Gunga Din (1939) | |
| Director(s) | George Stevens |
| Producer(s) | George Stevens |
| Top Genres | Action, Adventure, War |
| Top Topics | Army, Book-Based |
Featured Cast:
Gunga Din Overview:
Gunga Din (1939) was a Action - Adventure Film directed by George Stevens and produced by George Stevens.
The film was based on the poem of the same name written by Rudyard Kipling published in 1892.
SYNOPSIS
The prototypical Hollywood action adventure-buddy film is loosely based on the poem by Rudyard Kipling and adapted by MacArthur-Hecht (basing character relationships from their hit play The Front Page) and William Faulkner, who goes uncredited. Three soldier-comrades (Grant, Fairbanks, and McLaglen) help suppress a native uprising in 19th century India with the help of their intrepid waterboy, Gunga Din. Archivally restored to 117 minutes (from 96), it is also available in a less impressive colorized version.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.Gunga Din was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1999.
Academy Awards 1939 --- Ceremony Number 12 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Cinematography | Joseph H. August | Nominated |
BlogHub Articles:
The Essential Films of 1939: Gunga Din
By Amanda Garrett on Feb 23, 2015 From Old Hollywood FilmsCary Grant, Victor McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. take on the brutal Thuggees in Gunga Din. The Director: George Stevens. The Stars: Cary Grant; Victor McLaglen; Douglas Fairbanks Jr; Sam Jaffe and Joan Fontaine. Source Material: Anglo-Indian writer Rudyard Kipling's 1892 poem about... Read full article
Gunga Din (1939)
By 4 Star Film Fan on Mar 7, 2014 From 4 Star FilmsStarring Cary Grant, Victor MClaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. with Sam Jaffe in the title role and director George Stevens, the film follows three men in Her Majesties’ Forces. They soon have a run in with a violent cult but they narrowly come out in one piece. However, after that things qui... Read full article
Gunga Din (1939)
By 4 Star Film Fan on Mar 7, 2014 From 4 Star FilmsStarring Cary Grant, Victor MClaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. with Sam Jaffe in the title role and director George Stevens, the film follows three men in Her Majesties’ Forces. They soon have a run in with a violent cult but they narrowly come out in one piece. However, after that things qui... Read full article
See all Gunga Din articles
Quotes from
Thuggees: [Thuggees respond in Hindi]
Guru: Give them their strangling cloths.
Thuggees: Kali.
Guru: Give them their burial picks.
Thuggees: Kali.
Guru: Swear by our mother Kali to be thrice faithful to her and to me and to our order and to all of us.
Thuggees: [Thuggees pray in Hindi]
Guru: Rise, our new-made brothers. Rise and kill. Kill, lest you be killed yourselves. Kill for the love of killing. Kill for the love of Kali. Kill! Kill! Kill!
Colonel Weed: [reading from the poem by the journalist, Rudyard Kipling] "Though I've belted you and flayed you / By the living God that made you / You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din."
Guru: You seem to think warfare an English invention. Have you never heard of Chandragupta Maurya? He slaughtered all the armies left in India by Alexander the Great. India was a mighty nation then while Englishmen still dwelt in caves and painted themselves blue.
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Facts about
Bits and pieces of the film's use of Lone Pine's boulder-strewn area remain, including the anchors for the rope bridge across the "chasm". Some judicious referencing of the film, and stills from it, make for an interesting tour of the area to locate where a number of the scenes were shot.
Budgeted at $1.915 million, this was the most expensive film RKO had produced to date.
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