I just saw the film Gunga Din for the first time, and I am bowled over by the sheer joy and thrilling humanity of the film.
1939 is known as one of the greatest years for filmmaking, with such
stalwart works as
Gone With The Wind,
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,
Stagecoach,
Basil Rathbone's
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,
Some Like It Hot with
Bob Hope,
Wuthering Heights,
Goodbye, Mr. Chips,
Son of Frankenstein,
William Dieterle's version of
The Hunchback of Notre Dame with
Charles Laughton and
Maureen O'Hara, and the timeless and unforgettable
The Wizard of Oz, but none share the pride and heartfelt soul of Gunga Din. One would think a film that by today's standards might be mistaken as
prejudiced or perhaps even juvenile couldn't stand the
test of time. However, time has been quite kind to this black and white film directed by
George Stevens. It's quite remarkable how a movie powerhouse like
RKO Radio Pictures gets cut down less than a decade later, after the maelstrom of
Citizen Kane and other uncalculated risks. Today's film studios play it safe and avoid such gambling of resources. The late 30s were a heady time in
Hollywood, where almost anything was possible, and they didn't need silly computer graphics or expensive special effects either. Just take hundreds of men, put some of them on horseback, run them around in front of a camera and blow a few things up now and then. Now THAT's
cinema!
Based loosely off a poem written by
Rudyard Kipling, the main story was designed by
Ben Hecht and
Charles MacArthur. The
screenplay was then hammered out by
Joel Sayre and
Fred Guiol with uncredited assistance by several others.
Written by committee one might say. The story takes place in 19th century
British-occupied
India, though it was actually filmed in
California and
Arizona. Three particular soldiers of
Her Majesty's service are
sergeants who have been through thick and thin together in the past, and we the audience join them at the height of their unrelenting, and perhaps a little thickheaded, glory.
Cary Grant plays
Sgt. Archibald Cutter. Originally he was cast to play
Douglas Fairbanks Jr's role of
Sgt. Tommy Ballantine, but after perusing the script, Grant insisted on the role with more funny bits in it, and how could the producers say no to Cary Grant? Though Fairbanks does play the male ingenue in this film with the same flair he used in over eighty pictures, it should be noted that Grant was right to outflank his contemporary and take the funnier part. Fairbanks wouldn't have been as capable as Grant in the role of Cutter.
Grant's at the height of his game in this picture. He's young, charming, brash, funny, but he's still a bit unseasoned and lacks the maturity which becomes the hallmark of his later films, particularly the
Hitchcock work of
North by Northwest. This young Cary Grant has a vitality and a comic timing that surpasses the efforts of most young comedians in the latter half of the twentieth century. Grant could spin on a dime from grandiose
slapstick to subtle deadpan delivery of a line or a
doubletake in half a tick of a sped up clock. It's a real treat to watch this man at work, not unlike seeing
Eddie Murphy in his first film,
48 Hours, before Murphy started actually listening to critics and second guessing himself. Cary Grant is unstoppable in Gunga Din as a humorous talent, yet he senses where he can go over the top and when he has to rein himself in.
I fear words may fail me with an attempt to describe
Victor McLaglen's performance as
Sgt. 'Mac' MacChesney. The scene where he performs opposite
Anna Mae, the actual name of the film's prize elephant Annie, is heartwarming and priceless. McLaglen plays the role of Mac with his heart a bit close to the skin. He's supposed to be the
tough as nails brick wall type of the threesome with a soft spot for animals and discovered sincerities. He's like a big hairless
teddy bear in a military uniform. Yet in his performance, McLaglen seems to almost capture the spirit of the whole British army at this time. Tough, stubborn, and sometimes thickheaded, but with a good heart and a true intent, even if going off half-cocked occasionally and getting itself into trouble. Mac tends to feel things first, then he reacts and asks questions later. That too is an important element to the film, and in some ways underlines Great Britain's attitude towards India in this time period, thus helping the viewer to understand almost empathically why history occurred the way it did between these two great nations. Though this topic is perhaps better illustrated in a more serious manner in films like
Gandhi many decades later, this film encapsulates, idealistically, why India and Great Britain so misunderstood one another for so long, but I digress.
This threesome have faced death together, and though it's never spoken in so many words, they believe so long as they stay together they could very well be immortal. There's this sense about them that they live life with a relish and zeal and haven't any true contemplation of their own mortality. Almost as if the characters were shown the last page of the script and know they cannot die. This blind courage and idealistic stupidity when faced with such things as hoards of Thugs or diving off cliffs is the cornerstone of the cinematic experience. Like all the great cinematic adventures of this time in cinema, you know these three guys are going to survive despite their own
bravado: you just don't quite know how, and therein lies the suspense of it.
But the story is not named after them. It's named after Gunga Din, portrayed with a twinkle by
Sam Jaffe. A
character actor of some reknown, Jaffe was originally a teacher of
mathematics in the
Bronx. He's also appeared in
Ben Hur,
Bedknobs and Broomsticks and
The Day The Earth Stood Still among many other films. Jaffe's well known for taking very little from the page and doing great things. Perhaps no role was so designed to need such a careful touch than the title character of this piece. Gunga Din is a
water bearer for the British troops, who dreams of being a soldier like the men he serves. Though officially he has no hope of being so designated or rewarded, he lives and breathes the military with such aspirations, that he learns in his own way to think and feel like a military man. Jaffe's performance is the thread that holds this film together, and he brings a rich vitality and humanity to the film in such a wholesome and natural way that one wouldn't have noticed him had the film not been named after his character. Titling the film "Gunga Din" is like having the director throughout the film go, "Okay I know I don't have the camera focused always on him, but watch THIS guy over here. Don't ask me why; just do it." And one is not disappointed.
Joan Fontaine plays
Emaline 'Emmy' Stebbins and is largely dismissed in this film, which is disappointing. Such a great talent relegated to
stereotype. Here in this film, her job is to look beautiful and be the reason for some tension and uncertainty in the future of our British threesome. She plays the fiance of Fairbanks' Balantine, and wants him to quit the military and live a civilian life in her arms. The story does not require much from the only principal female in the story. This is perhaps chauvinistic, but the late 1930s were still far more male dominant than they are today.
The
villainous use of
Kali worshippers is perhaps embarrassing today. Though the film insists in the opening credits that such use of India's deadly
Thuggee cult is accurate, it seems a bit akin to demonizing the germans and the japanese in many World War Two films of the time. Still, the script manages to attempt to instill some dimension in the leader of the otherwise flat and melodramatic bad guys of the film. One can find a new appreciation for
Stephen Spielberg's effort in the second film of the
Indiana Jones franchise,
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. His use of Kali worshippers as
villains in that film is very similar to the use of them in Gunga Din, and he too manages to find a sense of humanity amidst the Indian peoples, so such two dimensional demonizing is undercut with a wink and a nod to the nobility of such a proud and misunderstood nation.
I can think of little more I can safely say about this film without giving away the ending. Though
war films are not a strong interest of mine, I'd highly recommend this film. From the
J. Arthur Rank forerunner
gong opening credits, to the final reel, there's action, adventure, humor, and a little romance but not too much. Although there are a few places where the editing in of stunt work and explosions are pretty chopping in a way that directors can't get away with today, there's a quaint innocence and daring pride about this work. It's raw yet refreshing, and quite a nostalgic celebration of England at the height of her worldwide power.
Oh one more thing, the music throughout, composed by
Alfred Newman (not to be confused with
Alfred E. Newman of
Mad Magazine fame), really puts this film of sacrifice, duty and fellowship over the top. It's beautiful music with a real sense of the heart of the piece.