MURPHY’S WAR… Peter O’Toole…Director Peter Yates…
Central Casting sent Jerry Floyd, Nick (the bubble) and myself down to Portsmouth or Southampton (cant remember which) to play German U Boat crew. We’d be there for a couple of days and stay in a local B/B over night.
When we get called onto the set we go below decks on a British submarine that is decked out like a second world war German U Boat.
Now it seems in the film the U Boat has run aground on a sand bank on an inlet river in South America and is waiting for the tide to turn so it can refloat.
Meanwhile Peter O’Toole is trying to chop a very large tree down and put it across our Sub. (Thus, causing us some discomfort.)
(Got the plot so far, he’s dropping trees, and I’m in the basement..)
A cute make up girl asks me to strip to the waist (and I think, from the shoes up, what no flowers? We’ve only just met) but she has to put make up on my face and body to make me look tanned as if I was in South America.
Bert Batt the 1st A.D. took us all to see the Director Peter Yates (of Bullitt fame) and I was chosen to be the blue eyed German working the controls of the Sub..
After a few different angles the make up girl applies sweat to my hair and face.
The camera is stuck an inch from my nose. (Now we are talking about close ups here. My face plastered sixty foot by eighty foot at the Odeon Marble Arch.
She could have saved on the sweat, I was sweating for England.)
Peter was guiding me through the shots. ‘’Imagine you can hear a noise above you.
Now imagine there’s a noise to your left, now to your right. Don’t move your head
Back too far, we’re close on your eyes.’’ Then it was ‘’CUT, see you in the morning
Eight O clock.. Thanks Harry that was good’’.
Well that was good for me too. It took me hours to come down.
Me, Jerry and Nick went out on the town and got very pissed. (Well it makes a change)?
The next day I’m back at the controls of the Sub and I’m thinking is it to be another starring role. Peter tells us today’s the day the Sub gets hit and there could be a drop of water splashing around.
First scene control room…I’m standing at the controls and Peter talks me through it.
‘’Now concentrate on the controls Harry and keep looking about. It seems the tide is coming in and you’re going to be all right. Now give a huge sigh of relief. It’s very quiet now but suddenly, !!!!! CRASH !!!!.
That’s the cue for the Prop men to sling big buckets of freezing cold water over me.
‘’You’re panicking now Harry (He’s got good eyesight) More water on him and CUT.
I spent most of the rest of the day sitting on the Sub deck enjoying the warm sun while the Stuntmen got their share of the water.
We shot some other stuff in one of the cabins drinking beers then it was time to head off back to London. Thanks Mr. Yates.
(You must remember in the film game that all the shots don’t make it to the big screen, a lot end up on the cutting room floor)
Aitch,
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