I wonder if it was tough on him to relive all that?
Particularly the combat scenes.
shareYes, it was, particularly the scene where his friend gets killed and Murphy grabs a German machine gun and kills the German soldiers. Supposedly it brought back the memories of his friend's death too vividly.
Interestingly enough, Murphy also had a problem filming "The Red Badge of Courage". There is a scene where Bill Mauldin's character taunts Murphy's character and calls him a coward. After a couple of takes, Murphy lost it, threw Mauldin down and screamed at him "I didn't see you at Anzio, you GD cartoonist!" or something like that.
Can't remember where I read this. Maybe "No Name on the Bullet".
Murphy suffered from what is now called PTSD and throughout his postwar life, slept with a loaded gun under his pillow and was for a time addicted to sleeping pills because of chronic insomnia. Unfortunately, when he DID sleep, he had harrowing nightmares about his war experiences. Add alcoholism and gambling to the mix. Murphy did spend much time lobbying the government to expand health benefits and programs for veterans.
May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?