Audie Murphy was one of those gimmick stars that Hollywood throws up from time to time - people who become famous in one sphere then go into movie fame: John Weismuller, Buster Crabbe, Esther Williams, Sonya Henie, etc. Murphy's gimmick was being the most decorated soldier in World War Two - a topic which takes up three quarters of Whiting's book. Whiting isn't that much interested in Murphy's childhood or growing up apart from mentioning the povery and father who shot through, but is strong on the war stuff. Murphy saw really hard service - North Africa, Sicily, France (not Normany but the south during the champagne campaign). Whiting gets stuck into General Clark for the debacle at Anzio (some maps and more pictures would have helped).
Only around a quarter of the book is spent on Murphy's Hollywood years, which started when James Cagney brought him out and put him under contract - the young veteran did very little apart from a part in Beyond Glory but Allied tried him in a low budgeted Bad Boy which prompted Universal to star him in a series of films, mostly Westerns. Whiting devotes some time to Red Badge of Courage and To Hell and Back (where Murphy played himself) but unfairly I think skips over The Quiet American in a paragraph. He does talk about a proposed sequel to To Hell and Back which sounds as if it would have been fascinating.
Murphy's good friend Doug McClure was interviewed for the book and he provides some invaluable insights to Murphy's character - he doesn't seem to have been a particularly nice person, a womaniser, compulsive gambler and later a drug addict, redeemed by his incredible fighting skill, though, as Whiting points out, much of his troubles could be traced back to post-traumatic stress disorder. I just hate it when they blow their money! I enjoyed the book but kept wanting a bit more, especially on the films.
Only around a quarter of the book is spent on Murphy's Hollywood years, which started when James Cagney brought him out and put him under contract - the young veteran did very little apart from a part in Beyond Glory but Allied tried him in a low budgeted Bad Boy which prompted Universal to star him in a series of films, mostly Westerns. Whiting devotes some time to Red Badge of Courage and To Hell and Back (where Murphy played himself) but unfairly I think skips over The Quiet American in a paragraph. He does talk about a proposed sequel to To Hell and Back which sounds as if it would have been fascinating.
Murphy's good friend Doug McClure was interviewed for the book and he provides some invaluable insights to Murphy's character - he doesn't seem to have been a particularly nice person, a womaniser, compulsive gambler and later a drug addict, redeemed by his incredible fighting skill, though, as Whiting points out, much of his troubles could be traced back to post-traumatic stress disorder. I just hate it when they blow their money! I enjoyed the book but kept wanting a bit more, especially on the films.
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