The Purple Plain

A really fine film and quite remarkable especially for it's time; shot on location (Ceylon standing in for Burma) in color and with an actual Burmese woman for the female romantic lead. As a war film the pacing and lack of any real 'battle scenes' might disappoint a few people. But the film is at its core is a character study of a RAF pilot (Peck) who has 'gone round the bend' suffering from what we'd call PTSD today and how his battle with it consumes him as much as the war with the Japanese.

The other major character - other that the wonderful Win Min Than as the 'love interest' - is the location itself. 'Location as Charter' is something that David Lean latter became famous for but here in this film the immense expanse of jungle and plain becomes a beautiful but deadly antagonist The 'actual enemy', the Japanese Army, is tellingly, never seen.

As this is a British film all the performances (except for -shockingly- the one Scotswoman in the film) are nicely understated. At one point Peck's character admits that he has been trying to get himself killed in battle ever since the death of his wife to which he drolly adds ' you think that would be pretty easy in a war....but all they kept doing was giving me medals....' WWII airplane geeks ( guilty as charged) will appreciate the shots of the De Haviland Mosquitoes in operation.

This well-produced and often-moving J. Arthur Rank production stars Gregory Peck as a Canadian flyer serving with the British in Burma, suicidally reckless after his wife's death in the Blitz, who finds new reason for living after meeting a beautiful Burmese girl. Then, however, his plane crashes in the wilderness behind Japanese lines and he has to find a way to get back home with his injured crewman and complaining passenger. It's beautifully shot, well-acted, and a powerful story of hope vs. Despair. Apparently, a popular hit in Britain, it doesn't seem to have made much of a mark in the U. S. but deserves to be much better known.

In The Purple Plain Gregory Peck became the latest in a long list of American stars playing Canadians in order to appear natural in a British production. At least Peck did not attempt an English accent as he did in The Paradine Case where he drifted in and out of one during the course of the film.

The Purple Plain is set in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II and Peck is a pilot with the RAF. He's a man who takes reckless chances on missions because he's got nothing to live for, his wife having been killed in the blitz in wartime London.

But a doctor friend, Bernard Lee, decides what Peck needs is a new woman and a new purpose in life. He introduces him to missionary Brenda DaBanzie and also to a lovely Eurasian played by Win Min Than in her one and only film. If The Purple Plain has a glaring weakness it's her, she's beautiful, but can't act.

Peck may have a new outlook on life and a reason to live, but that fact is lost on Maurice Denham his bunkmate and copilot. On a routine mission, Peck, Denham, with new navigator Lyndon Brook crash in the Burmese jungle. Will they all survive as Peck's leadership is put to the test?

If the jungle looks familiar, The Purple Plain was shot in Sri Lanka, Ceylon at the time which was for a brief period, a most popular place for film locations. Around the same time Elephant Walk was done here and later on the acclaimed Bridge on the River Kwai. The Purple Plain is beautifully photographed in that jungle.

The Purple Plain is not as good as The Bridge on the River Kwai, it certainly is much better than Elephant Walk. Peck delivers a stalwart performance and gets able assistance from the rest of the cast with the exception of his leading lady. It's worth a look the next time it is broadcast.

This is a Rank Company (British) medium budget production of a post war H. E. Bates novel. Well directed by Robert Parrish, the screen writing by Eric Ambler is quite good. It was shot on site in, what was then, Ceylon. (Same location as "Bridge on the River Kwai")

The young Gregory Peck plays Bill Forrester a Canadian pilot in the RAF serving in far off Burma in the closing months of WWII. He flies a two seat Mosquito fighter-bomber. (The actual aircraft was provided through the cooperation of the RAF and repainted in accurate camouflage and markings, for once.) Forrester, it seems, has gone "round the bend" after losing his new wife in the Blitz. He's self destructive, wanting to end it all in combat. "You'd think that would be easy in a war", he explains to Anna, "but I just kept getting medals instead." Anna is a small, slim, pretty teacher, played very well by Win Min Than, a Burmese actress (how refreshing). They, of course, fall in love (It's a MOVIE, folks) and his life really seems to be turning around. But, on a routine flight, he and two others go down in a very remote desert area of Burma's central plain (hence, the title). From there on we have a rather good, believable survival saga.

The English love eccentric characters and this story has several, all well depicted by some of those fine performers who bounce back and forth between the British "legitimate" stage and cinema. Watch for Brenda De Banzie, who plays Miss McNab, an elderly missionary. (Ya couldn't miss her!)

The Purple Plain is a good movie, a fine movie really. Not too heavy, it's historically accurate with good production values. Forrester's growth curve coming out of his personal hell is quite interesting. I found the depiction of the native Burmese was respectful without being condescending. For instance, the love between Bill and Anna is portrayed in a very reserved manner, as it would be between a Westerner and a Christian Asian woman in real life. All in all, the story line and performances are very believable and very enjoyable. I highly recommended The Purple Plain, if YOU can find it.

I've had this movie on my 10 Best List for many, many years.

This story of healing from loss through love is immensely powerful. It's exquisitely photographed; it looks much more art film than Hollywood. The direction is solid, and the pacing near perfect. Peck holds his own among a field of scene-stealing character actors. His performance gives us a clue as to what he was like on the stage. His good looks don't distract you; he's utterly convincing as a pilot who's lost the love of his life and no longer cares whether he lives or dies. In the first part of the movie his character is not a good guy, and it's believable. Hard to do when you look like Gregory Peck.

Love conquers all, of course. The story turns on his love for a woman. But, as the movie progresses, we find that he loves his crew too, even "old Blore." The young navigator worships him, and the admiration is returned full force. Their relationship is a key element of the story, as important as the romance between Peck and the Burmese girl.

This is one of those rare movies where men openly love each other--not in a gay sense--in a human sense. It's a love based on respect. This is something missing from almost all heterosexual movies. Probably because most men don't seem to be able to easily distinguish between sex, attraction, affection, and love. It all gets mixed up together, and homophobia damps down any positive emotions between men that isn't associated with some sport. Wartime seems to provoke these feelings too, evidently, but it's rare for a picture to show manly affection, except as a joke. It's just one aspect of this film, but one that shouldn't be overlooked.

I can only hope this movie gets rediscovered and recognized for the fine, fine film that it is.