The WWII movie …The Purple Plain !

Glad there are some literary people here. We used to have a copy of the Flying Officer X stories, It included HE Bates forward explaining how he ended up writing them.

The book of Purple Plain is infinitely better than the film in ways that the written word often is.

Another wartime author Miles Tripp wrote (amongst others) “Faith is a Windsock” Thought provoking due to when it was written and long before the mortality of war was considered fashionable.

Read all three when I was 12/13 so there you go.

Fantastic Movie!! Prince was in top form, doing some of his biggest songs, Appolonia looked incredible, Morris Day and the time were funnier than hell (loved ‘Jungle Love” when Morris’s sidekick brings out the mirror for him to check himself in), still have the soundtrack to this flick as it was one of the best soundtracks of the 80’s…

Purple rain, purple rain…..ah, memories…..:-)

Mark

Was Prince responsible for the music score? 😉

Found this the other day.

Cover is the same as the publicity still that the British Film Institute has, IIRC. Septic and I did a feature for Warbirds Worldwide on Mosquito films, and this was the third item.

Apologies for the X rated pic for Mozzie fans. 😉

As regards HE Bates; what is little known to the above info is that he was asked by the Air Ministry to write an analysis of the Flying Bomb blitz. (Flying Bombs over England*ISBN:187233718X. They didn’t like it, and it was supressed until about 1990, when it was found in the Public Record Office and published by ‘Froglets’.

I’m not sure, but I think he was a War Reporter attached to the RAF, though he may have been an actual serving RAF Officer. Either way, he was there, on a Short Stirling Sqn (Flying Officer X) and knew what he was writing about. I hope to enjoy this one. AFAK, no Mosquitoes were harmed in the writing of this book. 😀

Thanks men for the comments and reviews of “The Purple Plain”, that was not my review by the way on the original post. I found that on the web at amazon.com I think and should have credited the original source. Of course Peck’s finest role in his long career has to be “Twelve O’Clock High”, this one belongs in everbody’s collection
who post on this board! Long Live The Mighty Eighth !

Thanks !
BlueNoser352!

Googled on “Purple Plain Mosquito” and found this…

http://www.home.gil.com.au/~bfillery/mossie06.htm

The Purple Plain. – 1955 [sic]
RAF- Gregory Peck; Burma Mosquito pilot crashes, walks back to civilization. Interesting view of rare WWII theatre, pilot fatigue, and the fact that many combat crew went down to accidents rather than enemy action.

Made using DH. Mosquito PR.Mk.34/one T.Mk.4 of 81 Squad, Seletar, Singapore on a base at Negombo, Ceylon. Avro Anson. N.A. Harvard in the background. One T.Mk.3 Mosquito was destroyed in the crash sequence. Camera plane was a Short Sunderland of 205 Squad!

Rob / Kansan

DH Mosquito FP136 has an air of mystery attached to this photo, it was taken outside ASF RAF Negombo on 26th January 1954. The number FP136 (Belongs to a Catalina) appears to be spoofed, the nose cone appears to have been altered and the windscreen is of the split type. The movie The Purple Plain starring Gregory Peck was filmed in Ceylon in 1954 and involved a crash landed DH Mosquito, at least one other was written off, I have a photo somewhere of the other (Crown Copyright)

I still retain one of the original prints, this was filmed 4 years before I was posted to Negombo.

You may have seen the film, now read the book…

Has anyone seen this world war II film and can give us his or her review, the film will be released on April 19th in the states on DVD. Found this review on the IMDB.com site. Gregg Peck in the lead role, but in no way could it top his performance is 12 O’Clock High ! A film with Mossie’s I am told !

Thanks !
BlueNoser352!

BN352 – You might want to have a look for the book too by H.E. Bates – according to Amazon USA you can get a copy for $0.01 (used!).

I recall that the Mosquitos etc. play a secondary role to Mr. Peck and the inner turmoil he’s going through, but if (like me) you’re also looking at all the wrong parts of the screen and trying to work out if the continuity people were awake it’s interesting enough. Not sure I’d pay top money for it but all kinds of things make the 2 for $11 bins at my Wal-Mart after a few weeks.

Also while we’re on the H.E Bates kick, see if you can find a copy of “The Stories of Flying Officer “X” – “First published under the pseudonym of Flying Officer X, H.E. Bates’ heroic stories of the exploits of British pilots during WWII created a sensation when they appeared in 1942” (according to amazon) – I read it when I was a kid and I liked it then. (!) Also “Fair stood the wind for France” which I must admit I never read but was supposed to be about a Wellington crew getting shot down over or crashlanding in France and how they coped – the BBC series about 20+ years ago used some Lancaster footage and disposed of the other two crew members by having them jump a lot earlier.

H.E Bates wasn’t all Pop and Ma Larkin and “The Darling Buds of May” – FWIW one of my relatives worked in the same office as H.E Bates years ago – he was a lawyer in Kent (England)

Rob / Kansan

Lest you think Americans are too one sided to be interested in anyone else in WWII, They did show the film at the NMUSAF in Dayton a few years back as part of their monthy film night.
Unfortunately, I missed it.

Hi

Not a bad watch – I have it on VHS and the Mossie stuff is good although sensitive people should avert their eyes at the appropriate time as there is strong violence done to a Mossie at one stage. It is a bit B grade in terms of quality , story and some acting etc but good to have in a collection as there is very rare color footage of Mossies and Ansons operating in the Far East.

Regards
John p