Murphy's War

source: Murphy's War

It's hard to consider this 1971 film anything more than a cautionary tale. Simply put as a movie there's just not much here. First off the script is not based on any real events. The Germans did not operate in South American waters … let alone a river delta in Venezuela … nor did they make it a practice of strafing innocent mariners after they torpedoed their boats. Secondly, legendary actor Peter O'Toole was horrid in the lead (Murphy)! There was nothing likable or sympathetic about his character … he just runs around in an obsessed state, screaming orders and wreaking havoc … leading viewers to wish for his expedited death. Nor was there any chemistry between him and co-star Sian Phillips … which was odd as they were married at the time. More so the script had several big problems I couldn't get around • We know Murphy was an airplane mechanic but could he fly? He had a lot of trouble taking off in the plane and appears to be a novice, nevertheless we see him performing expert stunts a few moments later. • After Murphy bombs the submarine, the Germans come looking for him at the village. They firebomb the place, destroy the plane and kill a few natives and then just leave without finding the guy that just tried to kill them? • The sub … not even close to anything the Germans used in WW2. It looked disturbingly out of place. I found this film to be an unlikable, unbelievable, unrespectable (not a single award nomination) and dated with little to offer except its cautionary tale. Bleck!

This film was fictionalized so that it could be viewed by civilians. What actually happened was far worse than shown in the movie. When the Germans invade the native hospital they killed the doctor and all of the civilian natives they could find. They did this to conceal their presence and activities from the world once the war was over. The film crew had to use a Grumman Duck because they could not find a Vought Kingfisher. The mechanic that was trying to learn to fly the plane would never have looped and rolled it but like any producer they did it to maintain interest in the film. The river used in the movie was the Orinoco in Venezuela even though the incident happened on the amazon in Brazil. The fact that the crew and captain might have been tried for war crimes had they left any of the survivors alive led them to eliminate all known survivors. The movie tries to show what survivors would have had to do in reality to achieve justice. Of course no one tried the victors. The German crew killed less than 300 people while the fire bombing of Tokyo killed 200,000 people. Perhaps the message the film tried to establish was that only the meek shall survive. I loved the scene near the end when Louie walks off abandoning his only source of income to a lunatic. In reality he would have refused to let the tug go to sea in the first place. When Peter would scream full speed ahead, in the real world Louie would have shut off the fuel line. This is one of the best movies around and the flying sequence is magnificent. Having flown a Giles 202 for five years the aerobatics were something I know about from first hand experience and the loops and rolls were easy. I was also in a Sabreliner when it was rolled but to roll the Duck is something I would never have done. To take a plane that had been so severely damaged and and then to loop it is beyond any form of possibility. The plane, as shown in the movie, did not have enough power to go vertical and once it got inverted the engine would have quit as the plane stalled inverted.

I saw this film first time round and, going by the date is was made, I must have been about seven years old. Our cinema in Lochgelly was rather lax about age restrictions. Scenes still stick in my mind and its themes are still very much with me — the horror and dehumanizing impact of war and the futility of revenge. I have since seen the film again and I was glad not to be disappointed. Being older and wiser, one is inevitably more critical, but there is so much to enjoy in this film. The performances, setting and story all work together to draw you into its dark and dangerous world. Most notably of all, the U-boat commander and his men are portrayed as human beings. Efficient, determined, ruthless, but they too have feelings and hate the whole damn war just as much as Murphy. This was unusual in war films up until then, and its progressive, enlightened approach to the war enhances the story. We understand and even feel for Murphy, but we too must understand that sometimes we need to let go, accept our losses, be glad we survived and realise that our enemies are human too.

This movie constitutes the great and sometimes troublesome qualities that are brought out in war. The message of this movie, I feel is of total loyalty to comrades and unfailing sacrifice to redeem them. This movie is about war on the side-lines and the true and personal nature of such. The story, cast and location are simply superb. We, hopefully, will never see such days of immense hurt and anguish on such a global theater. One can only imagine now, what it must have been like to fight and die for such basic principles to be applied in the nature of friend and foe at such a period in time. Peter O'Toole pegged it perfectly.-dfm

"Some of the best flying sequences ever filmed". With a leader like that, you couldn't miss it! Sit back, turn up the volume and watch Peter O'Toole's character attempt to lift off an aeroplane when he has never flown one before. It's the roaring sound of the aeroplane engine that does it. No other movie has given me the same realism of flying, because no other movie produces such a mind numbing loud and realistic engine sound. And when he get's it up in the air, how O'Toole depicts the shear joy of flying. It's all so exciting because of the sense of realism. Remember, turn up the volume.

Crusty Irish Seaman (ooooh that just sounds wrong!) Peter O'Toole swears vengeance upon the nasty German U-boat that sank his ship. Not only that, but the heartless Huns machine-gunned O'Toole and the rest of the survivors as they bobbed helplessly in the ocean. So, like the deranged captain Ahab in Moby Dick, he devotes his considerable energies to tracking down that submarine and sinking it. I saw this on TV back in the early eighties. Now, as an adult I see the resemblance to Moby Dick and I enjoy this movie even more. Anyone who likes Peter O'Toole should see Murphy's War. The location shooting is beautiful. The flying sequences are breathtaking. And the downbeat anti-war ending is awesome.

In scanning through these reviews, I'm very pleased to see that this movie is well liked by many people. I saw it first around the time it came out and even though I was only eleven or twelve, many things about this movie left an impression on me: the sunny, tropical locations, the excellent cast and the impeccable performances. The very last scene where Murphy is literally consumed by his own revenge is at least as memorable and disturbing as the last scene in The Planet of the Apes (60's version) and drives home the whole point of the movie as perfectly as I've ever seen it done. See it! You won't be disappointed.

Two World War was just ending , a German submarine , U-Boat , commanded by a captain called Lauchs (Horst Janson) sinks an English ship and gun down most of its crew . Then , a sole survivor of the ship , the revenge-minded Murphy (Peter O'Toole) carries on his own war , no matter what the cost to himself . The Irishman survives and returns to health thanks to a nurse named Hayden (Sian Phillips , real-life O'Toole's wife) . Murphy's war is about to begin from a settlement on the banks of the Orinoco River . Thrilling and exciting screenplay concerning about an obsessive seaman with an eagerly determination to seek vendetta on the Germans , even after he learns the war has ended . Interesting and moving script by prestigious Sterling Silliphant , saddling some nice action scenes at the ending , when it takes place a relentless pursuit between a boat and the sub , specially in the last reel . Sensational acting by Peter O'Toole as the lone survivor from a British naval ship who seeks revenge when his ship is sunk by the Germans and gunned down most of its crew . However , his extreme obsession with desire for vengeance upon the Germans isn't believable , but the moments that click make the movie more than worthwhile . This character about an avenger who seeks revenge on those who killed his crewmates bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Moby Dick's Captain Ahab¨ by Herman Melville . Other important players are : Philippe Noiret as his supporter and sympathetic helper gives a mesmerizing acting , Siân Phillips as a good-tempered nurse and Horst Janson as a captain who massacred the Allied shipmates in the water . Magnificent color cinematography on tropical places by Douglas Slocombe . Adequate as well as stirring musical score by John Barry . The motion picture was compellingly made by Peter Yates and splendidly edited by film editor John Glen , subsequently director of James Bond movies . Never a prolific director, Peter Yates subsequently made only a few more films . His best films include the stylish and ingenious caper comedy Hot Rock (1972); the underwater adventure Deep (1977), based on the novel and screenplay by Peter Benchley ; and the quirky coming-of-age comedy Breaking away (1979). For the latter, Yates received simultaneous Oscar nominations as Best Director and Best Producer and the enjoyably old-fashioned comedy Curtain call (1998), starring Michael Caine and Maggie Smith as a couple of theatrical ghosts . He was nominated again for a more cerebral 'actor's piece', The dresser (1983), starring Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay , based on a play about an ageing stage actor and his long-standing assistant. It was followed by a flop titled Eleni (1985) with John Malkovich . Most memorable, perhaps, were the courtroom thriller Suspect (1987), and the political drama House de Carroll Street (1988) 2011 , following directing a few films until death in 2011 (age 81).

It arises in every war. Destruction on a grand scale and then a private battle on a more secular stage. "In every massacre" quotes the sage, "there is always a survivor." Such is the premise in the film "Murphy's War." During the final months of World War Two, a German U-Boat commander, (Horst Janson) cruising the South American coast line, attacks and sinks a British ship of war, killing all aboard. Examining the ship's wreckage, the German commander is satisfied he not only destroyed the English ship, but did in fact kill the entire crew. Leaving the carnage behind, the audience realizes an English sailor from the stricken ship, survived. His name is Murphy, brilliantly played by Peter O'Toole. Having lived through the terrifying ordeal, many would believe, one should be glad to be alive and to seek a safe distance between himself and the deadly submarine. That is not the conclusion of seaman Murphy who believes the only way he will be able to rid himself of the nightmarish screams of his dying comrades is to seek out and destroy the German U-Boat. This might be a death-wish to some, but not to Murphy who believes that regardless of the inevitable outcome of the war, his sole purpose in life is revenge. Trying to convince him of this mad adventure is Dr. Hayden (Sian Phillips) a female doctor working among the tribal people of the Amazon. In addition, Murphy not only discovers a repairable English sea-plane, but an amiable, aging and exhausted Oil company employee, named Louis Brezon. (Philippe Noiret) Louie has worked in the forgotten, backwaters of the Amazon for years, patiently waiting the end of the war. Now with Murphy seeking his help and relentless revenge, Louie offer's a bit of sound advice. "You're a small and lonely man Murphy, like me, the world will never build us a monument. The only difference is; I know that." Thus the confrontation between the obsessed man and the powerful Submarine easilly become classic drama. ****