ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Maleeha Vincent It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

SimonJack "The Purple Plain" is an excellent war drama set in Burma during World War II. This is not a combat action film. Very little of that occurs. Rather it is about a Canadian pilot serving in the RAF. Gregory Peck plays Squadron Leader Bill Forrester who seems driven to take on the enemy without regard for life and limb. Of course, there's more to the story than that. As the movie unfolds, we learn of his past and the circumstances that have led to his often careless actions as a squadron leader and de Havilland Mosquito pilot. This is an excellent film that looks at the effects of shock and stress on pilots. Peck starred in another film that included these subjects – "Twelve O'Clock High," in 1949. In this film, his redemption comes through friendships he initially avoids. Bernard Lee plays Doctor Harris who steers Forrester's attention toward the plight of Burmese war refugees at a nearby mission. Brenda de Banzie plays the English missioner running the refugee camp, Miss McNab. Win Min Than is the young Burmese woman, Anna, who helps McNab. She becomes a love interest who further helps draw Forrester out of his past. The final segment of this story is one of survival after Forrester's plane goes down with two other men on board. He must muster all his strength and stamina to ensure the survival of two of them. In this situation, Forrester's recovery is complete as his compassion and care for another person, his navigator, restore his will to live and survive. It's a wonderful story based on a novel by H.E. Bates, who served in Burma during the war. Bates had an unusual job of writing short stories about the people serving in the war for the people back home. His stories first were published in the British daily newspaper, the News Chronicle, where Bates used a pen name, "Flying Officer X." They were later published in book form. "The Purple Plain" was one of two stories he wrote about Burma. This film was shot in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). The countryside resembled Burma (now Myanmar). It does seem curious that much of the survival takes place across dry barren land, rather than in the thick jungles of Burma. There is such a drier highland in the SE Asian nation. As difficult as it was bearing the heat and dry to survive for days without water, one can imagine it would have been much more difficult trying to traverse many miles of terrain through thick jungle forests and undergrowth. This is an interesting and enjoyable war drama film.

thinker1691 In every era of history where men are pitted against each other, there too great memories are lost and buried. As each loss is created, so too are the haunting images which etch across a soldier's face. Every man's countenance thereafter displays his loneliness and despair. Yet within his heart and soul is the yearning for redemption and another chance to live and love again. This movie called " The Purple Plain " is based on the novel written by H. E. Bates and is wonderfully directed by Robert Parrish. With the vast landscape of the Burmese jungle and it's idyllic locations, we have Bill Forester (Gregory Peck) a lost and war weary squadron leader, Bill Forrester (Gregory Peck) pushing his luck in an apparent attempt to commit suicide. Having lost his wife to the war, he now displays a reckless, carefree attitude boarding on the insane. However, those around him see a mutilated man racked by pain and despair, creating both fear and admiration. A doctor (Bernard Lee) is given a last chance to see if there anyway to save him. The film is a superb offering of Mr.Peck's great talent. In addition we see a great performances by Maurice Denham as Blore and Win Min Than as Anna. All in all, this film is one of the most overlooked milestones in cinematic history. ****

alexanderemory11 The Purple Plain is a true classic. Has a simple but great plot and Gregory Peck does a fine job. Good movie for a rainy afternoon.The Purple Plain is a 1954 British war film, based on the 1947 novel The Purple Plain by H. E. Bates.[1] Produced with a relatively modest budget by J.Arthur Rank Studios, the production was directed by Robert Parrish, with screen writing by novelist Eric Ambler in consultation with the author. Color photography was by Geoffrey Unsworth. The film was produced on location in Sigiriya, in what was then Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and utilized several locations later used in Bridge on the River Kwai. The film was successful at the box office and was ultimately nominated in the category of ''Best British film'' of 1954 at the 8th British Academy Film Awards. The award was presented to the dramatic comedy Hobson's Choice. Actor Maurice Denham was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Blore.The Purple Plain is generally historically accurate with good production values and attention to detail, and depicts the native Burmese in a respectful manner. The war based survival film also includes several eccentric characters, including Miss McNab, an elderly missionary, played by British actress Brenda De Banzie. The aircraft in the film were repainted in accurate camouflage and markings, and were provided through the cooperation of the Royal Air Force (RAF). RAF members were on-site during filming, and several are credited as extras.

dougdoepke Purple Plain is an obscure film in Peck's long list of movie credits. I don't know if this British production got much publicity or release stateside, despite Peck's movie star celebrity. Unfortunately, it's never been a TV regular, which is too bad because this tale of renewal and survival is an unusual and gripping one, in spite of the obscurity.The film opens in the Burmese jungle during WWII. Peck is a battle fatigued flyer on the ragged edge of breakdown. He's about to be relieved because of erratic behavior, all the while he's flashing back on his wife's death in a London air-raid. These are well-done scenes causing us to sympathize with his loss. Nonetheless, he's jeopardizing his comrades with reckless manuevers because the loss has undermined his will-to-live. Thus, we're torn between sympathy and concern, just like the flight station doctor (Bernard Lee).In an interesting move, Lee overcomes Peck's agonies by reconnecting him socially, in this case with a nearby missionary community. There Peck finds the vital human relationships so importantly missing from his death-dealing combat duties. As a result, his life takes on new meaning and purpose as a result of rejoining a human community where such life-giving affirmations can emerge. On the whole these are well-done scenes, especially the chaos from the Japanese air attack. In the midst of the carnage, Peck's combat flyer finds a new role in helping to bandage up survivors. Herein lies the movie's basic message and it's an important and humane one, conveyed in fairly subtle fashion, though the turn-around occurs more quickly than I would have liked.Nonetheless, it's interesting that the script avoids the usual officially sanctioned head-doctor therapies. Note that Peck is not sent to be counseled by an air force psychiatrist, nor to join a chest-baring therapy group, nor to have his past puzzled together Freudian style. Of course, the happy solution here remains a "movie" solution where-- as we all know-- anything can be made to magically happen. Still, for a war-movie setting, the simple affirmation that mental health lies through nurturing social relations and not through government sanctioned killing remains no less suggestive because of its movie origins.The remainder of the film amounts to a survival trek through the wilds of southeast Asia. It's a well-filmed and harrowing struggle against a forbidding landscape where the crash survivors must decide between staying put or hiking out against great odds. But most importantly, it's Peck's chance to regain his humanity by facing up to the odds, not just for his own survival, but for his two comrades as well. The movie's final scene could not have been better conceived. Indeed, no words are necessary. On the whole, this is a subtly and well thought out anti-war film, no less effective because it concerns the fate of one man rather than thousands.Too bad that its humane message remains so generally unseen.