | url=https://www.revolvermag.com/culture/robert-englund-kinky-freddy-krueger-fans-real-nightmares-speedos-stanford |first=Tim |last=Grierson |date=January 14, 2019 |access-date=February 23, 2020 |magazine=[[Revolver (magazine)|Revolver Magazine]]}}</ref> 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, who was 6'4".<ref name= "rabin">{{cite news |last=Rabin |first=Nathan |title=Robert Towne |work=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=March 14, 2006 |url=https://www.avclub.com/robert-towne-1798209129 |access-date=2007-12-03}}</ref> He had offbeat and vulnerable qualities that Ashby wanted.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=139}} 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."<ref name= "rabin"/>  [[Rupert Crosse]] was cast as Mule. Gilda Radner was cast in her first screen role, speaking one line as a member of Nichiren Shoshu.<ref name= "sachs">{{cite news |last=Sachs |first=Ben |title=What's new again: Hal Ashby's The Last Detail (1973) |work=[[Chicago Reader]] |date=July 9, 2012 |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2012/07/09/whats-new-again-hal-ashbys-the-last-detail |access-date=2020-02-14}}</ref> Director Hal Ashby also appears in a brief cameo in the New York bar scene as the bearded man observing Buddusky's dart game.

===Pre-production===
The project stalled for 18 months while Nicholson made ''[[The King of Marvin Gardens]]''.{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=175}} 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.{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=175}} Ashby and Ayres read navy publications and interviewed current and ex-servicemen who helped them correct minor errors in the script.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=137}} 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|Toronto, Ontario]] to look at a naval base and meet with actors.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=137}} The base suited their needs and Ashby met [[Carol Kane]], whom he would cast in a small role.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=138}} Opening scenes of the film were not shot at a Canadian Naval Base, but rather at CFB Borden, a major training base for the Canadian Air Force & Army.

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.{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=169}} 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.{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=178}} The actor decided not to do the film, and Ashby and Stalmaster scrambled to find a replacement. They cast Otis Young.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=139}}

===Principal photography===
Ashby decided to shoot the film chronologically in order to help the inexperienced Quaid and recently cast Young ease into their characters.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=140}} With the exception of Toronto doubling as Norfolk, the production shot on location, making the same journey as the three main characters.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=141}} 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.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=141}} [[Haskell Wexler]] was supposed to shoot ''The Last Detail'', but he could not get a union card for an East Coast production.{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=178}} Ashby asked [[Nestor Almendros]] and [[Gordon Willis]] but they were both unavailable.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=141}}

The script originally called for the three sailors to cavort on the steps of the Supreme Court. But Chief Justice [[Warren E. Burger]] denied permission, reportedly in retaliation for Nicholson's public criticism of Richard Nixon, who appointed Burger to his position.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jack |last=Anderson |title=Justice Burger Turns Wrath on Movie Producer |date=17 January 1973 |newspaper=[[Deseret News]] |page=A13 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dzopAAAAIBAJ&sjid=roUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3938%2C3491058}}</ref>

Ashby promoted [[Michael Chapman (cinematographer)|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.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=141}} 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.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=142}} The actor said, "Hal is the first director to let me go, to let me find my own level".<ref name= "starr">{{cite news|last=Starr |first=T |title=High on the Future |work=Ticketron Entertainment |page=9 |date=June–July 1973}}</ref>

===Post-production===
The day after principal photography was completed, Ashby had his editor send what he had cut together so far.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=144}} Ashby was shocked at the results and fired the editor, becoming afraid he would have to edit the film himself. Ayres recommended bringing in [[Robert C. Jones]], one of the fastest editors in the business, who had been nominated for an [[Academy Award]] for ''[[Guess Who's Coming to Dinner]]''.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=144}} 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.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=145}} Jones cut the film with Ashby at the filmmaker's home. The process took an unusually long time, as the director agonized over all the footage he had shot.{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=180}} Ashby would ignore phone calls from Columbia, and eventually executives higher and higher up the corporate ladder tried to contact him.{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=180}} Ashby was in [[London, England|London]], 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.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=147}} 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 down the officials.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=147}} 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".{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=183}} During the editing process, Columbia hated the [[jump cut]]s Ashby employed.{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=183}} The studio was also concerned about the number of expletives. It needed a commercial hit as they were in major financial trouble.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=147}} 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 to be cut that had the word "fuck" in them.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=148}} The theatrical release of ''The Last Detail'' was delayed for six months while Columbia fought over the profanity issue.{{sfn|Biskind|1998|p=183}} The film contained 65 uses of "fuck" overall and at the time of its release, broke the record for most uses of the word in a motion picture. Ashby persuaded Columbia to let him preview the film to see how the public would react. It was shown in [[San Francisco]], and the screening was a huge success.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=149}}