Gunga Din

"Barbaric Splendor - Gasping Magnitude - Adventure !"

1939 1h 57m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

🍅

89%

FRESH

⭐

7.2

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 192🍅89%Rotten Tomatoes★7.2IMDB · 13,065

AdventureWarActionHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

British army sergeants Ballantine, Cutter and MacChesney serve in India during the 1880s, along with their native water-bearer, Gunga Din. While completing a dangerous telegraph-repair mission, they unearth evidence of the suppressed Thuggee cult. When Gunga Din tells the sergeants about a secret temple made of gold, the fortune-hunting Cutter is captured by the Thuggees, and it's up to his friends to rescue him.

“Barbaric Splendor - Gasping Magnitude - Adventure !”

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Cast

Cary Grant
Archibald Cutter
Victor McLaglen
MacChesney
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Thomas Anthony Ballantine
Sam Jaffe
Gunga Din
Eduardo Ciannelli
Guru
Joan Fontaine
Emmaline "Emmy" Stebbins
Montagu Love
Colonel Weed
Robert Coote
Bertie Higginbotham

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: George Stevens
Writers: Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, Fred Guiol
Languages: English, Hindi
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

87 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Hindi.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by George Stevens, shot by Joseph H. August. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alfred Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Henry Berman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Cary Grant and Victor McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Barbaric Splendor - Gasping Magnitude - Adventure !".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

George Stevens directs. Joseph H. August behind the camera. Alfred Newman scores. Henry Berman cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Hindi.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
287 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Hindi.
4Directed by George Stevens, shot by Joseph H. August. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Alfred Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Henry Berman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Cary Grant and Victor McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Barbaric Splendor - Gasping Magnitude - Adventure !".
9IMDB entry: tt0031398 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Joseph H. August
Original score: Alfred Newman
Editing: Henry Berman
Makeup / hair: Mel Berns
Runtime: 117 min · 1h 57m
Status: Released
Budget: $1,915,000
Box office: $2,807,000
Return: 147% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Gunga Din (1939)
Rotten Tomatoes: 89% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.2/10 · 13,065 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

1 win

Also by

George Stevens

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

tmcd772024-11-03
★ 7/10
Take Indiana Jones, mix in a little Zulu, and add a splash of The Man Who Would be King. Replace Michael Cain and Harrison Ford with Cary Grant, and what do you get? Answer - A film that stands the test of time. Grants comedic performance is totally on point, the punch bowl scene in particular having me in stitches. Based of various poems by Radyard Kiplin, this movie tells the story of three British army officers against a cult of indian strangler assassins. The eponymous Gunga Din being their water carrier (spoiler alert) who saves the day. Certainly Lucas and Spielberg deserve some plagerism claims. Temple of Doom being very near the knuckle on a few scenes!

Production companies