Gunga Din (film)
Gunga Din is a 1939 American adventure film from RKO Radio Pictures directed by George Stevens and starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., loosely based on the 1890 poem of the same name by Rudyard Kipling combined with elements of his 1888 short story collection Soldiers Three. The film is about three British sergeants and Gunga Din, their native bhisti (water bearer), who fight the Thuggee, an Indian murder cult, in colonial British India.
| Gunga Din | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | George Stevens |
| Written by | Joel Sayre Fred Guiol |
| Story by | Ben Hecht Charles MacArthur |
| Based on | "Gunga Din" Barrack Room Ballads by Rudyard Kipling |
| Produced by | George Stevens |
| Starring | Cary Grant Victor McLaglen Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Sam Jaffe Eduardo Ciannelli Joan Fontaine |
| Cinematography | Joseph H. August |
| Edited by | Henry Berman |
| Music by | Alfred Newman |
Production company | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English Hindi |
| Budget | $1,915,000 |
| Box office | $2,807,000 |
The supporting cast features Joan Fontaine, Eduardo Ciannelli, and in the title role, Sam Jaffe. The epic film was written by Joel Sayre and Fred Guiol from a storyline by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, with uncredited contributions by Lester Cohen, John Colton, William Faulkner, Vincent Lawrence, Dudley Nichols, and Anthony Veiller.
In 1999, Gunga Din was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.