Murphy's War (1971) on Netflix
GP19711h 47m
A German U-boat sinks Murphy's merchant ship in the last days of the war and machine-guns the crew in the water. He alone survives, comes ashore on the Orinoco, and plots revenge.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.7/104,462 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
As World War II nears its end, the Irish crewman Murphy is the only man left alive after a German U-boat sinks the merchant ship Mount Kyle and machine-guns the sailors in the water. He comes ashore in Venezuela at a missionary settlement on the Orinoco, where Dr. Hayden, a Quaker pacifist, treats him. Murphy learns that the submarine is hidden farther upriver under jungle cover, and he resolves to sink it by whatever method he can find. A Grumman J2F Duck floatplane that survived the sinking of his ship becomes part of his plan, and Louis Brezon, the friendly Frenchman who administers the local oil company, helps him.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Murphy's War (1971)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- For the Malta scenes showing the merchant ship burning, O'Toole swam through water afire with oil as explosives detonated around him. He had sworn off stunts after a paralyzed hand, a bad back, a broken ankle and countless knocks, but talked himself into one more time, and even flew a seaplane in Venezuela.
- The lead role of Murphy went to Peter O'Toole for a fee of $250,000, after a number of other stars had turned it down, among them Warren Beatty, Robert Redford and Lee Marvin.
- As Paramount cooled on the project, and because Deeley and Yates had a pay-or-play contract, Evans offered them the chance to make The Godfather instead, but Yates turned that down in order to make Murphy's War.
- Paramount Pictures bought the film rights to Max Catto's novel and in 1969 recruited Frank Sinatra to star, but he withdrew. Robert Evans, head of Paramount, then offered the project to Peter Yates and Michael Deeley, who had made Robbery for the studio.
SPOILER
Deeley viewed the film as an action adventure and wanted Murphy to live at the end, but Yates insisted that he die, and that the film be made more of an anti-war statement.- The Type IX U-boat was played by the Venezuelan Navy's ARV Carite, sold to Venezuela in 1960; the submarine is far taller than a wartime U-boat, and its single gun position behind the conning tower makes it look like a Type VII.
