The Purple plain

United Kingdom, 1954

Film
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This psychological wartime drama set in Burma was based on the novel by H.E. Bates. A Canadian pilot (Gregory Peck) and two comrades-in-arms crash in the Burmese wilds. The three men are forced to hack their way through the jungle to safety, surrounded on all sides by the Japanese. The pilot’s subordinates don’t completely trust their leader, and not without reason - his nerves have been at breaking point for months. Faced with this severe test of courage and endurance, he must muster the physical and mental resources to lead his men to safety. Cast includes Maurice Denham, Win Min Than, Lyndon Brook, Anthony Bushell and Josephone Griffin.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Robert Parrish

producer

John Bryan

production company

Rank Organisation Film Productions

Two Cities Films

Duration

01:37:00:00

Production places
United Kingdom
Production dates
1954

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

312581

Language

English

Audience classification

PG

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Wikidata

Q1426983

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

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If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/89733--the-purple-plain/ |title=The Purple plain |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=17 May 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}