Editing The Last Detail (section)

===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}}