The Last Detail (1973) – Jack Nicholson’s Profane 70s Road Movie

0:01 True. What the chief said Meadow is about You're getting eight years in a dishonorable discharge for stealing forty dollars. I didn't get enough forty dollars. Didn't get it, they called me right while I was trying to lift it from the box. I didn't get it. You're gonna tell me they gave you eight years and a d D for forty dollars and you didn't even get it. Boy, they really stuck it to him, didn't they. Ye old for sure I did when they really stuck it to you, kid, Yeah, yes, sir, Stick it in.

0:43 And break it off. Welcome to the Cinematic Flashback Podcast. Get ready to hop into the wayback machine as we journey through the wild, bold, and unforgettable films of the nineteen seventies. Each episode, we break down a classic movie or a forgotten jim seeing how to performed then and now, and wrapping things up by asking did a group of the decades or did it lose its feat? I am your host, Chuck Bryant. And today we are reviewing hal Ashby's The Last Detail from nineteen seventy three, starring Jack Nicholson, Otis Young and Randy Quaid and joining me on short patrol duty is Matt Sargent. Hey, buddy, do you like your cheese melted on your burger?

1:30 Chuck? You always felt my cheese? Well, it's just as easy to get it like you like it? See was that so hard? That was my very bad Jack Nicholson had as it was recognizable. Hey, welcome to March. March is our road movie month, and we will feature today's film, The Last Detail, and the next episode with Scarecrow. I don't know about you, but I love road movies. There really good vehicles. See what I did there? That tell a story about getting to some destination, and really the journey is where we see the themes of growth or change. Do you have any favorite road movies?

2:14 I like a good road movie, but to be honest, I might need a little more action like Mad Max. Mad Max, that would have been a great road movie to put in. I think every Thanksgiving we always watch planes, trains, and automobiles. I know you've seen that one, right, I have. I have, and I do like that movie, but it is it is a bit of a tragedy when it comes down to it. Well, maybe all all good comedies are. It is a great comedy and once Steve Martin gets to that destination and he realized that John Candy has no destination. Even though I've seen it a million times, it gets me every single time. And today's movie is somewhat like that, and that the journey is completely the story and the ending is well, we'll get to that.

2:58 But this was my first time watching it. How about you? This wasn't my first time, but I'll be honest with you, I did not remember how the movie ended, so for me, it was almost like watching it for the first time. That's good. It's getting a fresh reaction from you today. Who do we have talking to us? We have a review from our Facebook page. We need to remember to check on those reviews when we get them. Oh yeah, Please help us by posting constantly about the podcast and be sure to annoy your friends and internet friends by talking about us non stop. This one is short and sweet and to the point. Christy Hood writes, if you love movies, this podcast is an absolute must follow. Thanks Christy for taking a moment to post your comment, which is a clear statement and call to action. I like it, and I will say it again. Go ahead and become the annoying one topic person who can't stop telling the world about our little podcast.

3:55 Christy. Obviously, we love seventies movies and we hope that we give you some new films to check out. Before we get into the production details of the last detail, we do need to take a quick break. What the hell do you do? Kill the old man? He live. Trying to lift the polio contribution box? Yeah, polio boxes. The old man's old lady's favorite do gooder projects. Where are we going to fortunate label? Good duty? For you guys. They're gonna get him there, all right, but first they got to take care of a few details along the way.

4:40 Okay, but you're the launch of them. I consider myself in jeopardy for you. Man understands in jeopardy he's a person that went taking him to the jail house. And you have a tendency to project that. He's just trying to show the kid a good time. You know what I mean, You can't have a good time. They ain't get him. Let me tell you how it is, Milk. We've got a friend here that we'd like to do a favor for. He's going on a trip. It's just him, just him, what. Kind of party after, So don't worry about a thing.

5:21 I'm hustling this guy, I understand. I got him write where I want. Well, maybe he's tuskling you. Oh yeah, maybe he is. But this is not the time to argue about it, because if I don't, we don't leave New York. Yes, hope, we're going to a party. Yeah, huh, it's gonna be the big with him, Meadows, I gotta dealers get rid of it. So we look and creep there, and we got these three chicks, all of ourselves, doing a man's job talking the ships. Yoda. He looks like a big thing with known.

6:08 Watch out for children. He sure is having a good time there is. And you said it wasn't animate. H all right? What are they doing? This man's navy everything they can? Would like to drink atotion that man Suberman and the human torch. And that was the trailer for the last detail, Matt, we are in our spoiler free territory. But before we get into the weeds, could you give us a back of the box description of the last detail and let the listeners know what to expect.

6:50 Sure, Chuck. This film was directed by Hal Ashby and written by Robert Town. This gem of a film stars Jack Nicholson in in nineteen seventy three Best Actor Academy Award nominated performance as Bideski, a street tough sailor. When he is tasked with escorting a charge actor Randy Quaid to naval prison, Bideski decides they're never going to make it unless he and his partner Otis Young show the Young screw up one last good Time. The Last Detail was released on December twelfth, nineteen seventy three. Robert Town, whom we last discussed in our Chinatown episode, wrote the screenplay based on the novel by Darryl Paniskin, who also wrote Cinderella Liberty, which was also turned into a film starring James Kahn. The Last Detail was directed by Hal Ashby.

7:40 As You Said Last Night, matt I rented the twenty eighteen documentary film called How Good Documentary Highly Recommended. In the nineteen seventies, he directed seven hit movies, including The Landlord, Harold, and Maud, The Last Detail, Shampoo, Bound for Glory, Coming Home starring Jane Fonda, who we last talked about, include and Being There starring Peter Sellers. Countless people have recommended to us that we should review Harold and Maud, including your co worker Jeff Banano and my co worker Aaron MULLINEX. We might need to try to get that one on the listing of ones to see. I agree.

8:23 So Ashby started out learned this last night. He started out as many great seventies directors did. He started out as a film editor, and he worked closely with Norman Jewison, notably in the Heat of the Night, and it earned Ashby his only Academy award, the willow Is how. Ashby had to repeat words of a very dear friend of mine last year when he picked up his Oscar. I only hope that we can use all of our talents and creativity towards peace and love. Thank you.

9:10 The last detail was well received in nineteen seventy three, and today it holds a solid eighty seven percent for both the critic and audience of scores on Rotten Tomatoes. Robert Town finished the screenplay in nineteen seventy But I don't know how it's to say this. It contained too much profanity to be shot as written. I I take thirty cents worth of beer and a glass, and the same as shipmates here. It don't work me no more. Let me see your ideas. How come? Because it's kidding over. Loss. It loses license for sure. If I see that, I'm going to kick you around the block for drill man.

9:54 You tried and our call the short patrol. I am the sure patrol. I am sure patrol. Give this man a beer. I don't want to bear anything. You have a beer, man, you like one? Right. Some of the Columbia pictures waited nearly two years to get Town to tone it down because in the first seven minutes there's something like three hundred and forty two f bombs. But we know about the Hayes Code being replaced by movie ratings. Suddenly the standards for foul language relaxed or it got moved into a certain rating right, and the profanity was left in. Town stated that there was so much profanity because this is how people talk when they're powerless. And in this case, you know, you have Jack Nicholson and Otis Young's character. They're powerless against the machinations of the Navy. This is the only way that they talk. So Bodusky and Mohall, they don't agree with Randy Quay jail sentence, but they really have no legal ways to help him. The swearing isn't just for color, It is frustration. The guys see this injustice clearly, and the only power left of them is to complain.

11:15 You know what's funny is, until we kind of started talking about how much swearing was in the movie, I didn't really notice it because so early in my career I developed software and did deployment so that software for the Navy. So I worked closely with your senior chiefs and your chiefs and your enlisted guys. And I think that's part and parcel for any of the armed services, and maybe most strongly in the Navy. I don't know our listeners can weigh in on that. Probably some Army guys or Air Force guys might weigh in say in the same thing. But I will tell you that at one point in my career I washed the coffee pot in the chiefs mess. I had up to that point never heard so many swear words strung together in my life, and I was just a young kid out of college going, man, that coffee pot looks disgusting. It. I'm going to be a nice guy and watch it and let me tell you what that is the wrong thing to do. No, I've I've heard tales of this. I mean you've always heard swears like a sailor. This film gives you a clear demonstration of swearing like a sailor, is sure, especially from from Jack Nicholson. And part of this is also, I mean, it goes back to the eighteenth century, you know, age of sail You know, your average what they called a British tar Your average sailor on a British ship

12:47 was a pretty rough character and their language was, you know, sometimes a mixed pigeon from people from all over the world, but it always had a large number of swear words in it. So I think you're right. Part of it is showing this utter frustration. It also shows sort of at one point described themselves as navy lifers, so they're kind of like, hey, this is our one way to kind of thumb our nose at the system that we really can't do anything about. And at one point even the character Mule talks about how the navy was best thing that ever happened to him, got him out of the town he lived in. And it's very low key on that. But I think we've all worked at jobs where maybe we're a little frustrated and it comes out in the language. So it didn't really bother me much.

13:37 And I can see how though, in the days when this was released, that might have been quite shocking, because your average person didn't run into that kind of swearing. You know, I don't know. I kind of think that maybe with all the other things that we have seen in our film reviews where we're like, whoa, this must have been really, maybe it wasn't as shocking. Maybe people are just saying, hey, look, this is how people talk. This is how people talk a me all the time. I think definitely the rating system was being used. This is a movie that was intended for adults to see. It's adult subject matter, it's adult comedy in some parts, and it's adult serious things. And that's one of the things we were just going to talk about is you know the sentence that Meadows gets yeah for stealing forty dollars, he loses his pay, demoted to E one, which is the very lowest you can get demoted to. He's ultimately going to get a dishonorable discharge after serving eight years in the naval prison at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which is evidently pretty rough placed.

14:38 I mean, think of the kind of people that would go to prison. So he's going to serve a pretty tough sentence for stealing forty dollars. It seems excessive. Yeah, I think that's what hal Ashby was really trying to drive home, and as we learned later, he didn't ever even get the forty dollars. Yeah, that was one of the most ridiculous parts is that they quote quote caught him before he actually got the money out of the box. And unfortunately for Randy quads character Meadows he's stealing from the Polio Charitable donation box, which happens to be the base commander's wife's charity. That she is responsible for.

15:19 Now Randy Quaits character is being charged above and beyond by the base commander. Yeah. I think there's a combination of things going on here. One, it was a person with absolutely no power, an enlisted guy. The person who was defending him wasn't really up to snuff. Clearly, it's just a machine that's running, and I think that's part of the whole thing, is that you're just a cog in this wheel. To me, the whole part of the movie where these guys go, well, we're getting per diem every day to take them, so let's not get there as fast as possible. And there's nobody really saying, hey, this should take you two days to get up and two days to get back. As somebody is saying, well, just put in for your money. How long it takes you know, And they take basically the slowest way they can compare so they can have all this pret d M and stuff. So it's a tragedy, but it's kind of the whole impetus for the whole movie. So we have some pretty big stars in this movie and some people that we never get to see again.

16:18 Yeah, and first we have Jack Nicholson as Signalman first Class, Billy, Badass, Badusky. Bodusky always wanted to call me badass. Last time we talked about Nicholson was in Chinatown. He is in my opinion on his game here. This is a preview of the Jack to come. He turned down a role in the Godfather to be in this role. This could be one of my favorite roles for Jack Nicholson, although I am still really partial to his role in Chinatown. What were your thoughts on Nicholson in this film. Let me put it into the right kind of word. Yeah, And I'm talking to our audience here. I'm not trying to say that it wasn't a great performance. It was a great performance. I think Jack Nicholson inhabited this role as good as any actor probably could. My beef comes when you sort of want to know more about this character and you're left confused. I found it a little hard to follow and not very convincing. Was he really street tough because in some parts he looked like he was just bluster but really didn't have a lot to back it up with. When someone insists on their own nickname, that's always a red flag. It means that they didn't actually earn it right. They want that It's not somebody like he goes around getting into fights and he's a badass.

17:45 It's like, Hey, that's my name, and I think people should call me badass. So that's what I'm going to use. And so to me, there was a whole wealth of things that could have been explored about that character that weren't explored. Not Jack Nicholson's fault, but it only went so far. That's sort of my problem. Fair Enough, I think the badass nickname was one he completely concocted for himself. He definitely seems to be more bark than bite. Sure, both he and Otis Young's characters. I believe that they are six or east seven, so they're almost at the top of the mid level ranks before they get into the senior So these guys had been in for a while. A fresh second lieutenant in the Marines does not intimidate them because they know the system better than he does. He is definitely a lot of bark in this film. I think to balance Badusky's bark, we have Otis Young as gunner mates first class Richard Mule Mulehall a.

18:46 Man, Mulhall, mull Hall. Understand, Yeah, listen, man call me Mule. Everybody else you sure, kay sure. I think without Mohall, the movie really doesn't work because it almost makes Bodesky unbearable. I love how so often you talk about a character needs a foil, right, like in The Deer Hunter, Michael needed Stan otherwise Michael would almost be unbearable without someone to focus his intensity. And I think Otis Young kind of plays it, but he's not despicable like Stan was.

19:34 I really like how Young portrayed Mule, And the counterpoint to Mule is if you watch that character calling him mule was one hundred percent on brand, right, How's that He's tough, he's quiet, he just buckles down and does what needs to be done. It's pretty clear that in his career people started calling a mule, probably initially because of his last name and then later because of the characteristics he showed. So that was to me a counterpoint of two nicknames that you kind of pick up on. One the guy's trying to get you to use the badass diick name, and the other one is call me mule because that's what everybody calls me. You don't have to He didn't have to say it more than once, right, right, right.

20:20 I just thought Otis Young, he was a great actor. Well, you know, we almost did not have Otis Young in this role. There was actually another actor cast, but other actors who wanted to play him was Bud Court, who was in Mash. He was a young Corman that Frank Burns was antagonizing. He also played Harold in Harold and Maud. Also Robert Unglan, who I always have to remember is not Freddy Krueger. But that's what he's best known for. Rupert Cross was actually cast to play Mulehall, but just as the filming was about to go into production, Cross received the news that he had diagnosed with terminal cancer.

21:01 Ashby postponed production for a week. Cross decided that he didn't want to do the film. Just another tragic case of where we have actors who are involved in films, are about to be in big roles. You know, life happens. That was when they cast Otis Young to play Moha. Well, like I said, I thought he did a wonderful job. Let's talk about Larry Meadows played by Randy Quaid. I was blown away by Randy Quaid in this film. First of all, I had no idea that Randy Quaid was making movies back in nineteen seventy two seventy three when this film came out. He was so innocent in this film, almost naive. What did you think of six foot four Randy Quaid in this film?

21:47 I thought it was a stroke of genius to cast him in this role because he was able to sort of give this baby Hughey esque innocence and goofy. It was great and it was funny and it was also at other parts, you know, poignant. I think we'll talk about that a little bit later, you know. But you know, I honestly can't think a lot of times you pose these questions to me before we do these, by the who would you think is in a different role, you know, who could have played this role, possibly better or worse? And I, you know me, I rarely come up with an idea for somebody who do. But I really thought about this one, and I thought about this one, and I honestly can't imagine anyone else playing that role. I mean, he was really very perfect for it. But in the book, I think the physical description of Meadows is probably not a six' four, dude but maybe just a normal sized guy with you, know maybe some of the same. Qualities But Randy quaid being so big and so much bigger than the two guys that were charged with guarding, him it was right off the. Bat it's a physical, hilarity you, know because it's just so.

22:55 Funny oh sure it does looks, Well, Clark. Thank ceddie enhances your holiday. Spirit Dear, Catherine, Betty, oh the. House is, gorgeous, Clerk, EDDY i hope you didn't do this all on our Count clark, Kid come on out here and see What Uncle clark's done to the. House if you only Know Randy quaid from The Christmas vacation And Vacation, films you owe it to yourself to watch this, film if for nothing more but to Watch Randy quaid play someone that when you're, done you're just you're gonna be amazed and you'll walk. Away you may like this, film you may not like this, film but you will say That Randy quaid was.

23:45 Amazing, yeah it really makes you think that that, family The quaid, family has some serious acting chaps in. It what's in the water they? DRINK i mean, really it's nice to see because he did Play he does play a fuy. THOUGH i mean even in THE i MEAN i laughed so hard WHEN i think about Those vacation films and some of the, lines they're just they're. Awesome they're so, funny And Randy craid delivers some of these. Lines it's just. Hilarious there are very many funny parts of this. Film it is that in a lot of, ways it's sort of a NonStop comedy to some, extent with an undertone of, tragedy WHICH i think is probably the classic definition of a. Comedy you, know it's not funny unless there's sort of a seriousness that makes it worth paying attention. To there were some other.

24:36 Actors they were a, minor BUT i did want to talk about them that showed up in this. Film my favorite Was Carol, caine who played the young prostitute in the last actor of the. Film you'll Know Carol kane from another Fun christmas movie Called, scrooged where she plays the ghost Of Christmas. Past she's also in the Current Star Trek Strange New world series as the chief. Engineer what do you think of her And? Scrooge you gotta love. That, oh one of my favorite performances because it keeps bashing them, anymore hitting him and. Stuff it's just funny and it was just a very funny. Role and immediately soon AS i saw my wife AND i watched this film together and as soon as we saw, her we're, like, we you, know click click, click who is? It who is?

25:33 It and then it then it popped in my Head scrooged after we had thought about it for a little. While she's appeared in a few things over the years besides just scrooged in some other. You she's been in a bunch of. Things she has very unique. Voice. Usual the other one that we, saw they were in the chanting scene with the with the uh The buddhist, monks The buddhist light or whatever they. Were, yeah, yeah it Was Gilda. Radner Still? Radner what is she doing in? There and obviously she put her name on a list for extras and they called her. Up and she's such a unique looking, person such a wonderful, talent that it just shines, through you, know just even for a few instants on the, screen you can't miss.

26:16 HER i will sit through And i'll watch. CREDITS i will admit that seventies credits are pretty easy to sit through because there are usually two or three, minutes not fifteen minutes of special. Effects and SO i Saw Gilda radner's name come, up AND i immediately had to go back and find where she was in the. Film SO i did a Little google cheating and then went back and saw. It and you're, right once you see, it you cannot unsee her. Before we go on to the next. ACTOR i just want to make a point to what you were just, describing which is one of the best parts of doing seventies films like this is to look at the credits and pick out names of early performances of some of the biggest stars in the world. World it's so much fun to see in the credits way, down you, know sort, of you, know right before first key, grip the name of sub superstar that we have, nowadays who just played an extra or some, yeah barely talking, person and it's it's that is the. Best one of the best parts of watching these nineteen seventies films is to see those people that went on to be huge.

27:26 Stars when we Watched Magnum, FORCE i mentioned that there were two actors who were in The RoboCop, movie and AS i was watching the, CREDITS i Saw Nancy allen's name in the last. Detail she Plays Officer lewis In, RoboCop and SO i had to go back. Again this is WHEN i had to do a search on to find a picture of, her because she is so young THAT i would not have recognized. Her HAD i not seen her name in the. Credits that's. Funny, So, MATT i do want to talk about real quickly before we wrap this section, up about the filming locations so you AND i we live in Southeastern virginia in a part that's known As Hampton. Roads it's comprised of multiple, cities Including Virginia beach where you live AND i, Work chesapeake WHERE i, live And, norfolk where you. WORK i was surprised to learn that The Norfolk Naval base was not shown in this. Film The navy did not want to be associated with all of the swearing in the film that today's sailor does not, swear so they would not let them Use Norfolk naval Or Portsmouth, prison and so they had to use locations In. Canada But i'm going to swear to YOU i can't confirm or deny.

28:41 This i've looked And i've seen it both. Ways but the outside of the bus station to me looks like the old one that used to be On gramby And. Monticello if you're, listening and if you know if this was really the old bus, station write us let us, know because this might be a hill THAT i die. ON i don't think there's any question it was that. Place then that's not on The navy. Base that's just A norfolk filming. Location and to be honest with, you they could have pulled out a camera and done that scene with or without any city, permission because there's not a lot going, on some buses moving. Around it looked like it was filmed at six o'clock in the morning or, Something SO i don't think there's ANY i, mean, yes a lot of the major scenes and the scenes on what looked like a navy base would not have been filmed On Norfolk Navy. Base but there's no reason why it wouldn't have been in The norfolk bus. Station it would be easy to do it, there you. Know AND i think we looked at the pictures sort of from the movie and, nowadays and the building, lines the buildings line up. Exactly you, know they're new, things but the actual framing of the building is exactly the. Same so it looks so similar to. Me they're exactly the. Same they just have different businesses in. Them so, yeah, NO i think it's perfectly plausible that they might have filmed part In norfolk and then gone, okay well let's take it all up to this crazy base In. Canada they show a lot of very cold weather at The navy, base which you, Know i'll be honest with, you here

30:12 In norfolk And Virginia. Beach you, know we'll get a you, know it's cold right now for a few, weeks but isn't cold like they were portraying it in the. Movie so clearly they were In canada during the winter filming a lot of, this because it looked really cold the entire. Time they look. Cold, YEAH i mean it was so. Funny LIKE i, SAID i don't think there's any. QUESTION i think that was one hundred percent. MATCH i think that brings us to the point where we might have another word from one of our possible sponsors and we'll be right. Back, hey this Is matt And i'm.

30:52 Dark we're just out here riding our bikes circle in the cold a sac talking about the, movies music AND tv shows that we all love and, remember but just as easily could have fallen by the wayside and been. Forgotten these are the tales of creative, chaos last minute, miracles and lightning strikes no one saw. Coming so settle in because every legend has a, backstory and sometimes the best one start by. Mistake this is where we talk about and discuss the accidental. Legends cheese melted in the for you sure.

31:36 The ain't melted at. All let's spend it. Back that's all. Right send the thing bad those you're saying for, It it's all, right, meadows have it the way you want? It where. Melted, cheese honest for the, chief would you thank, You. Jush he the have it the way. That you want to and welcome. Back the last detail is currently streaming on Two be for, free and it is available to rent at all of the usual rental. Locations AND i want to let our listeners know that if they want to see the, film please go ahead and pause now and go watch. It we're gonna wait for you until you finish, it because we're moving into a section now where we're going to discuss the, film and you, Know, matt there may be spoilers, indvertently inadvertently, inadvertently.

32:34 Yeah, yeah but it, Happens. OKAY i do want to describe the poster for this, film BECAUSE i really like, it and it is just this photo based one. Sheet, now one sheet is the standard size of a movie, poster and it's featuring a Shirtless Jack nicholson As Billy, bideski and he's wearing a sailor, hat no, shirt holding a cigar and he's just looking straight at, you almost challenging. You to the right is written no exploitive. Symbols navy is going to give some poor additional explative. Symbols kid eight years in the explative brig without me taking him out for the time of his explative. Life that's already telling you there's gonna be a lot of language in this, film right on the very poster before you go. In But, matt the premise is brutally.

33:26 Simple we have two. Lifers they're given brigchaser. Detail, now a brigchaser is a assignment that is carried out where they were going to escort someone either who's either in prison to some kind of appointment or they're in this, case they're escorting a junior enlisted to the. Brig what immediately stands out Isn't meadow's, mistake but rather the wildly disproportionate punishment forty dollars eight years disarmable. Discharge, well the, movie he does a good job of showing, that showing what the audience considers an extensive sentence for what should have been a, misdemeanor but then steadily Shows meadows constantly stealing stuff somewhat in comic, relief but slowly showing us That meadows has a compulsion and what some professionals might call. Kleptomania and this is further solidified by him telling the trouble he got into back home with.

34:25 Shoplifting so you, KNOW i think the injustices is absolutely understood by the, audience but then it's actually even made worse by realizing that sending this kid to prison for eight years is not going to help his. Compulsion it is sure a psychological. Problem he needs, help and this was essentially a victimless crime because we find out later he didn't even steal the forty, dollars he didn't even get. It so the idea that he would have to go serve eight years and dishonorably discharged when you, know maybe a year in a psych institution with therapy might be able to cure him of this compulsion because, CLEARLY i mean we see through the film he steals anything he can get his hands on for a good long. Time once they're.

35:15 On the, train there is a scene Where meadows is sleeping or, dozing and Both mule And bideski realize that he has carrots that he's stolen off of an old lady's shopping, cart stuffed up his. Sleeve they go to to say something and it startles him and he wakes. Up he DOESN'T i don't think he knows where he's at or but he runs and so they have to drag him back to his. CHAIR i think this is where it starts to, change where they start to sympathize with. Them when we start to learn more About, mule we learn more About, bideski but we also learn About. Meadows it's nearly indistinct unless you have subtitles because he's crying AND i could not make it, Out but what he's talking about in that scene is that he cannot help himself but. Shoplift you, know he will steal, models and he doesn't even know how to put a model. Together he's always grabbing stuff that he doesn't really even care, about or that he doesn't even.

36:14 Need he didn't need forty. Dollars he had money in the bank until they made him forfeit all of his pay and then, ultimately you, know he's now broke as he's going into the brig AND i think at this Point bodeski, Says, wow they really stuck it to. You they stuck it in deep and then they broke the handle. Off from that, point they are sympathizing with this young eighteen year old whose life is basically. Over to some, EXTENT i still stick by my thing is That bodeski needed this trip virtually as much As meadows. Did AND i call back to the very beginning of the. Film they're trying to Get. Bideski giddo talked to the commanding officer and he's basically saying, no being very, disrespectful very.

37:02 REBELLIOUS i, mean he clearly doesn't seem like he's in a good. Place so the initial plan is to try to get the guy up there and then take his pretty im and spend. It they make us. Shift but at the same, time the plan of letting loose is part Of biduski's plan all. Along but AGAIN i call back to why there should be more reason Why bidski needs to do. This something happened. Well the rest of the. Film once we've established that you know this injustice and quickly see that they're going to show this kid the time of his. Life and there's all. These series of episodes as they are traveling up The eastern.

37:45 SEABOARD i think they first take a bus out Of. Norfolk they hop on a train at some point and they get off IN. Dc then they go To New, york where they come across The buddhist, monks and then they're In, boston and then eventually they're. Importsman for, me my favorite had to be when they were In, washington because this is, where, well they're just trying to get something to. Eat meadows, ask, well do you think that they will melt the cheese on the? Hamburger the hamburger has cheese on, it but it's not. Melted Jack nicholson tells them to go back and melt that cheese and it's just as. Easy but he Tells meadows to tell, them, yes he's trying to toughen Up meadows for what's coming In. Portsmouth, yeah which is really. Cool and then.

38:26 They go to get a belly full of. Beer he almost thirty cents of a. Beer. Hilarious that price just blew my. Mind that was so. Funny and then the cans are, ACTUALLY i don't know if you probably don't remember, them BUT i remember them Getting not THAT i drank beer back, then BUT i remember in the seventies going to the cooler and getting a can of beer and giving it to my dad or. Whatever oh, yeah and the cans were. Cans they were like cans of, beans you. Know they were that kind of. Metal they weren't this flimsy aluminum they have. Now, Right, so in the old, days they used to show somebody CRUSHING i think they should quin crushing a can of. Beer, yeah well that was pretty. Impressive it was hugely. Impressive nowadays it's a joke because once it's, empty there's nothing to. It but back then you were crushing an actual tin can of beer with a FlipTop that came out and then then cut your.

39:16 Foot but, yeah it was funny to see in some of. THAT i will say not every stop was fun because they make a stop to go See meadows's mom and they make the trek out to her. House they don't know if she's. There this is before the day cell phones or. Whatnot they get to her, house she's not. There what's? Wrong we let the kid go up by. Herself you could get. AWAY i don't get. Excited you like it ain't going? Nowhere what makes you so sure we know? Him and where we? Where?

39:57 There did. You meadows ain't going nowhere without. Us so let me tell you something about a kid Like. Meadows he's the kind of guy he's going to the brig and secretly he's probably glad on the. Outside too many things can happen to, him all of it bad this, way the worst parts already have it's probably. Glad and it turns out his mom is gone for the. Day they go back to her house and, say, hey do you want to go in and wait, around and they ultimately the door opens and you're kind of greeted by WHAT i will just say is a very clear indication of meadows, childhood which is not. Pleasant, yeah And i'll just leave it at. That most of the rest of the stops are fun and a little more lighthearted and getting into mischief and also trying to Teach meadows some life.

40:56 Skills finally we get To new Am sure And meadows says something, like, well you, know if it was, summer we could have a picnic and then, boom there you. Are you're out in the. Park it's freezing, cold snow on the. GROUND i think this was actually filmed In Hyde park And toronto during the. Winter they were, really really. Cold as you pointed out, Earlier bodusky just can't really get anything quite. Right you. Know they go off and they're they're gonna cook hot. Dogs but then they're talking and they look around and again Meadows is is not where he. Was he's off about a few hundred yards and and he looks over At badusky and all of a, sudden he starts giving him the flag. Signals you Hear badusky translating It Bravo, Yankee Bravo yankee into message bye.

41:50 BYE i didn't catch it the first. Time bye, bye bye. Bye he takes off. Running it was. Hilarious but they they do deliver him to the. Prison they're not even given a moment to give him one last. Goodbye they just take. Him, YEAH i think the part of him running away at the end was necessary because if he hadn't tried to, ESCAPE i think it would have been really hard for them to bring him to the. Prison SO i think him trying to escape kind of stealed. Them, yeah and you kind of wonder how these guys going to be able to put it together to take him to the.

42:31 Prison it's, difficult. Kind of LIKE i said, earlier with, planes, trains and. Automobiles it's kind of a bittersweet. Ending, yeah, So, Chuck i'll ask you this. Question does the last detail still grove today or did it lose its? Beat i'm going to tell YOU i had no idea WHAT i was getting into WHEN i first started watching this. Film at, FIRST i was a little bit worried about the amount of profanity that this film is known. For but like you, said, said it feels like it fit the. Film it felt like it fit the. Character and after learning and watching the How ashby, film he makes films about, humans the human, condition and being decent, people and this film fits into a Hel ashby. Film so, Yes meadows, stole but the punishment turns a mistake into a life.

43:26 SENTENCE i really think That quade's performance is what really sells this. Film it's his performance that sticks with. You for, me it Grooves and what did you? Think? MATT i don't disagree with what you're, saying AND i, certainly AS i said, BEFORE i really Enjoyed Randy quaid's performance on, here AND i will agree with you one hundred. Percent if you are at all a fan Of Randy quaid and you haven't seen this, film you will do backflips because he does a great. Job, WELL i understand the other points that you were, saying and that you feel like It, Groves i'm going to disagree to, me.

44:07 Okay and remember we were talking about what it was before and how it might be received. Nowadays So i'm saying it's not that it didn't groove. THEN i think it, did BUT i think today's film it's. Less and here are my. Reasons the film moves too, slowly and to, me it fails to really make the case that makes me care about the characters, right and PARTICULARLY i care About Randy. QUAID i just think there's a big hole in The bodesky. CHARACTER i want to care about, him AND i really. Don't, well the performances were. GOOD i felt like there should have been more About bodeski's life for us to care about. Him this trip seems like something he needed as much As. Meadows but you never know.

44:48 Why you're kind of, left why is this so important to? Him because it clearly is he's driving it the entire, time and maybe he had a little brother that passed, away maybe he had a family that he ever got to. Know all of this would have been something that you could have sunk your teeth into the. Character mule was played perfectly and to me was the best performance of the, movie maybe Behind quaid. OBVIOUSLY i just really liked his portrayal of this steady dude who's faced the, world a world where things might not have gone his. Way quaid was a close second and really captured the toddler like innocence of the. CHARACTER i, mean he did a great.

45:30 Job So i'll not say it grows. TODAY i think it may have been ground baking in its, day BUT i think today's, AUDIENCE i think you expect a little bit. More and there you have. It you, know we're going to disagree on this, one BUT i am glad that we got a chance to watch it and talk about it. Today so that just about wraps it up for the last. Detail join us next time as we continue this theme of road movies With Jerry shatsburgh's criminally gotten nineteen seventy three Film, scarecrow Starring Gene hackman And Al, pacino and coming In, april we got another pair of, Films The, getaway WHICH i watched this, week Starring steve McQueen And ali. McGrath this is A Sam peckinpaw, film AND i invite you to go and do a little reading On peck And paw to get his style from like The Wild. Bunch and THEN i pulled one of our movies. OUT i pulled out five easy. Pieces i'm going to reschedule that later because on The facebook group The movies of The, seventies they were talking About Charlie varrick Starring Walter. Mathow after Our pelham one two three, EPISODE i was just so gung home On Walter.

46:43 Mathol, oh, yeah he's. Amazing And Charlie varrick is directed By Dirty harry Director Don. SIEGEL i think we both liked the First Dirty harry, film AND i Think Don siegel had a lot to do with. That, Yeah So i'm looking forward to watching all of. These, Yeah i'm with you on What i'm looking forward to watching them BECAUSE i haven't SEEN i don't think here's the. DEAL i don't think i've Seen The, Scarecrow The, getaway Or Charlie. Varrick so this is gonna be great for. Me this is all new stuff for, Me so it's first, Impressions so good. Stuff all, Right, well thank you listeners for tuning. In let us know what you thought about the last. Detail you could do so on our Website Wwwcinematic flashback dot, com or be like Christy hood and connect with us on Our facebook. Page we really appreciate getting feedback from our, listeners and please help us grow by giving us a rating on your podcast platform of.

47:36 Choice join us next time as we take the wayback machine to the seventies and explore another film from that. Decade we'll see, you, then see you. Then welcome to the wonderful world of Kid. Sing it's yours