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Possibly the best pure action film ever made and certainly the inspiration for many that have followed. Inspired by, rather than based on, a poem by Rudyard Kipling (who briefly appears as a character in the uncut version of the film in the guise of a journalist traveling with the British army) this tale of adventure, comedy, and action in 19th-century India under the British Raj has it all. Superb b&w cinematography (nominated for an Academy Award in Hollywood's greatest year). Perfect casting, with Cary "Archie" Grant as the cockney Sgt. Cutter, Victor McLaghlen as gruff Master Sgt. MacChesney, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. as the dashing Sgt. Ballantine, Sam Jaffee (in full body makeup) as the humble water carrier Gunga Din, and the scene-stealing Eduardo Cianelli as a ferociously intelligent villain who is far more frightening than any '30's movie monster.
The setting, outside the small town of Lone Pine, in California's eastern Sierras, beautifully mirrors that of northwestern India. Filmed in 100 degree heat, the picture's sets and backgrounds have a look of sere authenticity rarely achieved by location filming in the '30's. The superb score borders on the operatic, with leitmotifs for characters as well as scenes.
I vividly remember thinking as a child, when I first saw a grainy print on our b&w tv, that this was the first time I had seen a non-white person in a film who was obviously smarter than the Caucasian heroes. Yes, Cianelli's guru is a fanatic at the head of a cult of ritual murderers, but his discourse on what makes a good officer ("Great generals, gentlemen, are not made of jeweled swords and mustache wax. They are made of what is here [touches hand to head] and here [touches hand to heart]!") has stayed with me ever since. Not to mention, before throwing himself into the cobra pit so that his soldiers will move against the British, that "India is my country, and I can die for my country as well as you for yours".
Of course, there is also his rousing speech in the temple to his devotees to "Kill for the love of Kali, kill as you yourselves would be killed, kill for the love of killing...kill, kill, kill!" that carries rather chilling relevance to all too many fanatical groups today (though not worshippers of poor slandered Kali, whose temple in Kolkata I have visited). And it's the bravery of a mistreated Hindu, Gunga Din, who saves the day, and British behinds.
This is a film that functions on many levels and inspired far more than the forgettable remake (SOLDIERS THREE). Its lack of availability on DVD in a fully restored version, together with the accompanying George Stevens, Jr. documentary footage on its making (including color film shot on the location), makes it the number one omission in the current DVD catalog.
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This copy has one major fault: Too strongly edited. The opening scene with the character of Rudyard Kipling riding in a railway coach has been entirely omitted. The scene with the British Elephant squads setting up their artillery has been severely edited, and one misses the awesomeness of the pachyderms executing the drill of unloading the pieces as no other artillery unit in the world could do. And for what? So mediocre trailers and other trivia could be included on the DVD? I paid 11 cents at a Saturday matinee to see the original, and those scenes have been with me all these years. Would be pleased to have you offer an edition with the scenes restored.Best Deals for Gunga Din (1939)
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.
Honest reviews on Gunga Din (1939)
This is it -THE most memorable of Hollywood's high-water action epics; yeah, I love "Captain Blood" and "The Adventures of Robin Hood"; sure, there is nothing like "The Prisoner of Zenda" (with Ronald Colman) for sheer derring-do and slapdash romantics but . . . "Gunga Din" says and does it all -with a broad touch of screwball, bravado, wit, camaraderie, brashness, exuberance and downright pleased as punch with itself fun; it's the only film I can watch beginning to end, more delighted with each viewing and unbelieving that, after two hours, there isn't more; and does it have anything to do with the Kipling poem? Some . . . but does that matter? Not at all; this is a film about the right stuff in British India during an 1880's resurgence of Thuggee (the murderous Kali-worshipping stranglers that Indiana Jones had to contend with in "The Temple of Doom"); Spielberg and Lucas owe a lot to Stevens and "Gunga Din"; as does any director worth his salt who wants to take a good shot at an action film that people will want to sit through over and over. Yeah, "Gunga Din" is broadly acted, the action scenes are probably sped up, the black and white photography gets a little grainy (someone please restore this movie! ), but who cares -the music, script, direction are sublime; the acting charming; the end is something to get on your feet for. And it's only 61 years old. Let's hope an enlightened studio rereleases ito n video and DVD real soon. Like maybe for the holidays?Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Gunga Din (1939)
This 1939 favorite is a rousing, rip roaring, action/adventure buddy movie that takes place in India during the British Raj in what looks to be sometime during the latter part of the nineteenth century. There, the British run into a spot of trouble, as the notorious Thuggee cult that worshipped the goddess Kali and was ostensibly wiped out by the British years earlier seems to be enjoying a resurgence.At one time, this ancient murderous cult of professional thieves numbered as many as ten thousand, and it members, called Thugs. At the height of their power, Thugs would kill approximately thirty thousand unsuspecting people a year, often innocent travelers on the road. Thugs had an interesting modus operandi, as they would kill their victims by garroting them with a weighted scarf, relieve them of their worldly possessions, and then quickly bury them in graves, so that the victims would appear to have vanished off the face of the earth. This killer cult flourished for centuries in India, until the British, with the cooperation of the existing Indian government of the time, decimated their ranks, making them a curious relic of India's colorful past.
So, when it becomes apparent that Thugs are once again on the rise, it is of utmost concern to British officers, especially as these Thugs seem to be destroying communications by cutting down the lines over which telegraph signals are transmitted. Meanwhile, in one British outpost, three military buddies, cut-up Sgt. Archibald Cutter (Cary Grant), blustery Sgt. 'Mac' McChesney (Victor McLaglen ), and dashing Sgt. Thomas Ballantine (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) are involved in a free wheeling brawl with others. This is the viewer's introduction to these three buddies, whose motto seems to be all for one, and one for all. They are the functional equivalent of the three musketeers in the army of the British Raj. They are also the one's selected to investigate the mysterious downing of the lines of communication. What they discover ends up in a rousing skirmish by a small band of Thugs.
When they return to their outpost, down but not out, they are going to be sent back out for further investigation, only this time it initially appears that Ballantine will not be going, as his enlistment is up and, much to the chagrin of his comrades, he is scheduled to marry a young, beautiful woman (Joan Fonataine). Of course, boys will be boys, and peer pressure wins out. So, Ballantine goes off with his buddies, ostensibly for one last time. Accompanying them and their men is the garrison's regimental water bearer or bhisti, Gunga Din (Sam Jaffe), a simple man who harbors a secret desire to be a soldier and bugler in the British army.
When Cutter and Gunga Din accidentally stumble upon the ancient golden temple of Kali and its Thug adherents, they discover that the Thugs are led by a charismatic, highly articulate and intelligent Guru (Eduardo Ciannelli). This Guru, angry at the decimation of the Thuggee cult, has gathered its remaining adherents in order to attack the British and drive them out of India. He is determined to oust the British Empire from India, so that his own may flourish as they did in the old days. In order to allow Gunga Din to go back for help, Cutter then does the unthinkable. This leads to a series of rousing events that are sure to keep the viewer riveted to the screen.
While the film is not an adaptation of Rudyard's Kipling's poem of the same name, the essence of the character Gunga Din, played by Sam Jaffe, is that of the character in Kipling's poem. In fact, Rudyard Kipling appears as a minor character at the end of the film and a few lines of that poem are read.
I loved this film as a child, and I still love it today. This is simply a marvelous film that, by the standards of today, may be a bit politically incorrect in parts, but remains, nonetheless, wholly entertaining.
The role of Cutter, which is essentially a comedic role, was originally to be played by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and the role of the dashing Ballantine was to be played by Cary Grant. When Grant read the script, he insisted on playing Cutter or he would not play anyone at all. Of course, as Grant was then in top form as a box office star, his wish was granted, and he does not disappoint. He is positively marvelous as the cheeky Cutter. The role of Ballantine is well-served by the debonair and handsome Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Victor McLaglen is excellent in the role of the blustery, slightly misogynistic McChesney. This trio of comrades and their adventures will keep the viewer riveted to the screen.
Of course, Sam Jaffe is terrific as Gunga Din. By the time the end of the film rolls around, one can understand the line in Kipling's poem, "Gunga Din" that pretty much sums up the character in the film, "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!" As touching a performance as Sam Jaffe gives, however, there is one performance that stands out above all others in the film. Given the cast in this film, it is high praise, indeed! That singular recognition goes to the Italian born, veteran actor, Eduardo Ciannelli. Known mostly for the gangster roles that he played, Ciannelli outdid himself with his hypnotic and compelling performance as the fanatical Guru. His is the standout performance in a film riddled with excellent ones.
To my surprise, the film was shot on location in Lone Pine, California, although, while watching it, I would have sworn that it had been shot in the Northwest Frontier of India, somewhere along the Khyber Pass. George Stevens did a great job of directing this film and making it a favorite of many film buffs. This is a film worthy of a place in one's personal film collection. Bravo!
