Here is another great one from the year 1939. I saw it growing up and loved it, and have seen it since several times and still am fascinated. Grant, Fairbanks Jr., and McLaglin, as sergeants Cutter, Balantine, and McChesney, provide all the necessary action and comedy needed to engross any viewer.To me, three outstanding comedic bits were trying to feed the reluctant elephant in the stall, the drunk scene between Grant and McLaglin when Grant is decked, and at the punch bowl where Robert Coote imbibes the potent stuff and drops like a rock. The efforts to prevent Fairbanks Jr. from resigning are also hilarious.I also remember the hideous pit of snakes that Sgt.McChesney (McLaglin) is almost cast into. Instead, the evil Eduardo Cianelli jumps in.Sam Jaffe (Gunga Din) steals the show at the end by his bugle call alerting the unsuspecting British column to the ambush. He gives a touching performance throughout.A battle at the beginning and a major one at the end, provide plenty of action. Even more excitement occurs when the three sergeants are captured by the Thugees.A classic that all adventure lovers should see.

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.

In the frontiers of colonial India, British troops are attacked and a British outpost at Tantrapur is lost. British troops led by sergeants MacChesney (Victor McLaglen), Cutter (Cary Grant), and Ballantine (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) are sent to investigate. They encounter an abandoned town except some of the rebels stay to ambush the troops. Gunga Din (Sam Jaffe) is the regimental water boy who wants to be a real soldier. Soon the men and their local troops are surrounded.It's an old fashion war movie akin to cowboys and indians movie. One guy can take out six with only fisticuffs. It's good ole blow-em-up action adventure. It's the kind of movie where Cary Grant can have a bit of fun in between some action scenes. It's rip roaring fun but a bit dated.

Sorry, but I didn't like this 1939 film at all.Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks and Victor McLaglen would have been better had they continued their comic antics instead of getting involved in a drama about India in the 1800s with a revival of an insane, lunatic organization bent on mass murder.When there aren't battles, Grant and McLaglen are conspiring to make sure that Fairbanks doesn't leave the army in order to marry Joan Fontaine.An unrecognizable Sam Jaffe portrays Din, a remarkable fellow, so brave even in death.Eduardo Ciannelli is the ruthless leader of the mad pack who kills himself so that his men will go into battle as they'd do nothing when he was being held hostage.The picture is absolutely pointless. Yes, there is bravery and the concept of the good soldier is discussed, but we've seen this done in far better scripts.