Murphy's War

Murphy's War is a 1971 British film directed by Peter Yates and starring Peter O'Toole, Philippe Noiret, Siân Phillips and Horst Janson in the leading roles. The script was based on Max Catto's novel of the same name.

Plot

The plot takes place during the last stage of World War II. A German submarine (U-boat) torpedoes the merchant ship RNMS Mount Kyle, where Murphy (Peter O'Toole) travels as a mechanical crew member. The ship sinks in waters near the Orinoco delta, and the captain of the submarine, Lauchs (Horst Janson), orders the surviving castaways to be machine-gunned. All the crew are killed, except Murphy and a reconnaissance pilot of the ship, Lieutenant Ellis (John Hallam). Murphy manages to reach the coast, where he is rescued by a Frenchman, Louis (Philippe Noiret), left in charge of the facilities of a company abandoned because of the war, and some natives, who take him to a mission hospital. nearby where he is healed by Dr. Hyden (Siân Phillips). Later the natives discover the pilot, badly injured by a forced landing, and they also take him to the hospital. The captain of the submarine detects a radio message from the doctor, in which he reports the survivors, and decides to make a raid in search of them to eliminate them. After taking over the hospital, they assassinate the pilot and destroy the radio, but Murphy manages to escape. With Louis's help, Murphy rescues the reconnaissance plane, repairs it, and after doing aerial reconnaissance, discovers the sub hidden in one of the delta's rivers. From that moment on, he only thinks about taking revenge against the Nazis.

Cast

• Peter O'Toole - Murphy, mechanic of the RNMS Mount Kyle
• Siân Phillips - Dr. Hayden
• Philippe Noiret - Louis Brezon
• Horst Janson - Commander Lauchs, submarine captain
• John Hallam - Lieutenant Ellis, RNMS Mount Kyle pilot
• Ingo Mogendorf - Lieutenant Voght, Submarine Executive Officer

Shooting

The scenes of the German submarine were shot with the Venezuelan submarine Carite (S-11), which previously served in the US Navy as the USS Tilefish (SS-307), of the Balao class.

Some of the scenes in the film were shot in the vicinity of Los castillos de Guayana in the delta of the Orinoco river (Venezuela).

The flying boat used in the film is a Grumman J2F Duck and is at the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. In the novel it is a Fairey Swordfish plane.

Actress Siân Phillips was, at the time, the wife of Peter O'Toole.