It fell to Wiener to mark the end of an era, with this the last pick in the Back

Yard with Coolbaugh in attendance.

Mr. Wiener hasn’t made a Selection since the very well-received ‘The Battle

of Algiers’ in November ’06, so everyone was excited to see how he would

follow up that film.

In his preamble Mr. Wiener pointed to the excellent run of films Movienight

has enjoyed of late. He wished to send Coolbaugh off with a Selection that

would continue the run of excellence, but also mark time by harkening back

to many of our past Picks.

The warm nights continued with this Selection, as did the packed Back Yard. Though we didn’t break last week’s record of twelve, ten people were there to enjoy watching movies in the Back Yard with Eric one last time. The entire Membership was there, and joined by Buffy, MONA, and Pat Towne for this classic Nicholson film.

Given the renown of ‘The Last Detail,’ it was a shock to find that no one save Wiener had seen this landmark film before.

As Mr. Wiener pointed out in his preamble, ‘The Last Detail’ may well have the most artists returning to the Stucco of any Selection to date. Jack Nicholson returns to the wall after his debut in Coolbaugh’s ‘Chinatown.’ Screenwriter Robert Towne also debuted with ‘Chinatown,’ and ‘The Last Detail’ marks his third Stucco bow if you count his uncredited script doctoring for ‘Bonnie and Clyde.’ Randy Quaid is back, and he now joins the ranks of three-peaters in our Canon. His first two appearances were ‘Midnight Express’ and ‘What’s Up, Doc?’ Carol Kane returns for the first time since her cameo debut as a hair dresser in ‘Joe Vs. The Volcano.’ Cinematographer Michael Chapman makes his third appearance on the Stucco, he had been a camera operator on Coolbaugh’s ‘Jaws,’ and talked about that job in Tooda’s ‘Visions of Light.’ Legendary director, Hal Ashby, returns here less than a month after his memorable debut with Netti’s ‘Harold and Maude.’ Making their first appearances in ‘The Last Detail’ are the late, great Gilda Radner and Michael Moriarity.

“Well, kid, there's more things in this life than you can possibly imagine. I knew a whore once in Wilmington. She had a glass eye -

Used to take it out and wink people off for a dollar.”