Peter Yates was one of the great directors of the Easy Riders Raging Bulls era of filmmaking in Hollywood. He changed the course of cop action films with Bullitt and its legendary car chase in 1968. He’d give us coolness of The Hot Rock and grittiness in The Friends of Eddie Coyle. He’d team up Raquel Welch, Bill Cosby and Harvey Keitel for Mother, Jugs & Speed. He’d score a blockbuster hit in The Deep. The ’70s would wrap up with another cinematic masterpiece with Breaking Away. Even with all these hits, he’d be most noted for the film he didn’t want to make because he had to bring Murphy’s War to the screen. Paramount head of production Robert Evans wasn’t too keen on World War II era film and offered Yates a chance to direct The Godfather. Yates said no and headed down to Venezuela with Peter O’Toole. Was Murphy’s War worth it all?
Murphy (Lawrence of Arabia‘s Peter O’Toole) is a British navy sailor who whose ship is sunk by a U-Boat towards the end of World War II. He’s rescued by a Brezan (Cinema Paradiso‘s Philippe Noiret), a Frenchman with a salvage boat operation in the remote town in Venezuela. He gets taken to a nearby medical clinic run by Dr. Hayden (I, Claudius‘ Siân Phillips) to get patched up. The doctor doesn’t believe that the Germans would be operating a submarine so deep on the Orinoco River. Turns out he’s not the only survivor when the boat’s sea plane pilot is also rescued by Brezan. While he’s in the hospital, Murphy goes to find the airplane on the river to see if he can patch it up. During this time, the German U-boat captain (Horst Janson) pays a visit to the pilot and gives him the reverse of a Pick Me Up flower arrangement to cover up his crew’s war crime. Even though word is trickling out that Hitler is dead and the war is over, Murphy wants revenge against the U-Boat. He fixes up the seaplane (he was a mechanic on the aircraft) and figures out an unconventional bomb. He won’t let the German’s get away with what they did to his fellow sailors.
Murphy’s War flopped when it was released on January 13, 1971. Most of the major newspaper critics savaged the film in their reviews. I have no memory of it playing on TV during the ’70s or ’80s. Does feel like Paramount had allowed the film to become a bit obscure over the decades. This is wrong since there’s so much right about the film. Peter O’Toole is perfect as the obsessed sailor who risks it all to take out the Germans. He can’t be talked down. The German also have no desire to play by the rules of war as they go after civilian targets on the river. The stunts are first rate. The films ending shows the futility of war instead of being jingoistic. Peter Yates makes a ripping war story that shouldn’t allow him to regret choosing this film instead of The Godfather. His post Murphy’s War films show that he didn’t do a career screw up. The Blu-ray of Murphy’s War gives the film well deserved a revival.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer brings out the beauty of the location. The Audio is LPCM mono. The sounds of the river come out in the speakers. The movie is subtitled in English.
Running Out of War (19:49) is a visual essay by film critic David Cairns. He gives a background of Max Catto, the author of the novel. There’s a lot of talk about how things were changed between the novel in the film including major characters. We also learn about Yates’ cinematic history. He quotes Yates. We also learn about The Godfather situation. There’s also talk about the cruise ship the producer leased for the cast and crew “hotel.” In order to make sure Peter O’Toole didn’t get too wild on the location, they hired his wife (at the time) Siân Phillips to play the doctor. We do learn that Peter O’Toole did get to fly the airplane.
A Great Adventure (31:07) is an archive interview with editor and assistant director John Glen. He first worked with Yates on Danger Man. He talks about the cruise ship issues. This was a film that was its own brand of adventure including crew members nearly be killed. He spent a lot of time filming the submarine in the river. The sub figured out where the film crew was using the periscope. Later Glen would direct five James Bond films including Octopussy.
Dougie, Chic and Me (17:17) is allows focus puller Robin Vidgeon talks about his time on Douglas Slocombe. He started as a Clapper Boy. He gets into how Slocombe used direct lighting to create depth. He also used a net on the lens for close ups on actresses. He talks about his job as a focus puller. He gets into the location shoot. The crew was working together. They shot the film during the day so there was no dealing with nights in the jungle. There’s a fun tales of the explosions and piranhas in the water.
One Man Army (17:18) features film critic Sheldon Hall giving background on the reception when the film came out in 1971. He points out how producer Michael Deeley wanted to have a happy ending and Paramount backed Peter Yates’ bleak finale. The film played for 8 weeks in London, but didn’t do that well in the rest of England. The movie played Radio City Music Hall and also didn’t do well.
Theatrical trailer (3:17) gets us ready for the showdown between Murphy and the U-boat.
Image gallery has 16 press photos.
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring an essay by film critic Philip Kemp
Arrow Video presents Murphy’s War: Limited Edition. Directed by Peter Yates. Screenplay by Stirling Silliphant. Starring Peter O’Toole, Siân Phillips, Philippe Noiret, Horst Janson, John Hallam, Ingo Mogendorf, Harry Fielder & George Roubicek. Running Time: 107 minutes. Rating: Rated PG. Release Date: January 30, 2024.
