Gunga Din (1939)

George Stevens' "Gunga Din", loosely based on the famous poem by Rudyard Kipling, tells the story of a trio of British soldiers in India along with the titular native water-bearer who yearns for the life of a soldier. When one of the three decides to leave the army and get married his buddies trick him into returning for one last mission which ends up leading to a stand-off with the murderous Thuggee cult.

The cast is expertly assembled. Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen & Douglas Fairbanks Jr. make a great team. Their characters are men of action but each of the actors also get a chance to inject some comedy into the proceedings from time to time. Sam Jaffe plays Gunga Din and he does a fine job as well.

The film benefits from the sure hand of director George Stevens and features a wealth of quality location work. The cinematography garnered the film's sole Oscar nomination but the film exhibits considerable technical appeal on the whole, including a stirring score from nine-time Oscar winner Alfred Newman.

"Gunga Din" mixes action, adventure, comedy and drama in a good old-fashioned adventure yarn the likes of which we rarely see these days. It's an obvious influence on "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and I also have to wonder if some of the characterization rubbed off on Lucas' "Star Wars" as well. It's a pity that the background of British imperialism spoils the film for some but I can't say that it did so for me.

Fmovies: Gunga Din is produced and directed by George Stevens and co-adapted to screenplay by Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, Joel Sayre and Fred Guiol. It's loosely inspired by the Rudyard Kipling poem of the same name. It stars Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Junior, Eduardo Ciannelli, Sam Jaffe and Joan Fontaine. Music is by Alfred Newman and cinematography by Joseph H. August.

1939 was a golden year for cinema, a raft of classic movies were produced, many of which still hold up today. Unfairly suffering under scrutiny for its colonialist attitudes and embracement of war is Gunga Din, RKO Pictures' magnificent action adventure. Political Correctness in this day and age has led some to be sniffy towards Stevens' movie, it seems that to understand the period from when the film was made is a stretch too far. Balderdash say I. Really in this instance no charges should stand or be considered for this is a movie that should be heralded and treasured for the template it is. This was after all an anti-dote to the Great Depression that was drawing to a close, and with WWII kicking off, the likes of Gunga Din were medicine for the wounded millions.

For the love of Kali: Kill, Kill, Kill.

Undeniably it's preposterous and over the top, that's kind of the point really. It's a live action cartoon for the adults to enjoy whilst the kiddies get swept up in the gusto of it all. You don't have to condone anything by feeling uplifted as Gunga Din plays on themes such as loyalty, bravado and friendship, to go in deep with a good ole battle of good against evil, where fists fly and gunshots fill the air. Where hundreds of horses hooves pace in time with your heart. It's a spiffying adventure yarn deftly constructed by Stevens and his team. There's much light hearted interplay between our three stoic heroes, and the fist fight scenes have a charming silent movie feel to them, further enhancing the joviality that pulses throughout. And yes, there is sentiment, even a bit of cornball thrown in for good measure, but it lands in the cinema lover's heart and helps it beat happily.

You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!

Cast are having a great time, especially Grant who revels in playing knuckles and delivering songs about British Roast Beef! Newman's score is a neat blend of heroic bluster and exotic reflections, and the California locations, notably Alabama Pine, are expertly used by Stevens and August, the latter of which was nominated for an Academy Award for his efforts. Production design is eye catching, with the Indian temples standing out, while the final battle showcases Stevens' strengths in composition and action construction. Its influence should not be understated either, you can trace a line from this to Indiana Jones, and even beyond to the big box office coffer fillers like National Treasure and The Mummy et al. Gunga Din, an ode to good time cinema from a golden age, bravo! 9/10

The film is based on Kipling's heroic lines that inspire Hollywood's biggest movie 1939 . Out of the drumbeat rhythm of Kipling's most famous 85 lines rises a picture that will become known as the one great movie of the year . Big on the score of its armies in battle , its war elephants , its bandit hordes , its terror temples Thugs and mystic mountains of India . The picture is bigger still in its scope and sweep , is thrill and action but biggest of all in the life breathes through three (Gary Grant , Victor McLagen and Douglas Fairbanks Jr) roaring , reckless , swaggering sons of the thundering gunfighters men who stride its mighty scenes in the flesh and blood of high adventure , it's a honest film of it all that makes Gunga Din a new experience in entertainment . Joan Fontaine gambled her against the valiant sergeants three . The romance between Fontaine and Fairbanks Jr aflame through dangerous days and nights of terror in a land where anything can happen .

This George Stevens motion picture has thrills for a thousand movies plundered for one mighty show . It's a fabulous , furious and far-flung adventure with the red-blood and gunpowder heroes who rise from the storied mystery of India and storm the screen with the lusty , rousing , robust life-thunder of men who fight for the love of it and love for the fun of it . Those portions of this picture dealing with the worship of The Goddess Kali are based on historic fact . Upon release a campaign was launched by the Indian newspapers against the misrepresentation of Indian caricatures in the film, and the displaying of insensitivity towards Hindu customs , following riots in India and Malaya the film was withdrawn by the censors . The roles of Sergeants Cutter, Ballantine, and MacChesney were based on Privates from Kipling's "Soldiers Three" short stories .

The picture is well interpreted by the brave and roguish Gary Grant who rounded hundred villains Thugs and the mean Guru -Eduardo Ciannelli- , then Grant shouts : You're under arrest! . Gary Grant being amusingly accompanied by two great and sympathetic colleagues : Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Victor McLagen . Besides , appearing the heroic water man , Sam Jaffe , whose regiment colonel -Montagu Love- says of him : You're a better man than I am , Gunga Din ! . However , Sabu was first choice to play Gunga Din ; when it became clear he was unavailable , the Jewish Russian-American Sam Jaffe was hired in his place , playing convincingly the valiant Indian Muslim .

Gunga Din fmovies. This movie was one of my favorites when I was growing up, and so when I bought the VHS tape a few months ago I was somewhat apprehensive about watching it again. I thought that maybe my memory of the film was a little sugar coated.

I was; however, pleasantly surprised to find that I still loved watching it as much as I did when I was a kid. It's a great action adventure movie. A previous reviewer commented on the lack of sophistication the movie conveys.

Whoever that guy is, he needs to lighten up. It's hard to look at for example the special effects and cinematography in an action adventure movie such as this when compared to the special effects and cinematography of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Time's have changed, and movies with them. If you keep that in mind while watching this film, and have a good time with it you'll love this movie.

I would love to see this come out on DVD, it's a great movie.

'Gunga Din' is the kind of film you cherish after the first viewing and then want to revisit from time to time. It stays in the memory and for valid reasons--the casting is perfect with the three buddies entering into the spirit of the whole thing--the perfect buddy movie. Cary Grant gave many fine performances on film but this is one of his greatest--heroic and funny at the same time. Sam Jaffe is excellent as the water carrier who eventually saves the regiment in what has to be one of the most thrilling endings ever conceived for an action movie. Today some of it is politcally incorrect but this is a minor flaw in a great movie. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Victor McLaglen and Eduardo Ciannelli are all perfectly cast. Joan Fontaine has a couple of brief scenes as the only femme in the story--but fails to ignite any interest in her bland role. Based on the famous Rudyard Kipling poem, it deserves a place at the top of the list of great adventure films produced in the 1930s. I'd love to see a technicolor version today with someone like Brendan Fraser leading the "musketeers". A real gem.

In the most general of terms Gunga Din not only qualifies as a classic but more or less defines the term "classic" in every respect. I wouldn't know how to fault this film, as it succeeds on every level.

You begin with a workable idea for a story. Then you follow that up with superb script writing, direction and photography, and wonderful performances by the entire cast. The end result of that collaboration of successful effort is, as it must be . . . a classic.

And not only does Gunga Din succeed as a mere action adventure, which would be impressive enough, but it's comedic relief serves as a virtual workshop for aspiring directors who, lamentably today, just don't seem to get that part of the equation in all too many cases--you know, as in movie-making is an art? Or at least it used to be.

There's seems to be a gap in our society's culture when it comes to the enjoyment of art which attempts to communicate on various intellectual levels. I would put this down to dubious education all around if I had to pick just one culprit, but I don't know, maybe that's too simplistic. I experience fear, though, when I read negative comments from viewers of films as rich in various, and to me obvious, qualities as is Gunga Din. All I hear in these cases, at best, is a fundamental lack of artistic appreciation at base.

Well, for these people I imagine that all that's left is to simply go out and buy the cheap remakes of the classic films, which are, of course, a dime a dozen nowadays. And then I suppose they will get what they need: presumably a package of questionable casting, incompetent direction, in many instances virtually no attempt at intelligent character development whatsoever, along with x-many minutes of gratuitous violence and endless smash-ups, replete, of course, with plenty of LFE icing for this new-age filmic cake.

Meanwhile, I hope that my daughter will come to appreciate the great films such as Gunga Din for the classic productions they were upon release, and which they certainly remain today.