“Gunga Din” (Movie review-1/27/39)

Microfiche-New York Times archives, McHenry Library, U.C. Santa Cruz | 1/27/39 | Unknown

[Homer_J_Simpson]

If you would like to be added to or deleted from the Real Time +/- 70 Years ping list, send me a freepmail. You can also search for these articles by the keyword realtime, going back to the first one on January 27, 2008.

[Dr. Ursus]

With the great Sam Jaffe as Gunga Din.

[Incorrigible]

Bring water! Bring water!

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Good movie - lousy copy.

Also on January 27:

Neville Chamberlain is criticized by many members of the British Parliament for his recognition of the Franco government in Spain.

http://www.worldwar-2.net/prelude-to-war/prelude-to-war-index.htm

[SES1066]

The idea of anything glorifying Kipling or any other Brit or Caucasian military over native resistance coming from today's Hollywood would be totally impossible. I wonder if this will ever reverse for even a little middle-of-the-road evenness? I wonder how the average Zimbabwean non-white would now regard Cecil Rhodes if given all of the facts?

[Homer_J_Simpson]

With the great Sam Jaffe as Gunga Din.

So says the reviewer:

As Sam Jaffe plays him, Gunga Din is not only a better man than any in the cast; he should be a serious contender for the best performance of the year.

[massgopguy]

Guru: “and one slave.”
Din: “I am a soldier.”
McCalghan: “soldier?”
Din: “Regemental Beastie.”

[xkaydet65]

The single greatest adventure film ever made.

"The colonel's got to know!!!"

[BenLurkin]

A wonderful motion picture!

[Dr. Ursus]

He’s in two other of my favorites-The Day the Earth Stood Still and Ben-Hur.

[puroresu]

Gunga Din is AWESOME! It’s another of those classics that you couldn’t make today because of Political Correctness. Perfect mix of action, drama, and comedy. Great cast. Awesome direction and plotting. Love it!

[CougarGA7]

I honestly didn’t realize that it was from 1939. Great movie. When I have a co-worker getting too antsy I find myself saying, “Calm down Gunga Din.”

[CougarGA7]

I've got two items today to add. First is our usual installment from Orson Wells and the Campbell Playhouse. This weeks offering is I Lost My Girlish Laughter

Enjoy.

[CougarGA7]

The second item I think may be a better use of some of the 550 million Roosevelt wants for the Army Air Force. Today is the madien flight of the P-38 Lightning.

P-38 Lightning
Country United States
Manufacturer Lockheed Corporation
Primary Role Fighter
Maiden Flight 27 January 1939

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

The P-38 Lightning fighters were uniquely designed by Clarence "Kelly" Johnson's design team, the "Skunk Works", at Lockheed as a response to the 1937 United States Army Air Corps request for an interceptor. The prototype flew on 27 Jan 1939 with its distinctive twin booms.

By Feb the prototype was already a record setter, flying across the United States from California to New York in only 7 hours and 2 minutes; the design's speed remain unmatched until the arrival of jet aircraft. Although the record setting trans-continental flight ended in a crash landing, the US Army Air Force, renamed from the USAAC, placed an order for 66 fighters. The first batch of production Lightnings came off of the production line in Sep 1940 with some design differences from the prototype; they were lighter in weight and the propellers were rotating in the opposite directions (both now spin away from the cockpit). In Jun 1940, after taking over only three Lightnings, Britain canceled her order of over 800 Lightning fighters due to less than expected maneuverability; those fighters already produced for the canceled order went to the United States Army Air Force for training purposes. In mid-1941, the USAAF took delivery of the first 66 fighters; some of them included self-sealing fuel tanks and one was equipped with an experimental pressurized cabin. The main purpose of this batch was not for front-line combat, but rather to work out the potential kinks in the design. For instance, American pilots found tail flutter to be a problem, and it was promptly fixed by Johnson and his engineers. Compressibility stall, a deadly problem that could occur when this high performance fighter reached high altitudes, was also discovered though would not be resolved until later. One problem that was discovered but never addressed was that the cockpit became cold in freezing conditions. In Oct 1941, the first combat-ready P-38 Lightning fighters rolled off of production lines, and by Jun 1942 they were seeing combat in the Aleutian Islands, where their endurance won great acclaims by their pilots. While they also served in Europe and North Africa, their long range made them ideally suited for the Pacific War (plus cold weather conditions that froze pilots did not exist in South and Central Pacific). Pilots Richard I. Bong and Thomas J. McGuire were both awarded the Medal of Honor for their performances while flying these fighters. Saburo Sakai, the famed Japanese fighter ace, commented after the war that the P-38 Lightning fighters "destroyed the morale of the Zero fighter pilot." A number of Lightnings were produced as reconnaissance aircraft, night fighters, and two-seat versions to include a radar operator on the aircraft. Production of the Lightnings lasted until the very end of the; by then, over 10,000 were made.

Source: World Ward II Database

[BoneHead]

I first saw this film sometime in the 60's.

Though by today's standards the snake pit was ludicrous, It creaped me out as a young boy and fueled my nightmares for a time.

I was prepared for Indy's snakes in Raiders of the lost Ark.

[FreeManWhoCan]

I love this movie and also the Kipling cartoon RIkki-Tiki-Tavi!

[Oatka]

Din: “Regemental Beastie.”

LOL. That's "bhistie" or "bhistee"

From Rutgers:
Gunga Din - The classic adventure film with Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Cary Grant and Victor McLaughlin about 3 young British officers in one of the Indian Mutinies of the 19th century. Perhaps the best adventure movie ever; with a sprawling story that resolves itself to the three men and their native bhistie (water carrier -- Gunga Din) trying to save their comrades from an Indian ambush.
Excellent settings, fine direction and marvelous acting. Loosely based on the Kipling poem. (Which is in turn based on an incident that was part of the Indian Mutiny in 1857: after the mutiny was suppressed, the authorities decided to award a Victoria Cross to the 9th Lancers; the regiment was polled to determine which individual would get it (this is not the only case of this occurring). The 9th chose their own bhistie to receive the award -- the highest award for gallantry in the British Army.)

The only quibble with the above is that it wasn't during the 1857 Mutiny but was the suppression of the Thuggee murder cult. Eduardo Cianelli was superb as the guru and his mini-speech about being called mad was one of the high-points in the film. The Gatling guns being dismounted from the elephants and opening up on the fleeing Thuggees was another one. More on this at IMDb.

[allmendream]

Gunga Din a poem by Rudyard Kipling

You may talk o’ gin and beer
When you’re quartered safe out ‘ere,
An’ you’re sent to penny-fights an’ Aldershot it;
But when it comes to slaughter
You will do your work on water,
An’ you’ll lick the bloomin’ boots of ‘im that’s got it.
Now in Injia’s sunny clime,
Where I used to spend my time
A-servin’ of ‘Er Majesty the Queen,
Of all them blackfaced crew
The finest man I knew
Was our regimental bhisti, Gunga Din.
He was “Din! Din! Din!
You limpin’ lump o’ brick-dust, Gunga Din!
Hi! slippery hitherao!
Water, get it! Panee lao!
You squidgy-nosed old idol, Gunga Din.”

The uniform ‘e wore
Was nothin’ much before,
An’ rather less than ‘arf o’ that be’ind,
For a piece o’ twisty rag
An’ a goatskin water-bag
Was all the field-equipment ‘e could find.
When the sweatin’ troop-train lay
In a sidin’ through the day,
Where the ‘eat would make your bloomin’ eyebrows crawl,
We shouted “Harry By!”
Till our throats were bricky-dry,
Then we wopped ‘im ‘cause ‘e couldn’t serve us all.
It was “Din! Din! Din!
You ‘eathen, where the mischief ‘ave you been?
You put some juldee in it
Or I’ll marrow you this minute
If you don’t fill up my helmet, Gunga Din!”

‘E would dot an’ carry one
Till the longest day was done;
An’ ‘e didn’t seem to know the use o’ fear.
If we charged or broke or cut,
You could bet your bloomin’ nut,
‘E’d be waitin’ fifty paces right flank rear.
With ‘is mussick on ‘is back,
‘E would skip with our attack,
An’ watch us till the bugles made “Retire”,
An’ for all ‘is dirty ‘ide
‘E was white, clear white, inside
When ‘e went to tend the wounded under fire!
It was “Din! Din! Din!”
With the bullets kickin’ dust-spots on the green.
When the cartridges ran out,
You could hear the front-files shout,
“Hi! ammunition-mules an’ Gunga Din!”

I shan’t forgit the night
When I dropped be’ind the fight
With a bullet where my belt-plate should ‘a’ been.
I was chokin’ mad with thirst,
An’ the man that spied me first
Was our good old grinnin’, gruntin’ Gunga Din.
‘E lifted up my ‘ead,
An’ he plugged me where I bled,
An’ ‘e guv me ‘arf-a-pint o’ water-green:
It was crawlin’ and it stunk,
But of all the drinks I’ve drunk,
I’m gratefullest to one from Gunga Din.
It was “Din! Din! Din!
‘Ere’s a beggar with a bullet through ‘is spleen;
‘E’s chawin’ up the ground,
An’ ‘e’s kickin’ all around:
For Gawd’s sake git the water, Gunga Din!”

‘E carried me away
To where a dooli lay,
An’ a bullet come an’ drilled the beggar clean.
‘E put me safe inside,
An’ just before ‘e died,
“I ‘ope you liked your drink”, sez Gunga Din.
So I’ll meet ‘im later on
At the place where ‘e is gone —
Where it’s always double drill and no canteen;
‘E’ll be squattin’ on the coals
Givin’ drink to poor damned souls,
An’ I’ll get a swig in hell from Gunga Din!
Yes, Din! Din! Din!
You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!
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!

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Today is the madien flight of the P-38 Lightning.

The unusual appearance of the P-38 for some reason led me to believe it was an innovation of the latter stages of the war based on engineering developed through analysis of combat experience. Wrong again, Homer.

This period produced quite a few new aircraft, judging by the number of maiden flights you have documented here. It makes me think of the aviation craze that went on last summer, with intensive coverage of things like the Howard Hughes flight, Wrong Way Corrigan, and a host of lesser stories. For a while there you could find an aviation story on page 1 on any given day. I guess it all paid off once the military got serious about buying aircraft. Or should I say when Congress got serious about buying aircraft for the military.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

On January 28, 1939, Lord Halifax secretly warned President Roosevelt that “as early as November 1938, there were indications which gradually became more definite that Hitler was planning a further foreign adventure for the spring of 1939.” The British Foreign Secretary said that “reports indicate that Hitler, encouraged by Ribbentrop, Himmler and others, is considering an attack on the Western Powers as a preliminary to subsequent action in the East.”

William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, p. 435