Win Min Than

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Win Min Than, 1955

Win Min Than ( Burmese ဝင်း မင်း သန် ; born November 30, 1932 in Rangoon , British India , now Myanmar ) is a former Burmese actress. The amateur actress gained fame through the female lead in the British war film Flames over the Far East (1954), which was to remain her only appearance in a feature film.

Life

Childhood, education and marriage

Win Min Than (German: "Shiny a million times") was born in Burma (now Myanmar ), which was part of British India when she was born. Her father was a Burmese government official. She had a brother who served in the Burmese Navy. Win Min Than grew up in Rangoon . Even as a child, she entertained her parents' dinner guests on the dining table and dreamed of a career on stage. During the Second World War, Burma was of Japanese troops occupied . Win Min Than's family then fled to India and survived attacks by Japanese planes on the way.

Up to the age of 14, Win Min Than attended a monastery school, where, in addition to roller skating and basketball games, she also learned English. In 1951 she was sent to London . There Win Min Than attended the Marie Ramberts dance school . According to her own information, she never saw herself as a dancer and broke off her training after a short time. She then returned to her homeland and in 1953 married Bo Setkya, a Burmese member of parliament, who was almost 20 years her senior, and whom she was later to deny ties to the military.

Discovery for the movie

In 1954, Win Min Than was discovered in her homeland by a friend of Robert Parrish's . He photographed them and sent the picture to the American film director. Parrish was working on a film adaptation of Herbert Ernest Bates ' novel The Purple Plain (1947, German: Return to Life ). The popular war novel tells the story of three soldiers who crashed their plane over Burma in World War II and struggled to survive in the jungle. The Purple Plain was adapted for the big screen by Eric Ambler , and Parrish was fascinated by the idea of ​​casting an Asian woman in the lead. After seeing the picture of Win Min Than, Parrish flew to Burma and had her audition a few script pages. Although she had no previous acting experience, after three weeks of waiting she was accepted for the film role and returned to London for the first filming. In the meantime, Win Min Than had secretly read the novel.

The main role in the film version of The Purple Plain (Eng. Title: Flames over the Far East ) took over the American Gregory Peck . He played the Canadian pilot Forrester, who has suffered from neurotic anxiety since the death of his wife in a bombing raid on London. Win Min Than was seen as the object of Peck's desire as Anna, a nurse who temporarily works at a Burmese-British air base and helps the main male character overcome her trauma. Most of the shooting took place in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka ). According to Win Min Than, the work was "exhausting" : "The work was surprisingly arduous [...] and the butterflies in my stomach stayed from five in the morning to nine in the evening." At the same time, she is said to have refused to participate in kissing scenes. According to the company, "nervous, rather scared girls and now actress" received help with the shooting from Gregory Peck and supporting actress Brenda de Banzie .

Flames over the Far East was welcomed by experts, but was only successful in Europe. The film was, according to the contemporary criticism of the Los Angeles Times , one of numerous films in the mid-1950s that took on Asia as a plot and / or location. Other representatives of "Asia fever" at that time were the meeting point Hong Kong , All Glory on Earth (with William Holden and Jennifer Jones ), Tokyo story with Robert Ryan and Robert Stack , The Left Hand of God , Bhowani Junction , Forbidden for Americans? (with Aldo Ray and Phil Carey ), The Bridges of Toko-Ri as well as The Little Tea House and The Man Who Wanted to Be King, which were then being planned .

America tour and retreat into private life

Just like the other two Asian actresses Shirley Yamaguchi ( Tokyo story ) and Mitsuko Kimura ( Forbidden for Americans? ) Win Min Than's portrayal sparked rapture among American and English-speaking critics. The influential American reporter Louella Parsons called her one of the most beautiful girls she would have ever seen. The New York Times , Los Angeles Times and the British Times also noted the beauty and grandeur of the Burmese actress, respectively, and she received other film offers from both the UK and the United States. The 21-year-old, petite and softly speaking Asian woman also visited America in the spring of 1955 to promote flames over the Far East when it was released in theaters. Win Min Than appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 26th and was honored on March 8th in Washington, DC during a cocktail party by the Burmese ambassador to the USA. She caused a stir in America, among other things, because of her exotic appearance and her foreign, sometimes conservative views.

Win Min Than argued that a possible film career should not overlap with their marriage. After she had spoken at the beginning of her American tour about the possibility of possibly acting in a film every year and spending the rest of the time with her husband at home, she announced at a press conference several weeks later that she was not strong enough for a career in Hollywood to feel. She turned down all film offers and returned to her husband in Burma. She lived with him about four miles from Rangoon in a property that had been built on the foundations of a former Talaing Palace.

Filmography

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d cf. Ford, Elizabeth: Beauty Loyal to Native Dress . In: The Washington Post, March 8, 1955, p. 30.
  2. ↑ cf. Van Starrex, Al: On 'The Purple Plain' in Ceylon's Jungles . In: The New York Times, March 14, 1954, p. X5.
  3. ↑ a b c d cf. Thompson, Howard: By Way of Report: Miss Win . In: The New York Times, February 27, 1955, p. X5.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h cf. Scott, John L .: Films Call Girl From Rangoon . In: Los Angeles Times, March 13, 1955, p. D1.
  5. ↑ cf. Keep Men From Chores, Burmese Actress Urges . In: Los Angeles Times, March 25, 1955, p. 2.
  6. ↑ Win Min Than . In: Der Spiegel . No. 21 , 1954, pp. 24 ( online - May 19, 1954 ).
  7. ↑ a b cf. Flames over the Far East . In: The large TV feature film film lexicon (CD-ROM). Directmedia Publ., 2006. ISBN 978-3-89853-036-1 . P. 4081.
  8. ↑ a b cf. Berg, Louis: Hollywood Discovers Asia . In: Los Angeles Times, September 11, 1955, p. J8.
  9. ↑ cf. Parsons, Louella : Jane Slated for Underwater Bow . In: The Washington Post , December 1, 1954, p. 24.
  10. ↑ cf. Crowther, Bosley: 'Purple Plain' and Four Other Films Bow: Gregory Peck Stars in Drama at Capitol Orson Welles Seen in 'Trouble in the Glen' 'Wife' Has Premiere at Globe . In: The New York Times, April 11, 1955, p. 29.
  11. ↑ cf. Scheuer, Philip K .: Gregory Peck Undergoes 'Purple Plain' Ordeal . In: Los Angeles Times, March 30, 1955, p. B9.
  12. ↑ cf. 'The Purple Plain' Mr. HE Bates's Novel Filmed . In: The Times, Sep 20, 1954, No. 53041, p. 9.
  13. ↑ cf. Town Topics . In: The Washington Post and Times Herald, March 5, 1955, p. 23.
  14. ↑ cf. Lowry Jury Deliberating . In: The Washington Post, April 1, 1955, p. 26.
personal data
SURNAME Win Min Than
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Burmese actress
DATE OF BIRTH November 30, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Rangoon , British India