Thursday, February 16, 2012

Gunga Din

In colonial India, a trio of British soldiers (Victor McLaglen, Cary Grant, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) constantly carouse and create headaches for their superior officers. When Fairbanks decides to leave the army when his term is up and marry his sweetheart, Grant and McLaglen scheme to keep him in service. Soon though, the men stumble upon the temple of a religious cult who seeks world ruin and are captured by the evil dogs. Now their only hope lies with the courageous native water boy Gunga Din who is barred from military service but makes the ultimate sacrifice for God and country. "Gun Din" is grand old entertainment from RKO studios, legendary director George Stevens, and the classic but scant poem by Rudyard Kipling. It is the finest form of entertainment in that it succeeds in more than one arena. For example, the first half of the picture features riotous gags and pratfalls with the stars mucking about and the second half features rousing actions sequences, those of which must have surely inspired the Indiana Jones films. "Gunga Din" is a classic feature that offers wide ranging entertainment surely to please those all across the spectrum.