Gunga Din
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Movie Reviews of Gunga Din
Movie Review: A fascinating adventure yarn from Hollywood's Golden Age
Summary: 5 Stars
The great thing about this movie is that it can be enjoyed on several levels. One can view it as an exciting adventure yarn, for instance. The amazing thing is that there is a story to tell at all. Anyone who has read Kipling's famous poem knows that it tells no real story at all, and the decision to ask hardnailed writers Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur to write an exotic colonial adventure story was an odd one. The two, however, succeeded, and the film is enlivened not only by a fun story, but the camaraderie between the three main characters, played by Grant, McLaglin, and the junior Fairbanks. Visually, the movie is always at least interesting, even though to any trained eye the scenery is pretty obviously in the mountains of California and not India. The film is also an interesting variant on films about colonialism, and while it was not in any sense an innovator in that regard, nonetheless tends to repeat most of the biases and stereotypes. The context is somewhat interesting, in that the Indian movement for independence, led by Gandhi, was reaching a crescendo at the moment, only to be delayed by WW II. It is interesting that what is essentially a film about a group attempting the independence of India, albeit in violent fashion, should receive so little sympathy, indicating how very, very out of touch Hollywood at the time was with international affairs.
The heart of the film is the cast, however. This was Cary Grant's first attempt at an adventure film after having emerged as perhaps the premier comic actor in Hollywood in the previous few years in films like THE AWFUL TRUTH, HOLIDAY, and the Topper films (BRINGING UP BABY, on the other hand, despite being a classic today, was considered a career killer at the time, actually causing Howard Hawks, the original director of GUNGA DIN, to be replaced by George Stevens, because BABY lost so much money, and causing Katherine Hepburn to leave Hollywood temporarily for the Broadway stage to revive her career, which she did by appearing in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, which would reunite her with Cary Grant). Victor McLaglin, a former soldier, excels as Sgt. MacChesney, in a role that pretty much signaled the end of his career as a leading man and his transition to that of character actor. Douglas Fairbanks Jr., while he never achieved the success or fame of his father, was likable in a number of film roles, this one chief among them. And while Joan Fontaine does not have an especially prominent role in this film, it is interesting to see her just a year before becoming a star in REBECCA. Italian actor Eduardo Ciannelli was properly sinister (as he often was in film roles) as the high priest of Kali. But the film, to be successful, had to have a first rate performer in the title role, and in that Sam Jaffe succeeded magnificently. Hollywood never knew what to do with Sam Jaffe. Over the course of his career, he actually appeared in a surprisingly few number of films, most memorably in THE SCARLETT EMPRESS, LOST HORIZON (as the High Lama), and, in perhaps his finest role, THE ASPHALT JUNGLE. But his unusual features, which suited him admirably for certain roles, made him ineligible for many others. He was, a bit like comedian Bert Lahr, a major talent, but one not precisely suited for the kinds of films that Hollywood liked to turn out.
Trivia: Ben Hecht first became noted for writing what are essentially human-interest columns in the Chicago Tribune. His frequent writing partner and fellow Chicagoan Charles MacArthur was the husband of stage great Helen Hayes, adoptive father of actor James MacArthur (HAWAII FIVE-O) and brother of insurance and real estate mogul and, upon his death, philanthropist John T. MacArthur. Cary Grant plays Archibald Carter; Archibald was his actual first name (Archibald Leach). In 1940 Grant would play in a comedy updating of Hecht and MacArthur's classic THE FRONT PAGE, retitled HIS GIRL FRIDAY. Grant employs a small time hood on that one played by Abner Biberman, who plays the son of the high priest of Kali in GUNGA DIN. Two years after GUNGA DIN, Grant and Joan Fontaine would star in SUSPICION, which would net her an Oscar for Best Actress.
Movie Review: Forget political reviews... THIS IS A GREAT FILM... PERIOD.
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't know what's wrong with some reviewers.
Mr.Mahadevan "Manny" and Mr.Pyne keep forgetting that you can bash virtually any film made 50 years ago for its "political incorrectness". Of course this film praises (in a nostalgic way) the British Occupation of India. Of course it depicts the Goddess Kali (great gal! - laughs) as a bloody cult. Of course the indian characters are white California men (did they discriminate Colorado Men?) under makeup.
But Dudes... this is a 1939 film! And as a matter of fact... nobody ever said that fiction should be accurate. Or imparcial. Or historically correct. Or politically correct. In fiction, the BELIEVABLE is stronger than the TRUE. Even a child knows that. Should one be hanged if one writes a story where Ghandi is an alien who married the Pope? If it's believable and well constructed it could make a nice comedy.
Hello!!! Anybody here with a brain??? Are we in Oz??? Hello, dudes!!!!
Does anybody care to study the truth about BEAUTIFUL sharks before watching JAWS?? Of course not. Isn't that film deeply unfair to sharks?? Does that make it a bad film?? NO!!!
:P
Does anybody care to study Middle East demographics before seeing LAWRENCE OF ARABIA?? Come on!!! I am sure there were women somwhere in all those places. I'm sure ther must be females there! And the film shows NOT ONE WOMAN anywhere????
Preposterous!!! Does that mean they are irrelevant sexual objects kept as cattle? I don't know... you tell me! Does this disrespect for truth make the film bad? I guess not.
OF course there are (by today's standards) questionable elements in THOUSANDS of old films. But if we are to talk actually about the films, I believe GUNGA DIN is a masterpiece. It embodies to perfection what the adventure movie in the late 30's was all about. Classical Hollywood star-filled adventure in full gear.
Great screenplay. Flawless structure. Delicious dialogue. Great cinematography, Magnetic stars. Great action sequences (by now pretty dated, it's true...). GREAT FUN. GREAT FILM.
Yes, I know that lots of Hindus are vegans THEREFORE don't eat meat... or snakes... just like I know Brazilians are not over-sexed jungle beasts who can't go anywhere without a mask (anybody ever saw Zalman King's WILD ORCHID?). But, hey, documentaries are supposed to be true. Comercial entertainment fiction films CAN be something else. And they usually are...
You should see more films before thinking that GUNGA DIN is an isolate case. -laughs.
Now... it is interesting that those two reviewers who took their time to bash this great 1939 film say not a word about the Hip-Hop culture's glorification of crime; about the way it reduces women to the lowest sexual objects EVER! Or about its questionable taste and values - not to mention its effect on kids.
That's happening TODAY. That's not 1939.
And by the way... do you know the UN reported that two thirds of the married women in India are victims of domestic violence? Now THAT'S INCREDIBLE!!! I don't see that refflected in Bollywood films. Are you telling me all those musical numbers are lying?
You just broke my world.
PLEASE leave old films alone. Discuss them for what they are. Identify the timing at which they were made. Understand each film's function within the industry that (once) produced it. Aknowledge ALSO its merits/faults as a cinematic piece of work.
And for the Indians... I'm really sorry they banned Indiana Jones. It's their loss.
Final Note for Mr.Mahadevan "Manny": I found your remarks "Anyone who killed the English during the Raj is a hero for me" (now changed) deeply, deeply, deeply disturbing.
Movie Review: "When it comes to slaughter, you will do your work on water."
Summary: 5 Stars
Oooooooooccchhhhh!!!! I've had three 'Unhelpful' votes and 0 'Helpful' votes. I'm kinda stupid and don't understand what's wrong with my review. If you don't like my review, please comment on it and tell me where I've gone wrong.
'Gunga Din' is an absolutely terrific 'oldie-goldie' inspired [very loosely] by Kipling's wonderful poem of he same name. Generally speaking, I can't stand to watch a film more than once but, 'Gunga Din' is an exception. I've watched it many times and still enjoy it. I'm reminded of a sailor I read about during WWII. He says that the ONLY film they had on their ship was 'Gunga Din.' I rather suspect that, despite its quality, the crewmen would have preferred a few other films, too.
The film is centered on three very good British Army friends, one of whom [Doug Fairbanks Jr.] wants to resign and take him a bride. His other two friends, one of whom is the comedic Cary Grant, decide to keep him in the army and single at any costs. Meanwhile, good old Gunga Din, the native regimental water boy, is seen at the periphery of this nonsense. It seems that Gunga Din wants to be a full-fledged soldier which the British friends find laughable.
The larger picture is that the area is being despoiled by the killer-cult of Kahli. Members of this sect, rather irrationally, feel that the road to godliness and Indian Independence is achieved by strangling people. The countryside is, therefore, a decidedly dangerous place.
Grant gets drunk and disorderly and is thrown into the calaboose. Gunga Din, using his elephant, collapses the jail to get Grant off. Together they ride into the countryside only to discover a temple of gold filled with...you got it...Kahli worshippers. Din, because of his Indian looks, escapes but Grant is captured and tortured.
Din returns and tries to convince the two remaining friends, and the garrison, that...there is a temple of gold, Grant is captured, and the place is filled with Kahli-killers. Din stutters and stumbles, and our Brit friends--racist and cynical--don't believe him. They decide to check things for themselves.
The climax is fabulous with the three friends and Din fighting for their lives and trying to signal the advancing British column that they are riding into an ambush. All three friends are shot and bayoneted to pieces while Din, the bravest of them all, is killed while bugling a warning to the British forces.
The film ends with Din's funeral ceremony in which the final lines of Kipling's poem are quoted"
Din, Din, Din
You Lazarushian leather, Gunga Din
Though I've beat you and I've flayed you
You're a better man than I am
Gunga Din.
Wonderful.
Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Conquest of Mexico.
Movie Review: "Gunga Din (1939) ... Cary Grant ... George Stevens (Director) (2004)"
Summary: 5 Stars
RKO Radio Pictures presents "GUNGA DIN" (1939) (117 min/B&W) -- Starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Sam Jaffe, Eduardo Ciannelli, Joan Fontaine, Montagu Love & Robert Coote
Directed by George Stevens
RKO producer Pandro S. Berman surprised all and sundry by converting Rudyard Kipling's poem Gunga Din into an A-budgeted feature film. It's the tale of three eternally brawling British sergeants stationed in colonial India: Cutter (Cary Grant), McChesney (Victor McLaglen) and Ballantine (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.). Ballantine intends to break up the threesome by marrying lovely Emmy Stebbins (Joan Fontaine), while Cutter and McChesney begin hatching diabolical schemes to keep Ballantine in the army. All three sergeants are kept occupied with a native revolt fomented by the Thuggees, a fanatical religious cult headed by the napoleonic Guru (Eduardo Ciannelli). Unexpectedly coming to the rescue of our three heroes is humble water carrier Gunga Din (Sam Jaffe), who aspires to become the regimental trumpeter.
Oscar Nominated for Best Cinematography
Special footnote: -- When Sergeant Cutter receives an invitation to Sergeant Ballantine's wedding, he announces his full name is 'Archibald Cutter.' Cary Grant's real name was 'Archibald Leach.'
Was second only to Gone with the Wind (1939) as the biggest money-maker of 1939.
BIOS:
1. George Stevens [aka: George Cooper Stevens] - (Director)
Date of Birth: 18 December 1904 - Oakland, California
Date of Death: 8 March 1975 - Lancaster, California
2. Cary Grant [aka: Archibald Alexander Leach]
Date of Birth: 18 January 1904 - Horfield, Bristol, England, UK
Date of Death: 29 November 1986 - Davenport, Iowa
3. Victor McLaglen (aka: Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen)
Date of Birth: 10 December 1886 - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, UK
Date of Death: 7 November 1959 - Newport Beach, California
4. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. [aka: Douglas Elton Ulman Fairbanks Junior]
Date of Birth: 9 December 1909 - New York City, New York
Date of Death: 7 May 2000 - New York City, New York
5. Sam Jaffe [aka: Shalom Jaffe]
Date of Birth: 10 March 1891, New York City, New York
Date of Death: 24 March 1984, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 5 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 5 Stars
Overall: 5 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]
Total Time: 117 min on DVD ~ RKO Radio Pictures ~ (12/07/2004)
Movie Review: The best action movie ever
Summary: 5 Stars
The British Army battles a Thuggee uprising in colonial India.
There are action movies, there are good action movies, and there is George Stevens' 1939 GUNGA DIN, the greatest action movie ever filmed. It has it all, as the director's son George Stevens, Jr. reminds us in the recent `making of' feature bundled with this dvd - humor, action and humanity. Not - alas - romance (poor Joan Fontaine.) A disappointing, albeit beautiful, actress up to that point, Fontaine is nothing much than a plot device used to lure one of the film's soldiers three - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. - away from the other two, Victor McLaglen and Cary Grant.
In that same feature are some circa 1985 interview clips of Fairbanks, who tells us that while filming some of the actors wondered if GUNGA DIN was dosed a little too liberally with humor. Indeed, few action movies this side of Indiana Jones are quite so persistently jaunty, few lean so close to slapstick. Grant has the lead comic role, but McLaglen and Fairbanks have their share of gags as well. It's not a comedy, but the humor adds essential air to the proceedings.
The bad guys in GUNGA DIN are malevolent, grim, Kali (the Goddess of Destruction) worshiping Thuggees. The Thuggees are a deadly threat who aren't allowed a slapstick moment. If GUNGA DIN'S humor adds a necessary lightness, the Thuggee menace adds essential weight. These guys are creepy, evil incarnate, and it's in the battles with them - especially the breathtaking grand battle at the end - that the movie generates its thrills.
We have only to account for that rarest of action movie qualities George Jr. mentioned - humanity. Of course, it's embodied in the title character Gunga Din, played by the then relatively unknown Sam Jaffe. Jaffe is pitch-perfect in the role of the beastie, or water-carrier, who dreams of becoming a soldier. Film historian Rudy Behlmer tells us on the commentary track that Jaffe modeled his performance on Sabu, the Indian actor who was the first choice but unavailable for the role. Jaffe, we're told, approached the role as if he were Sabu - a derivative approach who's only virtue is that it works. Jaffe's Din IS humanity - childlike, questing, capable of deeds that make hardened soldiers (and most of the audience, I wager), weep. Din's simple wish is to be accepted, and it is Din who is the soul of this movie.
GUNGA DIN is the best action movie ever, bar none. Strongest recommendation for this essential movie.