\u201c\u2026<\/p>\n
So I\u2019ll meet \u2019im later on<\/p>\n
At the place where \u2019e is gone\u2014<\/p>\n
Where it\u2019s always double drill and no canteen.<\/p>\n
\u2019E\u2019ll be squattin\u2019 on the coals<\/p>\n
Givin\u2019 drink to poor damned souls,<\/p>\n
An\u2019 I\u2019ll get a swig in hell from Gunga Din!<\/p>\n
Yes, Din! Din! Din!<\/p>\n
You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!<\/p>\n
Though I\u2019ve belted you and flayed you,<\/p>\n
By the livin\u2019 Gawd that made you,<\/p>\n
You\u2019re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!\u201d<\/p>\n
(Gunga Din by Rudyard Kipling)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kipling\u2019s poem celebrates the courage and loyalty of Indian water bearer Gunga Din.\u00a0 The 1939 film builds on the bare sketch of the poem and adds in the British soldiers from Kipling\u2019s Soldiers Three stories. \u00a0Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. portray Sergeants Cutter, MacChesney and Ballantine.\u00a0 The three sergeants are comedic partners in crime constantly in trouble for their off-duty brawling and ridiculous escapades.\u00a0 But they are also ferociously courageous and loyal to the British Army to their core.\u00a0 And attached to the regiment that the sergeants serve in is the regimental bhisti (or water carrier), Gunga Din.\u00a0 Gunga Din is also a minor partner in the sergeants\u2019 syndicate.\u00a0 He convinces Cutter that they can cart off a temple made of solid gold that\u2019s just there for the taking.\u00a0 Superimpose the sub-plot of Ballantine\u2019s upcoming nuptials as a threat to the triumvirate and then top the whole thing off with a Thuggee Mutiny planning to drive the British out of India.<\/p>\n
Sam Jaffe plays Gunga Din and along with the three co-stars they chew up the scenery and move the plot along smartly.\u00a0 By the climax we find out why Gunga Din is a better man they are.\u00a0 And we get to see the British Army (or the Hollywood version of it) unleashed on the Thugs.<\/p>\n
The movie features a goodly amount of action adventure scenes but for me the stand out is the comedy.\u00a0 The exchanges between Cary Grant (featuring his most over the top cockney accent) and Victor McLaglen are very funny and make me wish they had co-starred in other action comedies.<\/p>\n
It goes without saying that the movie could never be made today.\u00a0 It features language and plot elements that would be labelled, racist, sexist, colonialist and white supremacist.\u00a0 And if they got around to it, I\u2019m sure the critics could come up with an angle that made it homophobic and transphobic too.\u00a0 But it is solid entertainment that creates a comedy adventure out of the reality of the British Raj.\u00a0 Of course, this is a Hollywood fantasy version of the Raj.\u00a0 In this version, the British Army is powerful and the generals are competent and all the good Indians are loyal subjects of the Queen-Empress and all the bad Indians are disloyal, murderous followers of Kali, the goddess of death.\u00a0 In this version the non-commissioned officers are anxious to re-enlist every 11 years without fail.\u00a0 But it\u2019s got fight scenes, battle scenes, comedy, pathos, dynamite tossing and even an elephant-based jail break.\u00a0 What else could anybody ask for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201c\u2026 So I\u2019ll meet \u2019im later on At the place where \u2019e is gone\u2014 Where it\u2019s always double drill and no canteen. \u2019E\u2019ll be squattin\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,238,237],"tags":[749,1504,716,1502,873,1503,746,1501],"class_list":["post-5241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-classic-movie-reviews","category-reviews","tag-british-empire","tag-british-raj","tag-cary-grant","tag-douglas-fairbanks-jr","tag-great-britain","tag-gunga-din","tag-rudyard-kipling","tag-victor-mclaglen"],"yoast_head":"\n