FilmIndia (1939)

usly flnti Indian Picture! istic Barbarians ! :ology for British Imperialism. itaire "streamlined dances" irown in. They have been known have bought a novel of Upton nclair exposing the capitalist soety and turned it into a gangster 'hriller." To import into "Gunga in" the stock situations of regiental romance, Hollywood version British-Tommy humour, "timing" fight scenes and pseudoriental hocus pocus was like jnld's play to them. They have )ne it, true to type, and the re|ilt is the R.K.O. Radio version of >unga Din." .DIANS CRINGING BEFORE (THE WHITE MASTERS I Somewhere in the archives of plywood I suspect there is a saed formula which must be folwed every time they decide to oduce a film about India. Take ky of these films — "Wee rillie Winkie", "Lives of a engal Lancer" or "The Drum", — pd you find the unvarying patrn. "Gunga Din" scrupulously lllows the same tradition. A Briph regiment is stationed "somepere on the tumultuous Indian brth West Frontier." The same d jokes are exchanged between pe Tommies (Cary Grant, Douglas airbanks, Jnr., Victor Maclaeglen I , pe smart subaltern inevitably Llls in love with his superior's aughter, the regimental dance is bid under the "languorous" OrienLl moon and is followed, in due purse, by fighting between th? jathans and the British in which od, justice and fairplay are all h the British side while the Panans (called "Thugs" in this picire!) are all, of course, a gang t unscrupulous cut-throats! I The white "hero" is kidnapped !/ fanatic "native" priests and is bpt in a torture chamber with pisonous cobras wriggling un comfortably near. But, of course, he won't yield to the threats of the "cursed infidels" and is ultimately rescued, the mutinous pathans routed and the might of the British Empire once again vindicated. A "Hindu" (In America every Indian is taken for a Hindu) in "Gunga Din". This specimen is supposed to belong to the Frontier Provinces. All the British characters are honest, jolly souls while all the "natives" are scheming, treacherous, unscrupulous devils. All but one!! The solitary exception is Gunga Din, the faithful water carrier— loyal unto death, despite the insults and curses that are invariably showered on him by his White Masters. He is always cringing before them. The word "cringing" occurs innumerable times in the scenario, for that is Gunga Din's consistent pattern of behaviour. That is how all loyal "natives" must behave in the presence of their rulers! HORRORS OF THE WEST PLANTED ON THE EAST While on a visit to the R.K.O. Radio studios in Hollywood the courteous Publicity Department flooded me with all the details of their plans for "Gunga Din." Shooting was going on at that time on an outdoor location, three hundred miles away near Mount Whitney in the Death Valley. I was told that out there in the Californian desert no less than 250 carpenters had built a huge 10,000 dollars set comprising of a regular British fort, Indian town, temple etc. Thousands of extras were employed, six or seven elephants were used to forge the "Indian atmosphere", exposed film was sent by air daily to Hollywood and, after processing, sent back to be screened on location at an open-air theatre. I was naturally impressed. Then I was taken to the soundstages to see some of the sets that were being got ready for indoor shooting. The first was a temple, a fairly passable imitation of Elephanta caves — supposed to be in the frontier!! The next was the torture chamber. The Government of India communique on the frontier "operations" never leave out any juicy detail of the heroic deeds of the British soldiers but I have yet to come across any instance in ("Continued on page 31) 27