The Purple Plain

The Purple Plain is a 1954 British war film directed by Robert Parrish, with Gregory Peck playing a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot serving in the Royal Air Force in the Burma campaign in the closing months of the Second World War, who is battling with depression after having lost his wife to German bombing in London. The cast also included Win Min Than, Maurice Denham and Lyndon Brook. The film was shot at Pinewood Studios and on location in Ceylon. The film's sets were designed by the art director Jack Maxsted. It was nominated for two BAFTA awards. The film was based on the 1947 novel of the same name by H. E. Bates. Plot Bill Forrester (Gregory Peck), a RCAF pilot serving in the Royal Air Force in Burma, pilots a de Havilland Mosquito, a two-seat fighter-bomber. Forrester is emotionally distraught after losing his new wife in the Blitz in London and has become self destructive, seeking to end his life in action. His reckless conduct in action raises the concern of his commanding officer, because it needlessly endangers his flight crews, and others also become reluctant to fly with Forrester. The commander seeks to have him grounded. However it would require the approval of the base flight surgeon. The doctor agrees reluctantly to examine him, despite the fact that Forrester is highly decorated and the best pilot in the squadron. He seeks out Forrester and upon finding him, convinces him to visit a village where he is introduced to beautiful Burmese woman named Anna. They strike up a friendship and continue to see each other. During one of their conversations, he tells Anna about the loss of his past wife and his desire to end his own life by dying in action; "You'd think that would be easy in a war", he explains to Anna, "but I just kept getting medals instead." Anna and he begin to fall in love and with Anna's support, Bill begins to recover his emotional stability. Forrester is allowed to return to the air by flying a ferry mission. He and his new navigator Carrington (Lyndon Brook) are assigned to fly a routine non-combat flight to Meiktila. Their passenger is Flight Lieutenant Blore (Maurice Denham) who is riding in the Mosquito's bomb bay--"strap-hanging." During the flight an engine fire forces them down in a remote arid area of Burma's central plain, which is controlled by the Japanese. The soil on the arid plain and the surrounding hills have a purple hue, thus the name of the film. Carrington is injured during the crash landing.