Audie L. Murphy Memorial Website Message Boards

I'll start out with a scan of the Audie Murphy entry in an old Danish book about Film Stars.



Literal translation for those of you who do not speak Danish:

"Audie Murphy was in his time one of World War II's most decorated soldiers, but when he came home after the war, he didn't know what he would do. By coincidence he connected with a film-company and today he is probably the only young actor that has been allowed to portray his own life in a film. That happened in "To Hell and Back". He was born the 20th June 1924 on a farm near Kingston in Texas. He is today married to Pamela Archer and has 2 children."

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Eva Danø

Thank you Danes!
I've never seen that photo.
Come back more often.
Tom ,from Indiana

Eva, This just proves my point as to how WORLDLY our hero really was. Great Photo and Thank You
for the translation. In Denmark, are there various Dialects? If so, where do you hail from in Denmark
and which Dialect do you speak? Is it easier for you to read your original language or speak it. The
reason why I ask is Both sets of my grandparents hail from about 100 miles from one another from
Italy. Yet my mother spoke, pisana, and my father luchese. ie mothers folks from near Rome, and fathers folks from Luca. Yet they were both considered Tuscana. ie like saying they were both
Californian, and I do speak some Italian and my dialect is more my mother's than my father's. It has always seemed to be easier for me to read it than speak it. But that was only after my high school
classes in Spanish. Which really all they did was end up confusing me even more than helping me.
Just curious. You had tremendous courage to come half way around the world to a strange land,
get a job, meet your idol, and you are such a nice lady to share all that you have with us. Again,
I can't say thank you enough. Shirley Jean.

Yeah, there are dialects, like there are dialects in different parts of this country. The people from Jylland (Jutland; the big peninsula) talk different from the people from Sjælland (Zealand; the largest of the islands and the one where København (Copenhagen; the capital) is located. I am from København. One can understand the Jydske drawl, but with a bit of difficulty once in a while. Then there are Sverige (Sweden) and Norge (Norway). Their languages are similar enough so one doesn't have to learn a whole different language to communicate, but it can be a trial at times!

Even after all these years I read Danish as easily as I read English. I can also understand Danish as well as ever; at least Københavnsk. Speaking it is a whole different story! Since I have had very little chance to speak Danish I am SOOO out of practice! And I THINK in American English, so I have to stop and translate in my mind. Also, my accent when I try to speak Danish is so thick you can cut it with a knife!

I went back to visit once, about 10 years after I moved here, and my mother would come over to visit me every few years until her death 12 years ago. She died a few days before her 80th birthday.

In Denmark you learn English in school. Also German and Swedish, and I also had a year of Latin and French; the latter two were electives. But when my mom and I were together, she'd speak Danish to me and I'd speak English to her. Once in a while she would have to stop me to have a word or phrase explained, but most of the time it worked smoothly, even though we'd often draw stares when we were out in public!

You'll never guess what was the most difficult for me when I first arrived in the US. The MONEY! Have you noticed that the coins do not have numbers on them? One can guess what a "Quarter" means, but what about a "Dime"? I have mentioned that I'd have to go everywhere on a bus when I first came here. Dunno about your area, but here in LA at the time one would have to have exact change to put in the box when boarding the bus. I'd hand the driver a dollar bill, and he'd give me change and expect ME to pick out the correct coins! 65¢ I soon got the hang of it, but the first couple of times were tricky! Everywhere else I could pay with dollar bills, but not in the bus! Grrrr.....

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Eva Danø

Eva, Thank You so much for the explanations. And I can so readily identify with a lot of them. I still
recall my grandmother speaking to me only in Italian and I would answer her in english. She would
sometimes need a word or phrase explained and then I would have to Think first in Italian in order
to answer her. Sometimes some of her words or phrases I would not understand and I would also
have to have her explain them. Made for some hillarious times. Like the time she wanted me to go
to the store and buy her a "Cocombro". So off I go and bring back a cucumber. When I returned,
she let out a scream, started laughing. pulled me by the hand and showed me a grocery ad with a
Big Picture of a "Watermelon" and pointed to it. I will never forget that one as long as I live. The weird thing was I could Really Really understand my mom's side of the family. Yet when I would visit
my Dad's side, their language was more choppy and gutteral, not sing song at all, so when they spoke
I Really had to pay special attention. Many times I would have to ask them to slow down and repeat and enunciate clearer. I am quite sure my father's side of the family thought I was the village idiot.
I just wanted to say I finally got a chance to really visit your blog site. Great Work. Wonderful memories and thanks for sharing. I can also identify with the monetary exchange problem also having visited Mexico. U.S. Monetary system is Sooo different than the rest of the world. Here in
California we have "Freeways" other states have "Toll Roads" and highways where you have to pay.
Try getting stuck on one of those without the correct change!!! Oh Well that is another story altogether. Take Care Eva, Enjoy your posts and your blog. Shirley Jean.

Scan of Audie's entry from my other Danish book about movie stars. This one was a book called "Hvem er Hvem i Filmen" (Who is who in the movies). Hard bound. Like all my film books this one was bought second hand and was a bit the worse for wear. I still have it (and the one the other entry came from). It lists movie stars from all over.

Here's the translation:
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Murphy, Audie, American Actor, Born in Kingston, Texas 6/20/24. Various jobs, before he joined the army during the war. Here he made so brave a contribution that he became the highest decorated American soldier (he has 24 medals!). Came back from the war totally disillusioned and came coincidentially in contact with the movie industry, where for several years he played hard boiled western bad-boys, gangsters, and — cowards. He has with energy worked himself to a good position as movie actor and agreed in 1955 to play "himself" in To Hell and Back, which would describe the role in the war he himself didn't put much weight on.

Then a listing of his movies:
Beyond Glory (48), Sierra (50), The Kid from Texas (50), Kansas Raiders (50), The Red Badge of Courage (51), The Cimarron Kid (52), The Duel at Silver Creek (52), Gunsmoke (53), Column South (53), Tumbleweed (53), Ride Clear Of Diablo (54), Drums Across The River (54), Destry (54), To Hell And Back (55), World In My Corner (56), Hills of San Carlos (56), Walk The Proud Land (56), The Guns Of Fort Petticoat (57), Joe Butterfly (57), Night Passage (57), The Way Back (57), The Quiet American (57)
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I think the book was printed in '56 or early '57. I suspect Hills of San Carlos was an alternate title for Walk the Proud Land, and The Way Back obviously referred to the manuscripts mentioned elsewhere on this board, which was planned but never filmed. Some of the movies either hadn't been released in Denmark at that time or the person putting the list together didn't have the facts.

I spent YEARS looking for a movie called The Way Back before I realized that it was never made.

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Eva Danø

Since I already touched on it in my last post, here is a list of all of Audie's movies for which I have a Danish title:

Beyond Glory (1948) = Kampen for Æren
The Kid from Texas (1950) = Texas-Drengen
Sierra (1950) = Præriens Fredløse
Kansas Raiders (1950) = Kansas i Brand
The Cimarron Kid (1952) = De Ni Desperados
The Red Badge of Courage (1951) = Modets Røde Kokarde
The Duel at Silver Creek (1952) = Lyn-Sheriffen
Column South (1953) = De Røde Djævle
Tumbleweed (1953) = De Ville Lynche Mig
Ride Clear Of Diablo (1954) = Rid Udenom Diablo
Drums Across The River (1954) = I Rødhudernes Dødsdal
Destry (1955) = Destry
To Hell And Back (1955) = Helvede Retur
Walk The Proud Land (1956) = Hvid Mans Lov
The Guns Of Fort Petticoat (1957) = Massakren på Kvindefortet
Night Passage (1957) = Nattens Ryttere
The Quiet American (1958) = Den Stilfærdige Amerikaner
The Gun Runners (1958) = Våben til Cuba
No Name On The Bullet (1959) = Han Kom for at Dræbe
Cast A Long Shadow (1959) = Den Vilde Rytter
Hell Bent For Leather (1960) = Fang Den Mand!
Seven Ways From Sundown (1960) = Texas' Ridene Politi
The Unforgiven (1960) = De Uovervindelige
Posse From Hell (1961) = Dødsridtet
Battle At Bloody Beach (1961) = Slaget på Blodkysten
Six Black Horses (1962) = Seks Skarpe Skud
Showdown (1963) = Sheriffen og de Lovløse
The Quick Gun (1964) = Skarpskytten fra Shelby City
Bullet For A Badman (1964) = Den Sidste Kugle
Apache Rifles (1964) = Indianer-Massakren
Arizona Raiders (1965) = Arizona Raiders
40 Guns to Apache Pass (1967) = Fyrre Rifler til Apache Pass
Gunpoint (1966) = Colorado Kid
The Texican (1966) =Texikaneren

The ones not listed either were never shown in Denmark, or they could have been released after I left. Apache Rifles, Arizona Raiders & 40 Guns were released after I left, but my wonderful mom sent me info on them.

Some of them I have program books on. The Danish program books are small, usually 8 pages; most often one-color, and a bit smaller than a paperback book. I scanned them all for the AMRF, and I will post them here as I get around to it.

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Eva Danø

Eva, Yes, I kept looking for Colorado Kid, until I realized it was Gunpoint. Same way with a couple of
other movies that in other countries had been released under different names. Weird. I know I honestly couldn't dream this stuff up. Shirley Jean.

Here is a better version of the pic from the first article.

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Eva Danø

... and from the second.

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Eva Danø

I'm going to post the front pages from the Danish program books over on the Movies board where they belong. Have a few of them uploaded already, but it takes time, so please be patient.

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Eva Danø

THANK YOU FOR THE PICTURES!!!! He was SO handsome!!!!
And for the translation.

cheryl