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.

His reckless conduct concern his commanding officer because it endangers his flight crews, and others become reluctant to fly with Forrester.

The doctor agrees reluctantly to examine him, despite the fact that Forrester is highly decorated and the best pilot in the squadron.

He convinces Forrester to visit a village, where he is introduced to beautiful Burmese woman named Anna.

He tells Anna about the loss of his wife and his desire to end his own life by dying in action; "You'd think that would be easy in a war, but I just kept getting medals instead."

He and his new navigator, Carrington, are assigned to fly Flight Lieutenant Blore, riding in the Mosquito's bomb bay, to Meiktila.

During the trek, Blore slips and falls down a rocky slope, breaking his collarbone and being unable to help carry the stretcher.

Forrester, still weak from the ordeal, is greeted by the base doctor who, upon giving him a quick examination, agrees to deliver him by jeep back to the waiting Anna.

The Purple Plain is regarded generally as historically accurate with good production values and attention to detail, and depicts the native Burmese in a respectful manner.

The film is based on the 1947 novel The Purple Plain by H. E. Bates who was commissioned into the RAF during World War II.

[2] It was one of three novels he wrote after his travels to Burma and India in 1945, on military assignment to write short pieces portraying the Burmese war for American readers.

The film was shot in Sigiriya, in what was then Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and utilised several locations later used in The Bridge on the River Kwai.

[4][5] Gregory Peck had not done a film in Hollywood for approximately four years, preferring the tax incentives of working outside the United States.

[6] The original choice for Anna was June Rose, a Burmese royal princess of Australian descent and the great-granddaughter of Prince Kanaung.