The GONE WITH THE WIND of the comic action-adventure genre, GUNGA DIN has a bit of everything--humor, suspense, spectacle, action and a heavy dose of racism, imperialism and xenophobia.
Based on a story by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (it's the same friendly rivals plot of THE FRONT PAGE) and the moving Rudyard Kipling poem, this rousing adventure opens as a remote, mountainous British outpost in India is raided by a band of rebel natives. Three of the Army's most reliable
frontier veterans--Sergeants Cutter (Cary Grant), MacChesney (Victor McLaglen) and Ballantine (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.)--are sent to the now-silent outpost. Accompanying them is a small contingent of Indian troops and water-carriers, or bhistis, including Gunga Din (Sam Jaffe), whose only ambition
in life is to become a soldier. The sergeants then receive their orders--to annihilate the murderous Thugs, a violent and mystical sect previously thought extinct.
A $2 million production that wowed them at the box office, GUNGA DIN is an undeniably rousing adventure tale. The performances and direction are a great deal of fun--part Three Musketeers, part Laurel and Hardy (Stevens began his career directing the duo's comedy shorts)--but it's difficult to
overlook the blatantly racist nature of the proceedings, which endorse British imperialism and the violence inflicted on the Indian people. leave a comment