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ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

John Brooks This was ridiculously bad. For about half the film, there's no story, we're merely thrown scenes at. Then, it's some of the most stereotypical material you could think of on screen. It's some of the gratuitous, predictable, terribly obvious and unsubtle on screen material, with long bits of dialog in-between, endless battle action, and just more of the same boring filler up to the very end.The exaggeration factor is at an almost paroxysm here, and the whole film suspectly reeks of post-colonial guilt and apology, and yet, at the same time, the indigenous Indians are portrayed in the most derogatory fashion, and there's an overwhelming sense of English pride and more globally a heroic superiority of the West, something extremely prevalent in the films of the time.Pretty, pretty terrible.

Alex Deleon GUNGA DIN, George Stevens for RKO, 1939 B/W Starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. with NY Jewish actor Sam Jaffe in the title role as a shoe-polish Shinola dark skinned Indian water boy. EVERGREEN epic adventure comedy ~ the British RAJ in India with Grant, Mclaglen and Fairbanks Jr., professional soldiers three, defending the crown against the blood thirsty Thugee terrorists on the Northwest Frontier -- the wildest part of India then, and still the wildest part of Taliban Pakistan today. So, it's the Raj in India according to Kipling as filmed in California according to Hollywood, and the result? -- The Mother of all exotic Derring-Do adventure pictures ever made, every bit as thrilling, romantic, comical and entertaining today as it was when it first came out 75 years ago -- and that is no exaggeration. I watched it again recently on video at the home of a retired academic couple in L.A. who love it, and it was every bit as enthralling now as ever before. Gunga Din the Indian water Boy who follows the troops around clad only in a basic loincloth (it's Hot in India) and a simple white turban (He's probably a Moslem) answers the call PANI LAO! (bring water) whenever the troops on the march need to have their thirst quenched, and also tends the wounded. His dream is to become a soldier himself, which he will realize -- in a roundabout way -- only in the very last scene when he mounts a golden temple copula (reminiscent of king Kong atop the Empire State Bldg) to sound his bugle advising the British Legion coming to the rescue that a trap has been set for them in the rocky gorge approach to the temple and of the exact whereabouts of our three hapless Heros trapped in the hidden Thuggee fortress. The basic situation: Suave Fairbanks Jr.. (with his pencil thin moustache) has had enough of the military life and is to be mustered out shortly whereupon he will marry a lustrous Joan Fontaine and live happily ever after as a staid civilian back in Merry Olde. But his two fearless army buddies can't live without him, the Bulky grinning oaf McGlaglen, and the daffy derring-do Grant at the top of his game. They devise all kinds of rib-tickling ruses to delay his discharge and keep him in, finally enlisting his "temporary" aid on one last mission to oust the Thuggee Terrorists (aaaaiiieee - - KILL for the love of Goddess Kali!) from their hidden temple redoubt way way back in the mountains. Their preferred way of eliminating enemies, by the way, is sneaking up from behind and strangling the victim with piano wire!Getting there is half the fun but, once there a series of hair-raising incidents occur. One amazing set piece after another. Grant sneaking into the secret temple religious gathering then confronting all single-handedly as a cover for his mates -- "you're all under arrest!" -- hilarious chutzbah in the classic Cary Grant manner -- (Cf: the auction scene in NbyNW) -- before being taken prisoner himself as the others will soon be as well. But a message has been sent back to RAJ Hq, so a rescue mission and a Thuggee wipe-up is in the offing -- but wait! -- they have set up an ambush in the ravine leading to their stronghold. Meanwhile, imprisoned in the tower and undergoing interrogation as to the arrival of the British expeditionary force, fearless McLagen feigns fear when threatened with being cast into a pit of writhing snakes if he doesn't talk -- the Thugees have methods! -- In one of the films most hair-raising risible scenes he takes on a truly painful grimace as he pleads with them for mercy: "NO please -- anything but that !" -- then, catching his captors off guard he beats them all to a pulp, forces them out, and takes possession of the tower for himself and his comrades. Will the rescue force get there on time? -- will they be able to avoid the Thuggee ambush in the gorge and know where to look for the heroic three? - --No -- not unless GUNGA climbs to the top of the tower and sends out his golden bugle call alarm -- which he does magnificently ~~ With white knuckle heroism -- and Saved in the nick of time after a pitched Battle in which the Thugees are mopped up and wiped out. GUNGA, of course, topples off the tower, shot down by the embattled terrorists, but he has earned his stripes forever as an honorary Warrior of the Raj! Over the final credits and a Montage of touching Double exposure flashbacks, the Immortal final words of Kipling's epic dirge are heard:For it was Din! DiN! DiN! ~~ (Pronounced like "Dean") -- Though I've,belted you and flayed you, By the livin' Gawd that made you, You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!And no DIN will ever top Sam Jaffe's GUNGA -- or Abner BIBERMAN's leering impossibly evil Thuggee leader either ~ for that matter.

utgard14 In 19th century India, three British soldiers (Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) and their brave water carrier Gunga Din (Sam Jaffe) face off against Thuggee cultists. Rudyard Kipling's poem is brought to life as a rip-roaring action-adventure film with a wonderful cast. The three stars are all charismatic, fun, and have great chemistry together. Sam Jaffe impresses as the title character, political correctness be damned. Joan Fontaine is lovely in an unchallenging minor role. Rousing score from Alfred Newman. It's almost like watching several episodes of a great serial back-to-back with one exciting scene after another. Many other reviewers are quick to point out that it's not a "deep" film. Well it may not be deep but it's not dumb, either. It's just a spectacular example of the kind of grand escapist fare Hollywood used to do so well.

Minerva Breanne Meybridge What all the critics of this movie today fail to understand the Wright brothers didn't make a Stealth Fighter or a Boeing 747. Steve Jobs' first computer wasn't an iPhone 6 Plus. Bill Gates didn't start out by making Windows 8 (thank God!). Teenagers today look at the original King Kong and call it stupid and amateurish. But when it came out, audiences were in awe. When Al Jolson first sang in the Jazz Singer, people couldn't believe that there could ever be such a thing as a talking picture. And, when Captain James T. Kirk, in 1966, first used his communicator, no one ever thought that such a thing was possible—a box that you hold in your hands that works like a telephone without wires. Today, "communicators" even come with built-in cameras, a built in televisions, miniature computers and pinball machines, not to mention the entire wall of maps from AAA, along with a little person inside to talk to if you get lonely.Gunga Din (pronounced Gunga Deen) is a story of camaraderie, not war. Cary Grant and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. were huge box office draws back then (yes, boys and girls, even bigger than Leonardo DiCaprio) and people went to their movies to see them. Back then, people didn't go to the cinema to be educated, to watch Lincoln or Silkwood. They didn't want the reality of Transformers. They wanted to get away from reality. They got all the reality they needed from the newsreels that came after the cartoons. They were about to enter World War II. More than half of the men would be shipped overseas to fight Hitler and many would never return.Gunga Din was a fun picture. It didn't matter if was sent in India or Brazil. As with the Treasure of the Sierra Madre, it was about the lives of the main stars and how they interacted with each other. Watching it, I could only feel saddened by the thought that everyone involved in that film is now dead. Joan Fontaine was the last survivor. Cary Grant was simply stand out. He always was. I mourn the loss of all of them, even the bad guys. And I thank them for the legacy they left, which became a stepping stone for future film makers and actors to build upon.