Movie Review – Gunga Din (1939), Detailed Analysis

posted March 14, 2007 - 6:51pm

Movie Review – Gunga Din (1939), Detailed Analysis

gunga din Gunga Din is built on a plot line with a “split level” personality. It is like two different organisms with two different personalities living inside the same body.

On the one hand we have the fast talking, wisecracking, happy-go-lucky Sergeants who almost convince us that war can be “fun” when it’s waged by good-hearted musketeers like these.

And on the other hand we have this Kali-worshipping scary “cult warriors” who personalize “The Other” with their incomprehensible “Golden Temple” rituals and seemingly insatiable drive for bloodletting. “Freedom fighters” these bad guys are not even though the good guys have actually invaded their country.

The plot line zigs and zags between these two unconnected platforms; between the good humored male camaraderie and swashbuckling action in which a handful of British infantrymen manage to repel the faceless Thuggee hordes.

Cary Grant and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. do alright and deliver their quote of humor with enough double-takes and good comedic timing. But above average acting is not enough to save this film from sinking fast, especially with today’s modern standards of dramatic character, action and plot. It just isn’t there.

At the end all three sergeants are captured by the Thugs and they get ready to watch their own regiment get massacred by the rebels. However, despite being mortally wounded, the lowly Gunga Din manages to climb to the dome of the Golden Temple and blares out his bugle in one final act of patriotism, while mumbling “the Colonel must know…” Gunga Din's final sacrifice saves the Regiment.

The Colonel pays him back by honoring Gunga Din at his funeral with that famous last line: “You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!” The books are balanced and we can all go home.

If this film were shot six years later, at the end of the WW2, would it be the same “war is okay since the good win and the bad die” type of simplistic vehicle? Who knows. But it is clear that Cary Grant could’ve done much better in terms of selecting a part to do justice to his acting skills.

However, perhaps I'm being too critical here. Considering the fact that just only ten years earlier Grant (as Archibald Leach) was trying to earn a living by walking on stilts, working as an “ladies’ escort” and selling neckties on the streets of Manhattan, Gunga Din can still be viewed as a good step in the right direction for him.

Also about this movie, please read the CRITICAL VIEW http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_gunga_din_1939_a_critical_view and

INTERESTING TRIVIA http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_gunga_din_1939_interesting_trivia

Also by Cary Grant,

TO CATCH A THIEF
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_to_catch_a_thief_1955

CARY GRANT'S "BOB PENDER YEARS"
http://www.xomba.com/movies_cary_grants_bob_pender_years

OPERATION PETTICOAT
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_operation_petticoat_1959

HIS GIRL FRIDAY
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_his_girl_friday_1940

BISHOP'S WIFE
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_bishops_wife_1947

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_an_affair_to_remember _1957

PENNY SERENADE
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_penny_serenade_1941

WALK, DON'T RUN
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_walk_dont_run_1966

PEOPLE WILL TALK
http://www.xomba.com/movie_review_people_will_talk_1951